B.C. Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver doesn’t think the proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will ever go through.

“Frankly, and with oil prices below US$50 per barrel, I don’t see this project ever coming to fruition on the coast of British Columbia,” he told BNN in an interview Thursday.

Ottawa gave the project the green light in November, but it still faces regulatory hurdles including an environmental assessment.  

“Everybody knows that there was horse trading going on when the decision was made on Trans Mountain,” Weaver said of the project his party opposes. “It wasn’t about putting British Columbia’s interests first, it was about trying to get Alberta in on the national carbon pricing plan, which they did.”

“This was all about politics.”

Instead, Weaver said the Energy East pipeline, which has not yet been approved, would have made “some sense” because refineries already exist on the east coast.

He expects the environmental assessment judicial review of the proposed Trans Mountain to be “scathing,” adding there will be issues with First Nations consultations.

Weaver also pointed to the Paris Agreement, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed last year, and said the country can’t stick to the agreement while expanding oil sands production and reducing carbon emissions.  

“Mr. Trudeau wants to have his cake and eat it too – the reality is you can’t,” Weaver said.