B.C. files constitutional challenge of Alberta’s fuel restriction law

VICTORIA – The British Columbia government has launched a lawsuit and is prepared to ask for an injunction and damages against Alberta over that province's recently passed fuel restriction law.

B.C. Attorney General David Eby says the government filed a statement of claim in Alberta's Court of Queen's Bench challenging the constitutionality of Alberta's Preserving Canada's Economic Prosperity Act.

The legal action says Alberta's law is unconstitutional because it is intended to punish B.C. by limiting exports of fuel products.

The court action comes amid increasing tension over B.C.'s opposition to the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline project from Alberta to the West Coast.

Pipeline company Kinder Morgan has ceased all non-essential spending on the project until it receives assurances it can proceed without delays, setting a May 31 deadline for those guarantees.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley bowed out of a Western premier's meeting this week saying she didn't think she could politely discuss pharmacare when one of the other premiers is trying to "choke the economic lifeblood" out of her province.