Contentious infrastructure projects like Trans Mountain typically go through four stages: the review stage where the project application is reviewed by regulators and stakeholders participate in formal engagement processes; the political stage where authoritative decision-makers issue a formal decision; the judicial stage where the project is reviewed by the courts; and finally the on-the-ground stage of construction, physical demonstrations, and government response. These stages can overlap, and the process can circle back, as has occurred in the Trans Mountain case. With the regulatory and political stages of the re-approval complete, the case is now back in the hands of the Federal Court of Appeals.
The updating case study is available Trans Mountain Expansion Project – Policy Case V3 September 2019