This government made a decision that violates every principle of sustainable development

Elizabeth May

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Drummond for his speech.

I too am extremely shocked at the decision to buy the Burnaby pipeline from Kinder Morgan for $4.5 billion. Even worse, that only includes the existing pipeline, which is now over 60 years old. The government also promised to expand the pipeline, a highly controversial move, since it will infringe indigenous rights and go against British Columbia’s interests.

What does my colleague think of the fact that we are debating a bill on sustainable development on the very day the government made a decision that violates every principle of sustainable development?

François Choquette Member for Drummond

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. Green Party colleague for her very relevant question.

My colleague mentioned other broken promises. The failure with Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline is just one in a long string of promises broken by the Liberal government. The Liberals said that once they took office, they would review the environmental process that Stephen Harper and the Conservatives trashed. Instead of fulfilling their promise, the Liberals dragged their feet. They did not table the review of the bill on environmental assessment until today, in June, three years into their term. They cannot say they have not been dragging their feet. That is how they ended up approving this terrible pipeline project based on inaccurate environmental assessments from a process that had been completely butchered by the Harper government and the Conservatives. The Liberals are responsible for their own failure on this file.