Prince George Citizen September 12, 2019 by Prince George Citizen

Thursday, September 12, 2019 | Your community newspaper since 1916

CITIZEN PHOTOS BY BRENT BRAATEN

LEFT: Campaign signs for local Liberal candidate Tracy Calogheros are displayed in the window of her campaign office at 15th Avenue and Spruce Street. RIGHT: Eric Depenau puts up a campaign sign for Conservative MP Todd Doherty along Foothills Boulevard on Wednesday.

Ethics, values questioned on Day 1 of election campaign Stephanie LEVITZ The Canadian Press OTTAWA — An election campaign sure to feature plenty of pocketbook promises got underway amid deeper questions of ethics and values Wednesday as federal leaders challenged Canadians to consider the kind of country they want to vote for 40 days from now. A front-page story about the SNC-Lavalin affair cast a pall over Justin Trudeau’s Liberal campaign launch, while Andrew Scheer’s kickoff bid for Conservative support in Quebec prompted questions about that province’s controversial secularism law. “We’ve done a lot together these past four years, but the truth is we’re just getting started,” said Trudeau, moments after asking Governor General Julie Payette to dissolve Parliament and launch the campaign for the Oct. 21 vote. “Canadians have an important choice to make – will we go back to the failed policies of the past or will we continue to move forward?” Clouding his optimism was SNC-Lavalin, given fresh life by a Globe and Mail report that the RCMP’s investigation into potential obstruction of justice has been hamstrung by the shroud of cabinet confidence. Asked what his government is hiding, Trudeau would only say that his Prime Minister’s Office issued the largest waiver of cabinet confidences in Canadian history – a decision that was made earlier this year at the height of the tempest, to allow former minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to testify.

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He stayed largely mum when questions about the controversy, which reached a fresh crescendo in August when the ethics commissioner declared Trudeau broke the law by trying to influence a decision on whether the Quebec engineering firm should go to trial on charges related to alleged corrupt dealings in Libya. “My job as prime minister is to be there to stand up for and defend Canadians’ jobs,” he said when asked if he’d made personal mistakes. “I will always defend the public interest.” When it comes to Quebec’s controversial Bill 21, which bans religious symbols in

public service, Trudeau suggested for now he’s content to let questions about whether that’s in the public interest rest with the courts. “I’m very pleased that Quebecers themselves have chosen to contest this bill in court, to stand up and defend the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” he said. “I have been watching very closely the process, considering the federal potential actions, and at this time I feel it would be counterproductive for the federal government to engage in this process.” Quebec Premier Francois Legault urged the leaders to keep the law off the federal

agenda, and to promise not to challenge it in court. “Bill 21, which prohibits religious signs for people in authority, was adopted legitimately. A large majority of Quebecers support Bill 21. So I think Quebecers have the right to know. I would like the leaders of the federal parties to commit to not participate directly or indirectly, in any judicial challenge to this law.” While Trudeau has repeatedly said he is against the bill, Scheer – kicking off his campaign in Quebec, where the measure is broadly popular – dodged the question, repeating only that it was up to the courts and that a Conservative government would not introduce a similar federal bill. Indeed, Scheer had more pressing matters to attend to Wednesday – namely, siphoning votes away from a resurgent Bloc Quebecois. “It’s not the Bloc that will replace Justin Trudeau, it’s not the Bloc that will leave more money in your pockets,” an energized Scheer told the crowd. “Quebecers can only rely on us, Bloc members of Parliament will always be powerless spectators.” Scheer kicked off his campaign energized by the rekindled SNC saga, a central element of the party’s preferred narrative: that ethics scandals have robbed Trudeau of the moral authority to govern. “You just cannot trust Justin Trudeau,” Scheer said. “He will say anything to cover up his scandals, he will say anything to get re-elected.” — see ‘THIS IS THE, page 3

Trans Mountain expansion project faces delays: report Laura KANE The Canadian Press VANCOUVER — Construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will likely be delayed due to detailed route hearings, outstanding provincial permits and Indigenous court challenges, says a report from environmental group Stand.earth. The report argues that the Crown corporation that owns the project faces bigger construction challenges than it has openly acknowledged and is unlikely to complete it within a planned three-year timeline. Many details of construction are publicly available, but they are complex and buried on the website of the Canadian Energy Regulator, formerly the National Energy Board, Tzeporah Berman of Stand.earth told a news conference Wednesday. “The lack of transparency about the impacts and timeline of the potential construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline has been worse since the federal government bought it,” she said.

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CP FILE PHOTO

Pipeline sections are stacked at a Trans Mountain facility near Hope on Aug. 22. “Canadian taxpayers who are the ones paying for this multibillion-dollar project have a right to know the impacts that construction will have on communities

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and the environment.” The Canadian Energy Regulator revoked all previous route approvals in July and required Trans Mountain Corp. to file new

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notices of its proposed route. Residents, municipalities and Indigenous groups may then file statements of opposition and the regulator decides on a segmentby-segment basis whether to hold detailed route hearings. The environmental group’s report says statements of opposition have been filed in every major segment and hearings are likely to be considered for the Fraser River crossing, Burnaby Mountain Tunnel, and areas where schools, homes and municipal water supplies could be affected. Stand.earth adds the project needs 1,187 permits from British Columbia and as of June, the province was reviewing 658 permits, while applications for a further 243 have not made yet. It also notes that the Federal Court of Appeal has granted six Indigenous groups leave to challenge the federal government’s approval of the expansion. The court called for narrowly focused hearings with a strict timeline. Trans Mountain has said that it is proceeding with the project in

Petrochemical plant responds to concerns OPINION 6

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a phased approach, starting construction where it has received permits, and that it has begun work on its terminals in Burnaby and plans to start work in the Greater Edmonton area soon. The Crown corporation said it expects the project to be operational by mid-2022. The report also highlights seven construction areas in B.C. that it says pose risk to surrounding communities: the Westridge Marine Terminal, Burnaby tank farm, Burnaby Mountain tunnel, Sumas tank farm, Coquihalla River crossing, Fraser River crossing and temporary work camps. These work camps or “man camps,” temporary housing facilities for predominantly male workers, will be established in at least five B.C. communities during construction. The recent report following the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women linked such camps to higher rates of violence against Indigenous women. — see ‘WE’RE CONFIDENT, page 3

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