Pipeline purchase 'one irritant' but feds need B.C. onside for climate plan

Even as they continue to agree to disagree on the Trans Mountain pipeline extension, Justin Trudeau's federal Liberals and John Horgan's B.C. New Democrats point to this summer's wildfires as proof of the value of what they do agree on: the need for credible climate change policy.

Neither side has changed their mind on the pipeline, mind you: the federal governmentbought the Trans Mountainsystem in late May for $4.5 billion and continues to work toward its expansion. British Columbia is still going to court tochallenge their jurisdiction to force its construction against the province's wishes.

But with a smoky haze hanging over Horgan'smeeting Wednesday with the federal cabinet at its retreat in Nanaimo, B.C., the wildfires currently ravaging part of the provinceare focusing the governments on what they have in common.

"I did raise Trans Mountain," Horgansaid. "Every time we speak. it comes up. But it's one irritant within a relationship that I believe is positive. There are a whole host of values that we share."

And so the B.C. premier had nothing but praise for the help that the federal government has been giving to fight the wildfires, including announcinganother ad hoc federalcabinet committeeto make sure all thegovernment departments and agencies are working in a co-ordinated way.

But it goes beyond that. Both leaders point to thesame culprit as the cause of so many fires: Climate change.

"Minister [Catherine] McKenna and Minister [George] Heymanare working on climate action together, developingcarbon reduction policies that will ensure that our energy-intensive, trade-exposed industries are protected," Horgan said."But we're also leading the country when it comes to climate action."

Noisy protests outside

By noon on Wednesday, dozens of protesters were ringing Nanaimo's convention centre,where the federal cabinet was sealed up behind closed doors.They were waving colourful protest signs and chanting their disapproval of Trudeau's decision to buy and build the Trans Mountain pipeline, ordemanding more action on climate change in general.

In making his argument, Horgan said that the coastal killer whale populationis down to 75 a population that's not sustainable over time and could be impacted by a seven-fold increase in tanker traffic.

"When we think about Trans Mountain, it's not just about the impact of the pipe," he said.

But the premier said he wasn't there for a negotiation;fighting the pipeline was an election campaign commitment and key to the Green Partysupport that allows him to govern.

"We didn't engage in that type of a discussion today," Horgan said. "That is not to say that we won't in the future," he added, pointing to his opinion that the federal government's ocean protection strategy needs to be beefed up.

Two federal NDPMPsfrom the area joined in the anti-pipeline protests.

Alistair MacGregor said his party has been advocating for a long time for the federal government not to get involved in the pipeline's proposed expansion.

"I really think Mr. Trudeauhas painted himself into a corner, because from the very get-go, he has been announcing that this pipeline will get built. And I really don't think he has left himself any options," he said.

"He can always climb downbut, really, I think he has painted himself in a corner on this one."

On her way into the cabinet meeting, Trudeau's environment minister said her government understands that "we're in a transition" from relying on fossil fuels and "transitions don't happen overnight."

"I've always said I'm the environment minister for energy workersas much as for environmentalists. We need to move forward. That's why we've got a credible plan," McKennasaid.

Allies on carbon tax

Horgan is trying to straddle representing BritishColumbianswho fearoil spillsalong B.C.'s coast with his like-mindedness on the federal climate change strategy.

While McKennastruggles to get every province to put a credible price on carbon through either a tax or other market incentives, B.C. has had a revenue-neutral carbon tax in place for years.

McKenna also pointed to the wildfires as an example of the real impact of climate change on Canadians.

"This summer is awake-upcall," McKenna said. "We've seen extreme weather, extreme heat that is literally costing lives.We've seen here forest fires, we've seen extreme flooding. We will continue to see that."

In Ontario, Doug Ford's newly electedProgressive Conservative governmenthas ended the carbon-pricing strategy implemented by the previous Liberal government, incurring extra costs to taxpayers as affected businesses now seek compensation for the change in course. It's unclear what he intends to do to replace it.

Ontario is joining Saskatchewan in heading to court to challenge the federal government's jurisdiction to impose a national carbon tax in places where provinces don't have adequate carbon-pricing systems in place. The federal government argues it must do so to keep its international commitments under the Paris Accord.

Last week, Ontario and Saskatchewan also joined forces to oppose Bill C-69 federal legislation now before the Senate to revamp theapproval process for resource projects.

"It's really good to see in British Columbia that they have a serious climate plan. We need to see that across the country," McKenna said. "It's really unfortunate that we have politicians, some conservative politicians, that have absolutely no plan to tackle climate change."