Released on May 9, 2018
The Attorney General of Saskatchewan will be applying to participate in the reference case currently before British Columbia’s Court of Appeal concerning the constitutionality of British Columbia’s proposed amendments to its Environmental Management Act.
“We are dismayed that a pipeline that will benefit many people across Canada continues to be held up by unreasonable delays,” Justice Minister and Attorney General Don Morgan said. “As we argued in the previous case involving the city of Burnaby, it is Saskatchewan’s position that these pipelines are in the national interest and fall under federal, not provincial jurisdiction.”On December 7, 2017, the National Energy Board ruled that the Trans Mountain pipeline is not required to comply with the two bylaws cited by the City of Burnaby as its reason for delaying the issuing of permits to Trans Mountain. In its decision, the National Energy Board agreed with Saskatchewan that it would be contrary to a basic principle of federalism if one province, or a single municipality of one province, held the power to impede the construction of an interprovincial pipeline.
“Saskatchewan remains dedicated to standing up for the hard-working people in our natural resources and energy sectors,” Morgan said. “We know that these pipelines are necessary for our energy companies to get their products to tidewater to ensure a competitive price, and that the increased capacity this pipeline represents stands to benefit all Canadians.”
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For more information, contact:
Noel Busse
Justice
Regina
Phone: 306-787-8959
Email: noel.busse@gov.sk.ca