British Columbia is suing Alberta because it says a new law, enacted last week, that restricts oil exports to British Columbia is unconstitutional.
The B.C. government filed a statement of claim Tuesday in Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench challenging Alberta’s Preserving Canada’s Economic Prosperity Act. Attorney General David Eby said the law is unconstitutional because it creates economic discrimination through trade sanctions, and because he says provinces cannot restrict trading of refined fuels.
The Alberta law is meant to punish British Columbia and put pressure on the government to withdraw the reference case that asks permission to stop bitumen transported without operators filing permits and environmental plans, according to the filing.
That law, too, could have a significant impact on Burnaby’s Parkland Refinery.
“[T]he Parkland refinery, located in Burnaby, produces some of the gasoline and diesel consumed in British Columbia. The majority of the Parkland’s refinery crude oil feedstock is imported from Alberta,” reads the filing. “A significant disruption in the supply of gasoline, diesel and crude oil from Alberta to British Columbia would cause British Columbia irreparable harm.”
Eby told reporters Tuesday that a stop of fuel could harm First Nations in the province that rely on diesel-powered generators for electricity, and for communities only accessible by boat.
“Any time the electricity supply is disrupted, and these remote communities that rely on diesel power generators, that has a significant impact on those communities,” he said.
Eby sent a letter to Alberta Premier Rachel Notley last week prior to a vote on the bill, asking her to submit disagreements with B.C.’s current cases in court, rather than “responding with threats of economic harm.”
Eby noted the Supreme Court of Canada case R. v. Comeau (2018), which he says states that provinces can restrict trade in order to protect health and safety of residents, but not for the primary purpose of punishing another province.
