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Calgary-based Enbridge announces preliminary plans for a pipeline linking the Alberta oilsands to the West Coast.
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The company announces a deal with PetroChina Co. to transport oil from Alberta to the B.C. coast for export. The pipeline is expected to be in operation in 2010.
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With the National Energy Board process already underway, Enbridge announces it will delay Northern Gateway and focus on expanding pipelines to U.S. market.
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Coastal First Nations declares a ban on oil supertankers in waters off the northern coast of B.C. It is the first aboriginal ban on the project.
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Enbridge files its application to the National Energy Board to build the Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker terminal.
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The panel determines the company has submitted enough information for the project to proceed to public hearings.
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Then-natural resources minister Joe Oliver issues an open letter branding oil pipeline opponents “radicals” who are attempting to “hijack” the hearing process with funds from “foreign special interest groups.”
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Joint review panel begins public hearings, spending 18 months travelling throughout B.C. and Alberta.
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Federal government announces changes to Navigable Waters Act and Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. Changes include giving cabinet final decision on projects rather than regulators.
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The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board releases a damning report on a July 2010 spill of 3.3 million litres of diluted bitumen from an Enbridge pipeline into Kalamazoo River, likening the cleanup to Keystone Kops.
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B.C. Premier Christy Clark announces her government will not support Northern Gateway or any other oil pipeline project unless it meets five conditions, including a “fair share” of revenues for the province.
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Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver announces first of several changes to marine safety rules for oil tankers. Several measures will also be announced for pipeline liability on land.
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B.C. government lawyers tell the federal review panel that the province does not support the pipeline project as proposed.
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Federal review hearings come to a close.
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The B.C. government backs down on revenue-sharing, saying a share of Alberta’s revenues from heavy oil pipelines is no longer part of negotiations.
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Vancouver lawyer Doug Eyford issues a government-commissioned report saying Ottawa must build trust with First Nations.
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Federal joint review panel issues report recommending approval of Northern Gateway project, subject to 209 conditions.
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First of 10 applications filed in Federal Court and the Federal Appeal Court by environmental and First Nations groups seeking judicial review of panel recommendation to approve project.
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Residents of Kitimat, site of the proposed marine terminal, vote against Northern Gateway in non-binding municipal plebiscite with a vote of 58.4 per cent opposed and 41.6 per cent in favour.
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Transport Minister Lisa Raitt announces new rules for marine spill response.
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Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford announces more new rules for pipeline safety.
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Rickford announces Ottawa will open a major projects management office in B.C. to work with First Nations on energy projects.
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Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford gives the project federal approval, subject to the 209 recommendations already made by a joint review panel.
