Trudeau to meet with B.C., Alberta premiers on Sunday to discuss Trans Mountain impasse
OTTAWA — The Prime Minister’s Office says Justin Trudeau will sit down Sunday with B.C. Premier John Horgan and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley in an effort to hash out a solution to the ongoing dispute over the Trans Mountain pipeline project.
Spokesperson Chantal Gagnon says Trudeau, who is on his way to Peru for the Summit of the Americas, will return to Ottawa for the meeting before resuming his travels to Paris and London on Monday.
Tensions over the pipeline impasse reached a new peak this week when Kinder Morgan stopped all non-essential spending on the expansion project, pending reassurance from the federal government that the project would be going ahead.
Trudeau had an emergency cabinet meeting on Tuesday where ministers discussed — but did not settle on — options for action, including whether to help finance the project or pull funding from B.C. to help convince Horgan to stop blocking the project.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau met Wednesday with Notley, after which he said the federal government would meet the company’s May 31 deadline for action.
Ottawa has jurisdiction for the pipeline and approved it in 2016, but Horgan has thrown up a number of road blocks, including a lawsuit over the approval process and a threat to prevent oil from flowing through it, all of which helped spook Kinder Morgan’s investors.