The new oil tanker review announced Friday by the federal Liberal government looks too political, said Andrew Weaver, leader of the B.C. Green party.
Weaver is raising concerns about the federal government’s approach to reviewing the Trans Mountain pipeline project. Earlier this month, the Federal Court of Appeal quashed the federal government’s approval due to the flawed National Energy Board process.
“This process must be clear from political control and therefore needs to be free from a politically-imposed timeline,” said Weaver in a news release.“Any process that is about getting to ‘yes’ will inevitably fail to protect the public interest. Environmental assessments must be objective and evidence-based. And meaningful consultation with Indigenous people must ensure they are approached as partners, not as barriers to be overcome on the way to a predetermined approval.
“The federal approval of this project was always political. The prime minister campaigned to subject all new projects to a revised NEB process, yet pushed Trans Mountain through the old broken one.”
Weaver and Adam Olsen and were interveners in the original NEB hearings, focusing on the consequences of a marine spill and on Indigenous rights.
“We are exploring whether we have rights to intervene in the new hearings,” Weaver said.“We are also sitting down with the provincial government to ensure that they are using all legally available means, including terminating the equivalency agreement signed by the previous administration, to protect our coast from a catastrophic diluted bitumen spill.”
