Ever since widespread protests over the Keystone XL pipeline swept the U.S. last year, Canadian oil companies have been looking at different ways of getting their crude to the global market. The latest project is an expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline which would increase the capacity of oil traveling from northern Alberta’s tar sands to British Columbia’s Pacific coast. But the indigenous people of British Columbia are divided on whether or not the pipeline project violates their sovereignty over the Canadian province.

Meanwhile, the progressive government of Justin Trudeau has doubled down on efforts to build the pipeline, despite recommitting to the Paris climate accord. Kathryn Harrison, a professor of Political Science at the University of British Columbia, believes approval of the popular Trans Mountain Pipeline rests on the political failure of the Paris climate agreement. She argues while it would be good for Canada’s economy in the short term, it would be bad for both the country’s climate goals and sustained economic development. Harrison joins Worldview to discuss the Trans Mountain Pipeline.