Bill Kelly: Trudeau needs to be the grown-up in pipeline dispute

It’s long past time to settle the Trans Mountain pipeline dispute and it’s long past time for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to be the grown-up in the room and put an end to the petty bickering.

On the surface, this is a political no-brainer, since the pipeline falls under federal jurisdiction, but there’s more politics than policy at play here.

B.C. Premier John Horgan’s minority government is being held together with the support of the Green Party, who are philosophically opposed to pipelines.

If Horgan signs off on the pipeline, the Greens will likely withdraw their support and the government could fall.

Likewise, the federal Liberals are worried that if they push the pipeline project ahead, disgruntled B.C. voters may punish them in the next federal election, which is just over two years from now.

But, there’s much more at stake here than political sensitivities.

At some point, both the prime minister and the premier of B.C. must understand that the best interests of the Canadian economy must supersede the political self-interest of the two political parties.

This is no longer a debate about pipeline or no pipeline; it’s now about who has the political courage to do the right thing.

Bill Kelly is the host of Bill Kelly Show on AM 900 CHML and a commentator for Global News