‘We can do big things’: Rachel Notley pleased with NEB Trans Mountain approval recommendation

CALGARY — Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says she’s pleased the National Energy Board has conditionally approved the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion to the BC coast.

But she says there’s still a lot of work ahead.

“I believe in Canadian common sense,” she said Friday in Calgary. “And I believe in this country. We can do big things that make a difference if we do them right, and we do them in the national interest.”

The Federal Court of Appeal struck down the project’s original approval last summer, citing issues over the impact on marine life and Indigenous consultation.

READ MORE: New recommendations for Ottawa on Trans Mountain pipeline

The NEB says the project could cause environmental harm but that the benefits of the pipeline outweigh the effects.

Notley says she is not expecting the federal cabinet to approve the pipeline before the next provincial election, which by law has to happen before the end of May.

“When we lost the case in August, my biggest concern then was actually the NEB process. That, to me, was the process that could be dragged out much longer than it has been,” she said.

Opposition United Conservative Leader Jason Kenney says the NEB’s decision is clearly in the public interest.

He says the larger problem is that Alberta and the federal government failed to get action on other pipeline projects, such as Northern Gateway, Energy East and Keystone XL.