VANCOUVER—After all the legal arguments, impassioned protests and an interprovincial standoff, the federal government announced Tuesday that the $9.3-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will proceed.

Here’s what the decision means for supporters and opponents in Western Canada.

The project

The expansion will build a second, 1,100-km pipeline from Sherwood Park — a bedroom community just outside Edmonton — to the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, B.C. The new pipeline would follow a similar route to the existing 1,100-km pipeline, which was built in 1953 and took about 30 months to build.

The expansion would triple the transportation capacity of diluted bitumen — a thinned petroleum product, since bitumen is too thick to flow in a pipeline at ground temperature — to 890,000 barrels a day from 300,000. The pipeline would carry other petroleum products as well.

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The expansion is expected to lead to a sevenfold increase of tanker traffic through the Burrard Inlet to the Burnaby terminal. Trans Mountain estimates an additional 34 Aframax-size tankers, which are about 245 metres long, would dock at the terminal each month before heading through Vancouver Harbour and the Salish Sea to the Pacific, and on to international markets.

B.C. is pitting itself against Alberta and the federal government in a bid to stop the project, citing environmental concerns.

The Alberta government, along with business groups and some First Nations leaders, see the pipeline as a major economic opportunity.

According to Trans Mountain, the project will create the equivalent of 15,000 construction jobs and 37,000 other jobs each year over 20 years of operation.

It also says the pipeline twinning project will boost property-tax revenue to Alberta and B.C. municipalities along the pipeline route by $530-million over 20 years of operation, bring in another $46.7-billion in provincial and federal taxes, and result in $3.7-billion more in oil revenue from sales to international markets.

The controversy

The project has been mired in conflict in Western Canada, resulting in a standoff between neighbouring provinces.

Major opposition in British Columbia sparked protests at Kinder Morgan’s Burnaby Mountain tank farm last year, resulting in more than 220 arrests for defying a court injunction meant to keep people from blocking the gates. Protesters included a large number of seniors, politicians and Indigenous leaders and elders.

Read more: Can Trudeau’s government convince First Nations to allow the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion?

Pro-pipeline protests were prevalent in Calgary, as people called on Ottawa to hear their message as well. The most recent event took place this week, with thousands rallying to defend the energy sector.

People on both sides of the issue have spouted angry rhetoric toward Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for not supporting them.

The B.C. government, some First Nations, the cities of Vancouver and Burnaby and a number of environmental groups have concerns about the potential for devastating spills and leaks on land and water, the impact of increased shipping on endangered southern resident orcas and the increase in greenhouse gas emissions from the production, refining and combustion of oil. Opponents are also concerned about infringing on Indigenous rights, because some First Nations have not consented to the project.

Two weeks ago at a Vancouver rally, Chief Judy Wilson of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs said elders in her territory east of Kamloops will continue to fight the project even if it is approved because they say the Canadian government does not have jurisdiction over their traditional territories.

In February, the pro-pipeline, Alberta-organized United We Roll Convoy for Canada made a five-day journey to Parliament Hill to oppose energy and environmental policy and carbon pricing. It was originally organized under the yellow vest label — a movement some say was co-opted by extremists — but was rebranded to allow anyone with a grievance against the federal government to participate. The convoy was addressed by Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, Maxime Bernier, then leader of the populist People’s Party of Canada, and Conservative Sen. David Tkachuk.

In late May, the Alberta government rolled out a $2.75 million ad campaign that was splashed across buildings and broadcast over the airwaves in Vancouver, Ottawa, and Toronto.

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Read more: Vancouverites review Alberta’s $1.1 million Trans Mountain ad campaign: ‘It will be destroying the environment’

Then, in early June, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Burnaby, Mayor Mike Hurley told him the municipality was taking on most of the risk of the pipeline expansion while Alberta would receive the bulk of its economic benefits.

Although Indigenous communities belong to both pro and con camps, a competition for the right to buy an equity stake in the pipeline is heating up.

Project Reconciliation, an Indigenous-led, pro-pipeline consortium, invited participation from B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan last month to buy a 51 per cent stake in the Trans Mountain pipeline from the federal government for $6.8-billion.

In June, a rival, Alberta-based Indigenous group called Iron Coalition announced its intent to assemble a province-wide coalition of Indigenous support, inviting 47 First Nations and roughly 60 Métis organizations to join in a bid to buy an unspecified stake in the pipeline expansion.

Trans Mountain in the courts

Last spring, the B.C. government proposed amendments to environmental legislation that would require Trans Mountain or any company to obtain a permit before transporting any increase in heavy oil through B.C. The permits would have required companies to prove they had a plan to prevent spills and had the capacity to clean them up and compensate affected communities before moving any more bitumen through B.C.

In late May, five B.C. Court of Appeal justices unanimously struck down the proposal. They decided environmental protection is too important to belong to one level of government exclusively, because it affects the whole country and could affect or even stop the entire Trans Mountain operation.

Last year, the Federal Court of Appeal quashed the expansion project’s federal approval — a major victory for pipeline opponents, saying Ottawa’s consultation with First Nations was flawed and ignoring oil tanker risks was an “unjustified failure.”

In response, the federal government asked the National Energy Board to reconsider the project in light of risks to the marine environment. The federal government began new consultations with 117 Indigenous groups.

Read more: National Energy Board recommends Trans Mountain expansion move forward in public interest, despite environmental harm

In February, the NEB recommended the project move forward, giving Ottawa a 90-day period to make the final call, which would have been May 22. But in April, the government delayed its decision to June 18, to take more time for consultations with Indigenous communities.

What’s next?

It is unclear how long construction will take now that the pipeline has been approved.

Trans Mountain has said they would restart construction “once the necessary approvals and requirements are in place.” Before getting shovels in the ground, there are regulatory and commercial steps that need to be completed, a media spokesperson explained in an email.

Read more: ‘This is a country at war with itself on access to resources’: Who are the players behind pivotal win for pipeline opponents?

Meanwhile, B.C. Attorney General David Eby vowed to appeal the B.C. Court of Appeal decision to the Supreme Court of Canada. Last month, a legal expert said the country’s highest court could overturn the lower court’s decision.

With files from Ainslie Cruickshank, Alex Ballingall, David Ball, Kieran Leavitt, Wanyee Li and The Canadian Press

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