BC's Anti-Pipeline Law Is Unconstitutional

Reference re Environmental Management Act (British Columbia), 2019 BCCA 181

On Friday May 24^th, the BC Court of Appeal held that BC's proposed legislation blocking the Trans Mountain pipeline is unconstitutional. In a clear decision curtailing the provinces' ability to interfere with federal undertakings, the Court reaffirmed that pipelines and railways cannot be subject to a patchwork of provincial laws. If upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada, the Court's decision will provide considerable certainty for present and future federal projects.

The proposed legislation (the "Proposed Legislation") prohibits anyone from possessing "heavy oil" in quantities greater than that possessed between 2013 and 2017, unless they obtain a discretionary permit from BC. The definition of "heavy oil" was such that it essentially only applied to synthetic crude oil that originated outside BC.