Alberta heavy oil producers need more pipeline capacity as their production grows but pipeline capacity stays the same. British Columbia’s new NDP government, which came into office last year, however, is against any new oil pipelines, although it doesn’t mind getting the crude it gets currently through the existing pipeline. The government has repeatedly cited higher risks of spills not just along the pipeline but at the port of Vancouver from where the crude sent via Trans Mountain should be loaded and sent to international markets.

The federal government has supported the project from day one, but its support has not been enough to put an end to the BC opposition. After months of interprovincial wrangling during which time Kinder Morgan had suspended almost all work on the project, the company gave Ottawa an ultimatum to either suggest a solution to the problem or watch Kinder Morgan walk away from the whole thing. The solution the government picked was buying the project itself and making it happen.