Oil sands pipelines have been one of the most divisive issues in Canadian politics
during the past decade. This paper uses the case of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain
Pipeline proposal to illuminate the political dynamics of energy in Canada in the
2010s. The Harper era was characterized by aggressive pressure for resource
development, weakening environmental protection, and intensive resistance from
environmentalists and First Nations. Like the Northern Gateway Pipeline, Kinder
Morgan’s project is also opposed by environmentalists and many First Nations, and
municipal governments. In November 2014, on the ground resistance resulted in the
arrest of over 100 protesters. Despite the election of the Liberal government in
Ottawa and an NDP government in Alberta, controversy continues to rage.
The politics of this pipeline has in large part been “the politics of structure,” or the
struggle over defining the institutional rules of the game. Major political, legal, and
physical conflicts have erupted over what issues should be under consideration and
who gets to decide. This paper will use process tracing and a review of government
documents, opinion polls, and media content analysis, to document how this case
reveals the larger politics of energy that have characterized Canadian energy and
environmental policy in the 2010s.
George Hoberg
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