Trudeau, Notley welcome B.C.’s Horgan despite Trans Mountain pipeline rift
VANCOUVER — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley have welcomed British Columbia’s new premier-designate John Horgan despite simmering tensions over the Trans Mountain pipeline project.
Horgan, a New Democrat, has promised to use every tool available to halt the $7.4-billion expansion of the Alberta-to-B.C. pipeline. The project has been approved by the federal government and is seen as crucial to revitalizing Alberta’s oilsands.
During the B.C. election campaign, Notley, who leads the NDP in Alberta, banned her staff from working to elect Horgan due to their disagreement over the project. Trudeau, at a stop in Metro Vancouver last month, suggested the B.C. NDP’s position was “wrong.”
But on Friday, a day after Christy Clark’s Liberal government was defeated in a non-confidence vote in the provincial legislature, both Notley and Trudeau issued statements that avoided the touchy subject of the pipeline.