Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 52, I am requesting an emergency debate on the Trans Mountain expansion project. On April 16, the House did convene an emergency debate on Trans Mountain which was granted because thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of investment were at risk, but today thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of investment in Canada and the Trans Mountain expansion itself all remain at risk.
There are two new developments that warrant Parliament convening another emergency debate. The first is the federal government's purchase of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline. Construction is stalled indefinitely, costs are increasing and Canadian taxpayers deserve answers as to how and when the expansion of the pipeline they now own will be built. The government was forced to take over the expansion because the Liberals failed to provide certainty that construction could proceed even though they promised legislation in the spring that they failed to deliver. The second development was the Federal Court of Appeal ruling that the Liberals failed to adequately consult first nations on the expansion.
Thousands of workers had jobs that they were about to start but which disappeared overnight. For almost three weeks these laid-off workers have been questioning if they should wait for work to resume or if they should find alternative employment. To date, the federal government has yet to announce a plan for how it will either fulfill the requirements of the Federal Court of Appeal and/or ensure the expansion can proceed through other means. The Liberals have delivered no plan at all.
Last week, Minister Sohi said it would be a matter of days before the plan was released—