UBC experts were interviewed in a number of media outlets following the federal approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
The Trans Mountain pipeline may not have the social license to proceed, environmental and natural resource policy professor George Hoberg told CBC (online, On the Money, at 2:20 and the evening news, at 7:55). But the courts might take a more lenient view of the project because Justin Trudeau’s government held more consultations with First Nations than the previous government.
Political scientist Kathryn Harrison spoke to Metro News and CBC’s BC Almanac (starts at 2:00). “The federal government is doubling down on continued reliance, and indeed expansion, of Canada’s oil industry. It’s pretty much a sure thing that there will first be lots of litigation and I expect we will see a lot of protests in the streets,” she said.
Indigenous legal studies director Gordon Christie talked to CBC about the consultation process with First Nations, and said the Crown has a duty to consult with First Nations on projects affecting their rights, though the two sides are not required to agree.
