B.C. Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver says Alberta and Saskatchewanâs threats to cut off oil and gas to his province are just tough talk and nothing more.
âThis is a lot of bluster -- a big lot of bluster -- and itâs just not helpful, to be blunt,â B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver told CTVâs Question Period Host Evan Solomon in an interview that airs Sunday.
Following Albertaâs lead, Saskatchewan plans to table legislation next week that will allow the province to turn off its oil taps. Both moves are meant to serve as a sharp rebuke to British Columbiaâs continued opposition to Kinder Morganâs Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
âItâs outrageous, the approach theyâre taking,â Weaver added. âWhat weâre talking about here in British Columbia is a duty for the government to actually look out for the interests of its citizens.â
That interest, Weaver explained, is pre-emptively avoiding a spill as diluted bitumen travels via pipeline from Alberta to B.C.âs southern coast. If the federal government pushes ahead with the controversial project without B.C.âs consent, it would be stepping on the provinceâs jurisdiction and thus acting unconstitutionally, Weaver said -- and so too would Alberta and Saskatchewan if they enact oil ban bills.
âAny legislation that actually caused an increase in price of gasoline would be very clearly ruled unconstitutional,â Weaver claimed. âPeople can huff and puff and try to blow houses down, they can introduce all the legislation that they want and say this and say that, but if they try to enact that legislation, the Attorney General in British Columbia has been very clear: we will sue.â
Speaking on Question Period, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe vehemently rejected Weaverâs stance.
âItâs not a bluff,â Moe said. âAnd second of all, speaking of unconstitutional, theyâre out of their realm. The whole approval of this pipeline, which is the catalyst of this conversation, is under the federal responsibility.â
B.C., Moe added, has no jurisdiction to thwart a federally-approved project that would limit Canadaâs landlocked provincesâ ability to export oil products.
âWhat we want is the construction to start on this pipeline so that we can⌠expand the value of our economy and expand our opportunities to contribute to this nation,â he said.
By tabling its own so-called âTurn off the Tapsâ legislation, Moe says Saskatchewan is sending the message that it âwonât be here to fill up those fuel tanksâ in B.C. after Albertaâs proposed oil ban bill goes through.
âThis is not legislation that we in any way want to use, but we feel that this is about the only tool that we have,â Moe said. âWe donât like doing it, we donât want to do it, but we will.â
âThereâs no standing down,â Weaver retorted. âWhat we have said all along as B.C. Greens is we are here to use the rule of the law to ensure that British Columbians are able to be protected from a potential spill -- not if, but when it occurs.â
Watch Question Period Sunday mornings on CTV, ŰÎŰ´ŤĂ˝ Channel, CTVNews.ca, and ŰÎŰ´ŤĂ˝ GO at 11 a.m. ET, 10 a.m. CT, 9 a.m. MT and 8 a.m. PT