The expansion to the Trans Mountain Pipeline was given the go-ahead by the federal government last week, and reaction from all sectors continues to come in. The pipeline, which runs from Edmonton to the British Columbia coast, has been the subject of much discussion, with the federal government stepping in and purchasing the pipeline from Kinder Morgan last August. The expansion of the pipeline was originally overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal, and new consultations for the pipeline started last November.

While oil from Saskatchewan won’t be going through the pipeline, it is still a project the Saskatchewan government has been pushing for. The hope is, with more oil getting to market through the pipeline, it will help the sector as a whole.

Dustin Duncan is the MLA for Weyburn-Big Muddy, as well as the Minister of the Environment, the Minister Responsible for the Water Security Agency, and the Minister Responsible for SaskPower.

“It’s good that it was approved by the federal government, but I think the real day will be not just the approval, and not even just shovels in the ground, but when the pipeline is in operation,” Duncan said Friday morning. “I think we’re a couple of years away from that, so I think we’re cautiously optimistic.”

The shovels could be in the ground as soon as the current construction season. When the approval for the project was announced last Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said work would be starting soon.

“We have been assured by the company that their plan is to start construction this summer,” the Prime Minister explained. “There is still a number of immediate steps to do in terms of permitting, but the pipeline is to have shovels in the ground this summer.”

This is where the cautiousness from the Saskatchewan government came into play.

“The approval is one thing, but actually, frankly, whether this federal government wants to see this pipeline constructed and operated is going to be an entirely different thing, and I think it’s incumbent on the Prime Minister to prove he wants it built, and to see it through,” Duncan stated.

The Trans Mountain Pipeline was constructed in 1952 and went into operation in 1953. Kinder Morgan had ownership of the pipeline, and the expansion project, before choosing to sell to the federal government for $4.5 billion dollars. The announcement of the purchase was made in May of 2018 and finalized last August.