Barriers to and Opportunities for Intergovernmental Conflict Resolution: A Case Study of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion
Date
2023-04-19
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
0009-0000-0122-2914
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Doctoral
Abstract
Federalism can exacerbate tensions around the uneven geographical distribution of natural resources. Related conflicts recur in Canada, a federal state with an uneven distribution of petroleum products across its provinces and territories. A salient example of intergovernmental conflict over petroleum products is the dispute over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. This research examines the conflict among the Governments of Canada, British Columbia, and Alberta around Trans Mountain, focusing on the barriers to intergovernmental conflict resolution and mitigation in Canada and the requirements any policy options must fulfill to overcome these barriers. A mainly qualitative approach addresses these issues. Specifically, this research combines global energy governance and John L. Campbell’s typology of ideas to create a new approach. Campbell is more central to this research. This approach is applied to a secondary statistical analysis of public opinion polling, a thematic analysis of key actors’ public documents, and an analysis of interviews I conducted with key actors.
This research finds that together, competitive federalism and the joint decision trap prevent conflict resolution. Accordingly, this research produces a list of barriers to resolving this intergovernmental conflict and requirements for mitigating this conflict. By identifying these requirements, I create and apply an original approach that future studies can use to test the likelihood of success for policy options to mitigate similar intergovernmental conflicts over natural resources. This research’s evaluation of potential mitigation tools suggests that 1) federal and provincial teams dedicated to large projects help bureaucrats complete these projects; 2) policies protecting the environment decrease tensions among actors; and 3) leveraging communication through partisan affiliations decreases tension.
Description
Keywords
intergovernmental relations, Canada
Citation
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Department
Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy
Program
Public Policy