B.C. Conservatives criticize Alberta-Ottawa pipeline plan through southern route

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Conservatives criticize Alberta-Ottawa pipeline plan through southern route‘Over the years, ever since I was a kid, Delta farmland has been split up by this project or the other. Do we need one more huge interruption going through our farmland?’Last updated 10 minutes ago You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Farmland in Delta, B.C., around the proposed southern route of a new oil pipeline from Alberta. Critics say the area's farmers have already lost a lot of farmland due to the construction of multiple major transportation and resource projects. Photo by Jason Payne/PostmediaOTTAWA — The recently unveiled southern route for a proposed new West Coast oil pipeline is facing criticism from a surprising corner: provincial Conservatives in B.C.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERSEnjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. 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Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESCreate an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountThey say that the southerly route, which cuts through B.C.’s highly fertile Fraser Valley, places an unnecessary strain on already dwindling prime farmland in the area.The planned route, announced earlier this month by the federal and Alberta governments, will run some 1,200 kilometres from Bruderheim, Alta. southwest to Roberts Bank in Delta, B.C. The proposal was selected over an option to the B.C. north coast that was opposed by B.C. Premier David Eby.B.C. Conservative agriculture critic Ian Paton says he’s especially concerned as the party’s MLA for Delta South, the riding where the proposed pipeline would end.Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againPaton said the pipeline would deal yet another blow to his community’s farmers, who’ve already lost plenty of farmland during the construction of multiple major transportation and resource projects.“Over the years, ever since I was a kid, Delta farmland has been split up by this project or the other,” said Paton. “Do we need one more huge interruption going through our farmland in Delta?”He pointed to a provincial highway project that bisected Delta farms to give drivers a quick route to the U.S., a 70-kilometre rail corridor connecting Roberts Bank to the broader North American rail network, the construction of a massive coal export facility at Roberts Bank and the stringing of towering high-voltage power lines in the community, among other projects.B.C. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay, who represented part of Delta as a Conservative MP between 2011 and 2015, has also criticized the selection of the southern route, blaming Eby for blocking the northern route, which would have been shorter and closer to Asian export markets. The north option faced a moratorium on oil tanker traffic in the area imposed in 2019 by former prime minister Justin Trudeau, under pressure from environmental and First Nations activists who claimed it was ecologically unsafe. Carney initially indicated he might relax the moratorium, but ultimately agreed to keep it as part of a large infrastructure-spending deal with Eby in exchange for the premier promising not to oppose a new southern pipeline.“(Eby is) actively forcing our energy sector into longer, costlier southern routes that will cut through vital farmland just to satisfy a room full of activists,” Findlay wrote last week in a social media post.Delta, a city of just over 100,000 residents that sits in the southwest corner of the Fraser Valley, has historically been an agricultural powerhouse. The community sits on roughly a quarter of Metro Vancouver’s agricultural land base and produces almost 80 per cent of its cereal crops.Paton said that, while he’s not necessarily anti-development, he’s also concerned by the rate at which local farmland is dwindling.“The reason we’re called ‘Delta’ is because we’re on a flood plain of, like, million-year-old deposits … It’s some of the most beautiful, nutrient-rich soil in existence,” said Paton.“Once that prime farmland is gone, it’s gone forever.”The surrounding Fraser Valley, including several communities along the proposed pipeline’s route, is the most intensively farmed area in Canada.Paton told National Post that farming in the area has already been disrupted by the recent Trans Mountain pipeline expansion to nearby Burnaby, B.C.This advertisement has not loaded yet.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.“The process of running pipe through is very disruptive to whoever’s farming and sets food production back by at least a full year,” said Paton.He said that food growers in the area are just getting back to their normal rhythms.Harman Bhangu, the Conservative MLA for nearby Langley-Abbotsford, said he’s received a few anxious emails from farmers in his riding about the proposed pipeline. Bhangu said they didn’t fully oppose the pipeline but didn’t trust the government to manage the publicly owned project.Paton added that putting the terminus in Delta would mean building a new 260-hectare marine terminal on valuable farmland. This would include a massive new oil storage facility capable of holding 6.5 million barrels of oil.“We’d be talking about, like, 15 of these massive white storage tanks somewhere on farmland, right on the edge of the ocean,” he said.Paton said he was disappointed that the pipeline debate was dominated by concerns about sensitive ecosystems and marine life in northern B.C. but barely touched on his region’s food growing capacity.Delta city councillor and mayoral candidate Dylan Kruger said he shares Paton’s concerns about local farmland but was willing to wait and see what benefits the pipeline proposal would bring the community.“Farming is always going to be the core of who we are as a community but, at the same time, if the powers that be at the provincial and federal tables decide that this is the route, all we can do is work with higher levels of government,” said Kruger.“We’re not the decision makers in Delta… but we can sit down with the decision makers and ask how we can make this the safest and best project with the most benefits to the community,” he said.National Post rmohamed@postmedia.comOur website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. 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