EDMONTON, AB: Hours after the B.C. government granted an environmental certificate for Trans Mountain, Premier Rachel Notley’s appointees and advisors to her Oil Sands Advisory Group (OSAG) continued to threaten demonstrations and legal action against the pipeline expansion, the Wildrose Official Opposition said.
Notley’s co-chair on OSAG Tzeporah Berman took to Twitter lamenting that “saying yes to every project that the 1% & big polluters want is not leadership it’s a lap dog.”
OSAG member Karen Mahon asked her supporters through STAND to “join us so we can stop this pipeline now before construction ever begins,” and smeared Alberta’s “tar sands pipelines.”
“Premier Rachel Notley promised her cap on emissions growth and a new carbon tax would buy social licence, but instead her traditional allies and hires are more emboldened than ever to oppose new pipeline projects,” Wildrose Leader Brian Jean said. “Having Albertans subsidize these activists who will spend the next year or several years trying to block new pipelines at the courts and at the ballot box is offensive to working families across the province. They should be canned.”
Notley herself said Wednesday that she expects the next year to be filled with legal actions against the twinning of Kinder Morgan’s existing Trans Mountain line.
Wildrose Shadow Energy Minister Drew Barnes said Albertans shouldn’t be signing cheques to individuals who want to see our energy sector fail.
“Our cap on emissions and carbon tax hasn’t stopped activists from doing all they can to attack Alberta’s energy sector. All they’ve done is hurt confidence in Alberta and take money from businesses and families,” Barnes said. “We shouldn’t be paying these people a penny. It’s time to show them the door.”