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Page A24 is your guide to events in the city
AUGUST 31, 2018 | Volume 31 No. 70
ESCAPE FROM PADOVA
ELECTION ’18
Tunnels in the former tuberculosis sanatorium and institution for the mentally ill will become home to an escape room B1
Candidate profiles continue in this edition of KTW A16/A17
and region
PUCK PREVIEW Read part 2 of KTW’s five-part series on Kamloops Blazers A29
WEEKEND WEATHER:
Sun and clouds, with showers on Sunday High 25 C Low 9 C
Massive amounts of pipe destined to be used in the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project remain piled on property on Mission Flats Road in Kamloops. ALLEN DOUGLAS/KTW
JESSICA WALLACE AND DALE BASS
STAFF REPORTERS
jessica@kamloopsthisweek.com dale@kamloopsthisweek.com
KamloopsThompson-Cariboo Conservative MP Cathy McLeod called Thursday’s Federal Court of Appeal decision on Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline project difficult and said she is disappointed and concerned. The court overturned Ottawa’s approval of the contentious pipeline expansion. In a unanimous deci-
PIPE DREAM?
sion by a panel of three judges, the court said the National Energy Board’s review of the project was so flawed that the federal government could not rely on it as a basis for its decision to approve the expansion. The court also concluded that the federal government failed in its duty to engage in meaningful consultations with First Nations before
giving the project the green light. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government approved the project in 2016 and is so determined to see the 980-kilometre line built that it announced plans this past spring to buy the pipeline and expansion project for $4.5 billion after Kinder Morgan Canada balked at moving ahead with construction.
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Shortly after the court ruling, company shareholders voted more than 99 per cent in favour of the sale. The ruling requires the energy board to conduct a new review — which the court suggests could be kept short — and means the government will have to redo part of its consultations with Indigenous groups. The court combined into one case nearly two
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dozen lawsuits calling for the energy board’s review to be overturned. McLeod said most Indigenous groups in her riding support the project, with community benefits agreements in place and employment opportunities on the table. “I am both disappointed and profoundly concerned about the decision,” she said. McLeod said twin-
ning the pipeline would be safer than transporting oil by rail, opining in a social-media post that the federal government “botched the process.” The court found that the government’s representatives “limited their mandate to listening to and recording the concerns of the Indigenous applicants and then transmitting those concerns to the
decision-makers.’’ The court said there was no “meaningful two-way dialogue” with Indigenous groups. In a statement, Kinder Morgan said it is reviewing the court decision and assessing its next steps. “We remain committed to building this project in consideration of communities and the environment, with meaningful consultation with Indigenous Peoples and for the benefit of Canadians.” See CITY, A10
250-299-1267 quinnpacherealestate.ca quinnpache@royallepage.ca
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