Advertisement 1

Construction on Trans Mountain pipeline goes on, company says, as First Nations concerned over COVID-19 risks

Some Indigenous communities are calling for a sharp halt to construction on major projects as COVID-19 cases in Canada continue to rise

Article content

OTTAWA — Construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline has continued despite concerns over workers contracting and spreading COVID-19, the Crown corporation building the $12.6-billion project said Monday.

Ian Anderson, the chief executive of publicly-owned Trans Mountain Corp., said the company is “continuously assessing this unprecedented situation” around COVID-19, as public-facing businesses across the country shut down in an effort to stem the spread of the virus. Some First Nations have called on Ottawa in recent days to shut down various major projects, including the construction of the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline in northern B.C. and the Site C hydro dam.

Advertisement 2
Story continues below
Article content

Reporters asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau whether construction of the Trans Mountain expansion would continue, given fears among First Nations that transient workers could spread the virus to their communities.

Article content

“There are several decisions being made across the country regarding who is an essential worker, who is not and what work can continue during this time and who should not,” he said, adding he’d aim to clarify the situation Tuesday around Trans Mountain, which the government bought for $4.4 billion in 2018.

Recommended from Editorial
  1. The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed five leaves to appeal mounted by environment and Indigenous groups, all of which wanted the court to hear arguments about whether cabinet's decision to approve the pipeline violated the Species at Risk Act due to fears the project would harm the highly endangered southern resident killer whales.
    Supreme Court will not hear Trans Mountain pipeline expansion appeal cases
  2. Pipe for the Trans Mountain pipeline is unloaded in Edson, Alta. on Tuesday, June 18, 2019.
    Cost to build Trans Mountain pipeline jumps 70% to $12.6 billion
  3. The Trans Mountain Expansion Project pipe going in the ground west of Edmonton.
    With its legal hurdles all but cleared, Trans Mountain's challenges move to a different court — the street

Anderson said in a statement that the company “will do everything in our power to not put workers, communities and Indigenous peoples at any COVID-19 risk.”

Designating which industries fall under essential services is a provincial responsibility, rather than a federal one.

Oil and gas workers in both British Columbia and Alberta fall under the “essential services” category, and so have remained on the job. However, in B.C. it is unclear whether those essential services extend to workers building new pipeline infrastructure, rather than existing plants and leases that feed daily demand.

Advertisement 3
Story continues below
Article content

Some Indigenous communities are calling for a sharp halt to construction on major projects as COVID-19 cases in Canada continue to rise. In a letter to Trudeau on Monday, the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs called on Ottawa to “act swiftly” and shut down all construction of the Coastal GasLink project, which would feed gas into the $40-billion LNG Canada facility on the West Coast.

There are several decisions being made across the country regarding who is an essential worker

“The risks posed by continued work on the Coastal GasLink project are ones that were not consented to, and ones that leaders and officials raised warnings about in advance of the project’s approval,” the group said.

A list of essential services issued by B.C. included infrastructure that is “critical in supporting daily essential electricity needs” as well as oil and natural gas production.

The Alberta government published a list of essential services that more explicitly included “energy” construction projects that “ensure safe and reliable operations of critical provincial and municipal infrastructure.”

Transportation and transit were also included as essential construction projects.

• Email: jsnyder@postmedia.com | Twitter:

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here.

Article content
Comments
You must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments.
Join the Conversation

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

Latest from Shopping Essentials
  1. Advertisement 2
    Story continues below
This Week in Flyers