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editorial

Having digested a setback in the courts, the federal government is relaunching environmental consultations for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. They should make sure to get it right this time.

The national interest is served by the project going ahead as soon as possible. Alberta needs to get more of its oil to tidewater, and the new pipeline runs along an existing route and provides a safe and efficient method of conveyance. It’s small wonder a large majority of Canadians support the idea.

That said, the impacts on marine life from increased tanker traffic along the British Columbia coastline merit careful analysis and a robust mitigation plan. The National Energy Board failed to consider this adequately the first time around. Ottawa has given the NEB 22 weeks to meet the court’s requirements.

Five months might also provide enough time to reboot the constitutionally mandated Indigenous consultation process, the second major deficiency identified in the Aug. 30 Federal Court of Appeal judgment that halted the project.

Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi said on Friday the government will outline those next steps soon. There’s no reason to dally, though: The appellate court judgment helpfully provided Ottawa with a clearly marked path for undertaking proper consultation.

It must focus on Indigenous rights; it must constitute a “considered, meaningful dialogue” and “a process of give and take”; it requires the involvement of government representatives who are “empowered to do more than take notes”; it must be undertaken in good faith, not as a fig leaf for a preordained course of action.

There are no requirements as to how lengthy the process must be, and the government’s initial consultation framework is legally valid – there is no obligation to start over.

Notwithstanding the continuing outcry from opponents, the three-judge panel also reaffirmed aboriginal groups do not have a veto and that “Canada is not to be held to a standard of perfection in fulfilling its duty to consult.”

No one is asking for perfect. Competent, frank and thorough will suffice.

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