Ottawa not closing the door to incentives if B.C. caves on pipeline

Canada's minister of natural resources is not closing the door to offering incentives to British Columbia in an effort to cool the heated battle raging over the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

Alberta and B.C. have been clashing over the project.

Last week, B.C. Premier John Horgan proposed restrictions to bitumen shipments that would flow through the pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast. In response, Rachel Notley pulled Alberta back from purchasing hydro power and wine from their western neighbour.

Relations have gotten so bad, the prime minister and federal cabinet have stepped in.

• B.C. Premier John Horgan says he 'will not be distracted' by Alberta wine ban
• Alberta government boycotts B.C. wine

Justin Trudeau has promised the expansion will be built, even if he has to go over the heads of the provinces.

His natural resources minister agrees.

"We've made it as clear as we can that no provincial government can infringe upon federal jurisdiction," Jim Carr told The House.

Ottawa stands ready to shut down dispute

B.C. has been stalling, saying they want more consultations done on the impact of the expansion, but Carr says he and his colleagues currently working on the issue stand ready to forcefully shut the dispute down.

If B.C. makes good on their threat to restrict the bitumen shipments, Ottawa will act "immediately," Carr said.

In spite of the bad blood, he hasn't closed the door on offering B.C. incentives if they allow the project quickly.

"Conversations are going on," he said. "You always have to assume in this business that people are reasonable."

Time is of the essence, he added, but he has no idea what the timeline might look like.

As the debate continues, Alberta may hold the high ground, legally speaking.

Carissima Mathen, a law professor from the University of Ottawa, explained that the federal government has always held the constitutional right to the final word on pipelines. 

"No province is able to intervene in that process and they can't use their own law-making authority to try and create other obstacles or barriers to do that," she said. 

Even if the provinces don't have a legal leg to stand on, Carr wants a peaceful resolution.

"It's in Canada's interest to calm the temperature down and look for a very quick way out of the conundrum people have created."

B.C. not backing down from blocking pipeline, Green leader says

No amount of incentives will coerce the British Columbian government to back down from their fight against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, according to the Green party leader.

Andrew Weaver told The House the response from the federal government isn't doing much to fix the fundamental issue with the project: it's bad for the environment.

"British Columbia must defend its citizens and that is what it is doing," he said.

"There's a fundamental problem here, we should not be turning Vancouver into a major exporter of fossil fuels."

As the Alberta-B.C. battle over the pipeline drags on, the federal minister of natural resources told The House he wasn't taking incentives off the table to motivate B.C. to cool down.

But Weaver strongly rejected that idea, and added Premier John — Horgan who the Greens supported when the NDP promised to try to stop the pipeline expansion — does as well.

"He has the same line in the sand, it's not as if it's my line in the sand or his line in the sand, both parties campaigned on exactly the same thing," Weaver said.

However, it shouldn't be about politics, he maintains, instead the provincial and federal governments need to "step above" politics and make the right choice.

Ontario's Progressive Conservative candidates weigh in on the leadership race

Three candidates, so far, have stepped into the race to lead Ontario's Progressive Conservatives following the resignation of Patrick Brown.

Caroline Mulroney, Doug Ford and Christine Elliott have officially entered one of the shortest leadership campaigns in Canadian history — with barely a month left before party members will choose their new leader on March 10.

Though they're all vying for the same position, their approaches couldn't be more distinct.

Mulroney says her background in law offers her a different perspective on politics. Ford is telling voters he wants to take down the elites. And Elliott vows she'll use her political experience to remove the "rot" from the party.

Their tactics differ greatly, but their contempt of a carbon tax is universal. 

Ford and Elliott spoke to us this week about why they are the candidate who can lead a recovering party to victory.

Mulroney cancelled her interview.