B.C. government to file Trans Mountain reference case by April 30

The B.C. government will be filing a reference case in connection with the ongoing dispute over the Kinder Morgan pipeline in the B.C. Court of Appeal by April 30.

Lawyer Joseph Arvay has been hired by the province to craft the question.

“The B.C. Court of Appeal is the highest court to which the province can refer questions of this nature under B.C.’s Constitutional Question Act,” said Attorney General David Eby. “The reference will first be approved by cabinet through an order-in-council, and then filed with the Court of Appeal registry.”

READ MORE: Support for the Trans Mountain expansion grows amidst pipeline dispute

The B.C. government decided to hire Arvay in February during the midst of the trade dispute between Alberta and British Columbia. The move prompted Alberta premier Rachel Notley to end the ban on importing B.C. wines into the province. Alberta and the federal government decided not to join the reference case.

WATCH HERE: Alberta’s Notley applauds B.C. court ruling on Trans Mountain pipeline

Last Sunday, B.C. Premier John Horgan met with Notley and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa.

The future of the pipeline has been in doubt after Kinder Morgan announced it was stopping all non-essential work on the pipeline twinning. The Texas-based company claimed the uncertainty caused by B.C.’s public opposition to the pipeline would force them to cancel the $7.4-billion pipeline expansion project by May 31 if there aren’t assurances from Ottawa the pipeline would be built.

READ MORE: B.C. Attorney General calls new Alberta pipeline legislation a ‘bluff’

Reference cases, like the one currently being prepared by Arvay, can be done in different ways. Eby says they can be more open-ended or have very specific provisions.

“The key issue that we want to resolve is the constitutional question that [was] raised in relation to number five of the environment intentions document that the minister put forward. What we are looking for is certainty,” said Eby last week. “The province has responsibility and authority even in projects that are pipelines that are federal jurisdiction.”