Article content

The Alberta government is hoping the tide will finally turn in 2018 when it comes to getting a pipeline to tidewater built.

The NDP government saw a clear path forward for the expansion of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline to the British Columbia coast when the Trudeau cabinet approved the project in late 2016.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Notley optimistic about pipeline progress in 2018 Back to video

But there has been continued environmental, Indigenous and municipal opposition to the pipeline on the west coast, with the situation further complicated when B.C.’s new NDP government took office in July, pledging to use whatever tools were in its toolbox to stop the pipeline.

As the new year turns, however, Premier Rachel Notley sees progress in the fight for the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain project, which is viewed as crucial in opening the Asian market to and gaining better prices for Alberta’s oilsands crude.

“I’m cautiously optimistic we will see shovels in the ground in 2018, yes,” she said in a year-end interview with Postmedia at McDougall Centre.