Morneau, Notley to talk Trans Mountain; Singh suggests enlisting Supreme Court
OTTAWA — The federal government won’t negotiate an end to the Trans Mountain pipeline crisis in public, federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Wednesday as he prepared to sit down with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley in hopes of getting the Kinder Morgan project back on track.
Jagmeet Singh, meanwhile, waded into the impasse in Ottawa by proposing that the Trudeau Liberals work with the British Columbia government on a joint reference question to the Supreme Court of Canada, fast-tracking a resolution to what the federal NDP leader calls jurisdictional issues arising from B.C.’s objections to the project.
Morneau said Ottawa is looking at several “financial options” to ensure the Alberta-B.C. pipeline expansion gets built, including taking a monetary stake in the project. But any federal investment in the pipeline would first require closed-door talks with Kinder Morgan and the two provinces, he added.
“That will require us to talk with the project proponent,” Morneau told a Toronto news conference. “That will require us to talk with the provinces, and we’re not going to negotiate in public or talk about those options publicly at this stage.”