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The Canadian government is “determined that the pipeline will be built,” Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr reiterated to reporters in Ottawa Tuesday.

Legislation to push the project ahead remains an option, he said, without elaborating. The federal government, along with the province of Alberta, are considering financial support for the project, which would almost triple capacity on a line that ends in a terminal near Vancouver.

“I’m confident there will be a solution,” Carr said.

Opposition Mounts

That solution shouldn’t count on local opposition giving way, according to Robertson, whose decade-long tenure as mayor of Canada’s third-biggest city ends in October.

“I don’t think the resistance on the west coast is going to fade — I think it will only intensify,” he said. “Escalation looks likely.”

Photo by Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press

A Nanos Research poll released this week indicated that while six in 10 Canadians want the project to proceed, an equal proportion are concerned that the dispute challenges how Canada functions as a federation. Alberta has threatened trade sanctions against neighbouring British Columbia, arguing that the pipeline bottleneck is costing Canada about $15 billion a year in discounted crude.

Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd. didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Global Warming

For Robertson, 53, who presides over a city of 600,000 people where half the population takes transit, walks or rides a bike to work, the issue goes beyond a single pipeline in the fight against global warming.