Amid continued turmoil over the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, a social media post by a Kamloops city councillor is turning heads on both sides of the dispute.
In a Tweet on Wednesday, Coun. Donovan Cavers dared federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau to cancel equalization payments to B.C.
“@JustinTrudeau Pull. Your. Head. Out. Of. Your. Montréal. B…” Cavers wrote.
Morneau go for it. Cancel equalization payments to #BC. I dare you...
— Donovan Cavers (@DonovanCavers) April 11, 2018
Hey #Cascadia! looking pretty fit these days. : )@JustinTrudeau Pull. Your. Head. Out. Of. Your. Montréal. B...#Canada#UnitedStates#Cascadia
*draft bioregional map including some portions of the "U"S pic.twitter.com/iwblHn4twj
In a follow-up Tweet, he called on climate-change deniers, with the hashtag #worsebeforebetter.
Following an emergency federal cabinet meeting this week, Morneau wouldn’t speculate on whether financially penalizing B.C. remained an option as the feds work towards salvaging the pipeline project.
“I’m not going to publicly negotiate with any one of the parties,” he said. “Public threats, in my estimation, aren’t helpful.”
However, Morneau said Wednesday the government is considering “legal, regulatory and financial” ways to ensure the $7.4-billion expansion isn’t hampered any further.
The recent tension comes after Kinder Morgan announced it would be suspending all unnecessary spending on the project while Premier John Horgan continues to fight it.
Many called out Cavers for being disrespectful and not having British Columbians’ best interest at heart, while others supported his move.
Former Liberal MLA Terry Lake called Cavers’ comments “insulting to every Canadian who has fought for our country.”
- with files from The Canadian Press