The City of Burnaby intends to appeal the National Energy Board (NEB) decision to approve the Trans Mountain pipeline route through Burnaby to the Federal Court of Appeal within the next two weeks.
The NEB approved the route through Burnaby in April after detailed route hearings for Section 7 of the pipeline concluded. That ruling approves the path the pipeline will take and the construction methods used.
The City of Burnaby also filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Canada today (Wednesday) over the NEB decision made last year that allows Trans Mountain to bypass Burnaby tree and permitting bylaws. The Federal Court of Appeal previously rejected appeals from the city and from the provincial government in March.
Mayor Derek Corrigan said in a statement that Trans Mountain’s argument that the company should be allowed to bypass city bylaws because of time constraints is flawed.
“We believe that even federal pipelines should follow normal rules within municipalities, and that the time taken for regulatory review should be part of the process,” he said in press release. “We don’t believe the federally appointed NEB is the right place to review municipal processes. The court sysem should be the body that decides whether or not this is fair and just.”
In December, the NEB exempted Trans Mountain from following Burnaby’s permitting and tree bylaws because they said it would cause unreasonable delay, and in February, the city asked the Federal Court of Appeal for permission to appeal this ruling, but the request was denied.
