VICTORIA – The City of Vancouver and Squamish Nation have lost legal challenges aimed at quashing an environmental assessment certificate issued by the British Columbia government for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
The B.C. Supreme Court issued separate written judgments today in the cases.
The previous B.C. Liberal government issued the certificate in January 2017, about two months after the federal government gave the project the green light.
Premier Rachel Notley issued the following statement in response to the B.C. Supreme Court’s dismissal of legal challenges by the Squamish Nation and the City of Vancouver regarding the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project. #abpoli #ableg #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/0YhXV1QF2n
— CityNews Calgary (@citynewscalgary) May 24, 2018
The city argued the province failed to engage in proper public consultation or take into account relevant environmental considerations in seeking an order to set aside the certificate.
But Justice Christopher Grauer ruled the province’s decision to issue the certificate was reasonable as he dismissed the petition and ordered the city to pay costs to Trans Mountain, a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan Canada.
He also found the province conducted appropriate and sufficient consultation with the First Nation.
