Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd. Is vowing to start construction on its C$7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion this September, despite a pending court case and a newly-minted government in British Columbia determined to use “every tool in the toolbox” to stop the project, the Globe and Mail reports.
“We are on track to begin construction in September and expect to have the project in service at the end of 2019,” CEO Ian Anderson said, in a statement issued Wednesday along with the company’s first quarterly report. “We look forward to continuing to work with the provincial government in British Columbia to complete this project, which is critically important to Canada, providing jobs, opportunities, and much needed market access.”
“I’m not going to speculate on what an NDP government might do in British Columbia at this stage in order to advance their views,” Anderson added, during a conference call to discuss the company’s quarterly results. “We remain very confident in the federal decision that we have and the jurisdiction that the project has federally.”
In its second-quarter results, Kinder Morgan Canada reported net earnings of $25.1 million, down from $51.7 million for the same period last year.
“Despite winning federal approval last year, questions have swirled over the expansion project and Kinder Morgan’s ability to proceed in the face of environmental and First Nations opposition,” the Globe notes. “Risks have only increased with the fledgling NDP government in B.C.” Following his swearing-in Tuesday in Victoria, B.C. Premier John Horgan “said the government will be briefed on the status of the legal cases against the pipeline and will be talking to the various ministries responsible for permitting the project,” CBC reports.
