VICTORIA, B.C.: Conservative Interim Leader Trevor Halford issued the following statement in response to the government’s newly approved regulation for the North Coast Transmission Line:

“Just two weeks after we warned the Premier he would flip-flop again on a northern pipeline, his government has done exactly that, quietly authorizing BC Hydro to power the very petroleum and natural-gas facilities that would support a North Coast pipeline. On page 35 of the NDP’s own Order in Council, these facilities are now defined as ‘Eligible Projects’ for connection to the transmission line.

We have always been clear: a northern pipeline is an opportunity for jobs, economic growth, and long-term stability for British Columbia.

While the Premier was calling a northern pipeline a ‘fantasy,’ his Cabinet was quietly updating BC Hydro’s rules in a way that enables the very projects he insists aren’t real.

So, which is it? Is the Premier against a northern pipeline, or is he preparing the regulatory pathway for it behind closed doors? Industry and communities need certainty to plan and invest, but the Premier refuses to be clear and won’t say where a pipeline should go.

This government can’t keep rewriting the rules in secret. British Columbians deserve clarity and transparency.”

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Media Contact:
Ryan Painter
Communications
Ryan.Painter@leg.bc.ca