Premiers Can’t Veto Energy East: MLI’s Newman – MLI

Given the current spat between Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, it’s worth revisiting MLI’s commentary on the energy East Pipeline debate. Wall has accused Notley of conceding that Ontario and Quebec can veto the pipeline if Alberta’s record on Oil Patch greenhouse gas emissions doesn’t improve. Notley responded that negotiations are preferable to confrontation and accused Wall of “showboating”. Who’s right?

The dust up at the Council of the Federation meetings this week in St. John’s continues a debate from late last year, when then Alberta Premier Jim Prentice met with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard to discuss “conditions” for approval of the pipeline by the Eastern Provinces. MLI Senior Fellow Dwight Newman described this as a “shameful state of affairs” in a December, 2014, Globe and Mail column that clearly debunked the notion that the provincial leaders had any constitutional authority to make demands. A long line of cases recognize that interprovincial pipelines are a mode of transportation.

Read More: http://www.macdonaldlaurier.ca/premiers-cant-veto-energy-east-mlis-newman/