The B.C. government will release its much-anticipated pipeline reference case question on Thursday morning.
Premier John Horgan, Attorney General David Eby and Environment Minister George Heyman are scheduled to speak to the media at 9:15 a.m. PST.
The B.C. government decided to hire lawyer Joseph Arvay in February in the midst of the trade dispute between Alberta and British Columbia to prepare the reference case. The province wants the B.C. Court of Appeal to decide whether British Columbia has the legal right to restrict the flow of bitumen by pipeline or rail through the province.
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“The B.C. Court of Appeal is the highest court to which the province can refer questions of this nature under B.C.’s Constitutional Question Act,” said Attorney General David Eby last week. “The reference will first be approved by cabinet through an order-in-council, and then filed with the Court of Appeal registry.”
The cabinet met on Wednesday and approved the reference question. The B.C. government’s decision to send the issue to the courts prompted Alberta Premier Rachel Notley to end the ban on importing B.C. wines into the province. Alberta and the federal government decided not to join the reference case.
Saskatchewan filed its own constitutional reference case on Wednesday to challenge Ottawa’s ability to force a carbon tax on the province. The Saskatchewan government says the federal government is using subjective criteria to decide which climate plans are approved by them and which aren’t.
“The spike in gas prices that we are seeing on the Lower Mainland and in southern Vancouver Island is not a result of the Kinder Morgan pipeline, it is not a result of any disputes between parties it is a result of a lack of supply,” said Horgan.
“One of the suggestions I have had for addressing the diluted bitumen issue is more refined product would be a break for citizens.”
-With files from David Baxter
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