Kinder Morgan suspends pipeline construction

Tensions rise between Alberta and BC

By Colten Kamlade, Staff Reporter

Kinder Morgan has announced that they have halted all non-essential work on the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project.

The news has Canadians either shouting for joy or grinding their teeth in frustration. It has been five years since Kinder Morgan applied to Canadian National Energy Board to build the pipeline, and it has been a rocky road ever since. The struggle between environmentalists and proponents of the pipeline has been long and bitter, and it appears to be coming to a head.

Despite the excitement of environmental groups like Greenpeace, some say it might be too soon to celebrate. On Twitter, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley was adamant that the project would not be stopped.

“If we have to, Alberta is prepared to do whatever it takes to get this pipeline built—including taking a public position in the pipeline. Put another way, Alberta is prepared to be an investor in the pipeline. This pipeline will be built,” she wrote.

In one of her tweets, Notley targeted BC directly, and reiterated that the construction of the Trans Mountain Pipeline would not be stopped for long.

“We will be bringing forward legislation giving our gov’t the powers it needs to impose serious economic consequences on British Columbia if its government continues on its present course. Let me be absolutely clear, they cannot mess with Alberta,” she wrote.

Notley is not the only one who is confident that the pipeline will be completed. In an interview with the Other Press, Douglas College Earth and Environmental Science instructor David Waddington expressed his certainty that the project would continue.

“The project is too important to Canada for the federal government to step away, so they will make the project happen, and the pipeline will go ahead,” he said. “BC was brought into Confederation through a federal project—the CPR—[which other] parts of the country opposed, but the federal government pressed on to completion, and I believe that will happen with the Trans Mountain Pipeline. The complex and ironic story is that building a pipeline to ship oil will give us a carbon-reducing deal with Alberta and other provinces and will actually have a positive impact on the climate.”

Still, environmental groups are hopeful. Greenpeace posted a quote by Mike Hudema, climate and energy campaigner, on Twitter.

“The writing is on the wall, and even Kinder Morgan can read it. Investors should note that the opposition to this project is strong, deep, and gets bigger by the day,” he stated.