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Justin Trudeau and ‘The Pipeline’
How he brought about this situation — and can’t get out.
On August 31st 2018, The Trudeau government purchased the Trans-Mountain Pipeline for $4.5 Billion. This move created a paradox between Justin Trudeau’s words and actions. Until then, Trudeau and his government had given air and attention to the environmental protestors choosing actively to not impose their federal powers in order to approve and build the pipeline. Many articles can be found with focuses on the actual ‘pros’, ‘cons’ and other opinions on the environmental impact of the pipeline. This article will explore the political developments since and the consequences in terms of political capital and power.
When Trudeau ran in 2015, he ran as a self proclaimed feminist, environmentalist and progressive. During this time there were pipeline protestors in both the US and Canada (in the US it was against the Dakota pipeline, while in Canada it was Trans Mountain). The Obama Administration tight rope walked their response in order to generate as little focus on the protests as possible. In the end, during the last month of his presidency he blocked the pipeline, realistically knowing that the pro-natural-gas President Trump would simply lift the block. Justin Trudeau on the other hand gave air to these protests in Canada by refusing to exert federal jurisdiction —…
