The Province of British Columbia referred the constitutionality of proposed amendments to the Environmental Management Act to the British Columbia Court of Appeal.
The proposed amendments would have introduced a hazardous substance permit system regulating the presence of heavy oil in the province, directly impacting the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
The BCCA held that the proposed amendments fell outside provincial legislative authority because their pith and substance — placing conditions on, and if necessary prohibiting, carriage of heavy oil through an interprovincial undertaking — related to Parliament's jurisdiction over federal undertakings under s. 92(10) of the Constitution Act, 1867.
The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously dismissed the appeal, adopting the reasons of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia.
