Canada’s Top Court Declines to Hear Trans Mountain Challenges

(Bloomberg) -- The Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear five challenges to the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion, adding to recent legal momentum for the project.

The court on Thursday denied applications from project opponents such as the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations and the Raincoast Conservation Foundation to appeal a federal court's rejection of their challenges in September, according to a posting on the court's site. The federal court did allow some other challenges to the line to proceed at that time.

The rejections handed down on Thursday increase the likelihood that the Trans Mountain expansion -- a key project for Canada's oil industry -- can proceed with construction and enter service on time. The project would help move 590,000 more barrels of oil from Edmonton to a shipping terminal near Vancouver, providing relief for Alberta oil producers that have suffered from a lack of pipeline capacity.

The Federal Court of Appeals last month ruled that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government adequately consulted with indigenous communities along the line's route, clearing a key legal hurdle for the project.

Construction is underway on the C$12.6 billion ($9.4 billion) project, which is owned by Canada's government, and it's scheduled to come into service by December 2022.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kevin Orland in Calgary at korland@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Casey at scasey4@bloomberg.net, ;Derek Decloet at ddecloet@bloomberg.net, Carlos Caminada, Joe Carroll

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