The B.C. government will file a reference case in the B.C. Court of Appeal by April 30 in connection with the province’s ongoing battle over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.
The reference will go to the B.C. Court of Appeal, asking the court to weigh in on the province’s constitutional rights surrounding risks of bitumen spills. Specifics on the reference have not been released.
Premier John Horgan said in February the government was retaining expert legal counsel to prepare a legal reference and consultation on four bitumen spill safeguards, including spill response time, geographic response plans, compensation for loss of public and cultural use of land, and application of regulations to marine spills. John Arvay was hired to prepare the reference.
Attorney General David Eby announced earlier this week the government would also pursue action against Alberta should the Notley government go forward with newly proposed legislation to restrict exports of oil and gas.
“The bill introduced in Alberta is unconstitutional and unlawful, a reality that is underlined by repeated public statements by members of the Alberta government indicating the purpose of the proposed law is retaliation against British Columbia,” Eby said in a statement.
“If at any time Alberta decided to take the unlikely, and highly reckless step of engaging in unconstitutional and unlawful acts to harm British Columbia’s interests, we would immediately seek an injunction in court to stop them.”
