Gordon Christie, a professor of law at the University of British Columbia and a prominent authority on Indigenous legal issues, said that it might take only a few months for the government to engage in more meaningful consultations with Indigenous groups.
“This has nothing to do with not building a pipeline,” he said from Vancouver. “All they’re required to do is go back, review the concerns and show that they are going to take them seriously and respond in some way. These are not negotiations.”
Nor, he added, does the ruling give Indigenous groups the power to shut down the pipeline project.
Chief Spahan said that the Coldwater Band was looking for specific assurances that the expansion would not lead to oil leaks that threatened its drinking water, which comes from wells.
“When they moved forward, they totally disregarded Coldwater,” he said. “It was like stabbing us in the back.”
Many people in Canada’s energy industry said they were frustrated and disappointed by the prospect of a further delay to the pipeline expansion.
“We’re just tired of this stuff,” said Chris Bloomer, the president and chief executive of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association. “We, as an industry, just sit here and go: We’re responsible, we’re safe, what more can we do?”
The expansion will put a second pipeline alongside about 610 miles of the 715-mile Trans Mountain pipeline, which opened in 1953. It will increase the system’s capacity to 890,000 barrels a day, from 300,000, at a cost of $7.4 billion.
Most of the oil sent through the Trans Mountain pipeline heads to the United States, mainly through a spur pipeline. Supporters of the expansion argue that it will open Asia as a second market for Canadian oil.
Source : Nytimes
