NDP Leader John Horgan not convinced by Alberta premier's Kinder Morgan sales job

B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan said he was not convinced by Alberta Premier Rachel Notley's pitch to support the twinning of Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline.

The pair met in Vancouver on Monday night as part of Notley's two day trip to Metro Vancouver. The Alberta premier has done a number of media interviews in an attempt to convince British Columbians the project that was approved last week by the federal government is beneficial to the West Coast.

"Rachel Notley has to support the best interests of Alberta. But my responsibility as leader of the opposition and someone who wants to lead the government in a few short months, my responsibility is to protect the public interest here," said Horgan. "I believe and I made it clear to the premier that I don't want to see a seven-fold increase of tanker traffic coming out our greatest city, nor do British Columbians."

Pitching spill response

Notley said her government is taking steps to be a sustainable energy producer and plans on taking provincial benefits from oil production to reinvest in the diversification and greening of the economy.

The Alberta premier also pointed at Conference Board of Canada data that shows a $1 billion GDP increase for British Columbia from the Trans Mountain expansion by the time the project is done.

Notley argued that the federal government has already made huge strides in protecting British Columbia's coast by investing $1.5 billion in an Oceans Protection Plan.

But when Horgan was asked whether that plan was good enough to get his support, he said the recent Nathan E. Stewart spill has reminded him there is no proper coastline response in place now.

"Until such time I am confident of that, that I and British Columbians are confident of that, I don't see that sell job or any other sell job working," said Horgan.

Mutual respect

The two NDP leaders have known each other for almost 20 years. They first worked together when Notley worked in the Attorney General's office under then-premier Glen Clark. 

"I have a great deal of respect for John Horgan. He and I have been friends for years. I believe overall there are far more issues that unite us than divide us," said Notley, when asked about the two NDP leaders being spilt on the Kinder Morgan issue.