Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government has no intention of reviving the failed Energy East pipeline project because of a lack of support, but it will continue to push forward with the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
鈥淭here is no project on the table,鈥� Trudeau said of Energy East in an interview with CTV Question Period host Evan Solomon that airs Sunday. 鈥淭here is clarity that under the current approach, there is no support for a pipeline through Quebec.鈥�
Cancelled more than a year ago, TransCanada Corporation鈥檚 $16 billion Energy East project would have seen a pipeline built from Alberta to eastern Canadian refineries and an export terminal in Saint John, N.B. Any hopes of reviving the project were dashed earlier this month, it seems, when Quebec Premier Francois Legault said that there is no 鈥渟ocial acceptability鈥� for building a pipeline through his province to carry what he called 鈥渄irty energy.鈥�
Because of the resistance to the energy project -- which federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has also mused about reviving -- Trudeau sees no way for the federal government to come in and push to bring TransCanada to reconsider.
This stands in contrast to his stance on the Trans Mountain pipeline, which his government purchased from Kinder Morgan for $4.5 billion in May. A project to expand that pipeline to transport more oil from Alberta to the B.C. coast has met stiff opposition from the B.C. government and Indigenous and environmental groups. Still, Trudeau says his government plans to continue pushing forward with the project he takes credit for saving, despite not having any concrete timeline to complete it, because we are 鈥渁lways going to be a country that relies on natural resources.鈥�
鈥淭he Federal Court of Appeals came forward and said that we need to do a better job of consulting with Indigenous peoples and getting the science, particularly in regards to the environment, right on that,鈥� he explained, referring to an August court ruling that stalled the pipeline expansion. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e going back to the process to try and make sure that we can get it right, because one of the most important things, even more important than just any one pipeline, is a process whereby we can get big projects approved and built.鈥�
But to B.C. NDP MP Nathan Cullen, Trudeau鈥檚 differing stances on the two pipeline projects is 鈥渁 little inconsistent, if not hypocritical鈥� considering that the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion has been repeatedly panned by B.C. Premier John Horgan.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 want that on the west coast but Mr. Trudeau said, 鈥業 don鈥檛 care,鈥欌�� Cullen told Solomon in a separate Question Period segment. 鈥淏ut the Quebec premier gets up and says virtually the same thing about another pipeline and Trudeau says, 鈥極h, well, OK, then we back off.鈥欌��
That kind of 鈥渋nconsistency鈥� and 鈥渄ouble standard,鈥� Cullen said, is driving western Canadians 鈥渃razy,鈥� regardless of their stance on pipelines.
鈥淲hat applies in Quebec doesn鈥檛 apply in the west and it鈥檚 clearly political,鈥� Cullen said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a political calculation, I think, by Trudeau to not sacrifice or risk seats in Quebec. (He) cares a lot less about seats in the West, I guess.鈥�
With files from The Canadian Press
Watch the full interview with the prime minister on Question Period Sunday morning on CTV, CTV News Channel, CTVNews.ca and CTV News GO at 11 a.m. ET
