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Killoran said strong and vocal opposition by Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan to the project has created an atmosphere of opposition, even if the mayor has not specifically interfered in the process.

“He doesn’t have to. He’s in the newspaper, regularly, this is their leader. He’s in the newspaper, on the radio, he’s everywhere. He’s on the radio saying who’s going to stand with me and stop the bulldozers?”

“It has poisoned the well within the city of Burnaby. We are not going to get an efficient process there,” said Killoran.

Burnaby, however, said there’s been no unreasonable or illegitimate delay, no intention from city officials to do so, and that it is the company that is to blame for the slow pace of permitting.

“It is our position that the time for permit processing here has been primarily driven by the incompetence, or the ineptness perhaps, or at least the inexperience, of the consultants for Trans Mountain in complying with basic municipal approval processes,” said Gregory McDade, Burnaby’s lawyer.

“Trans Mountain has failed to put in a minimally viable application that almost any experienced developer in the city of Burnaby or other major cities would have known to put in.”

McDade said it’s up to Trans Mountain to prove there has been an unreasonable delay or intention to delay, and that it hasn’t done so.

In legal filings, Burnaby also said that Trans Mountain didn’t apply for its Burnaby permits until June, with no explanation as to why they waited so long after receiving federal approval in November, 2016.

Michael Davies, Kinder Morgan Canada’s vice president of operations, said in an affidavit that it could cost the company between $30 million to $35 million in salaries, corporate support and other expenses for each month of delay in the project, while the company stands to lose more than $90 million in revenue for every month the start-up is delayed.