The Trans Mountain saga is nearing its end — the larger debate will go on

Five and a half years later, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland used her budget speech to celebrate the fact that the Trans Mountain expansion is nearing completion — an achievement she held out as evidence of what an "activist" federal government can accomplish.

to get out of the way, it's worth remembering that the New Democrats were dependent on a confidence-and-supply agreement with Green MLAs that committed the provincial government to using "every tool available" to block the project.

It takes some imagination to believe Trudeau would agree to purchase a pipeline for $4.5 billion in public funds — inviting no end of criticism from progressive rivals and environmentalists — without intending to see the expansion completed.

Scott McBride, of Nanaimo, B.C., holds a caricature of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a protest against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in Burnaby, B.C., on Saturday, March 10, 2018.

And by 2019 — after the government had let Northern Gateway die and Energy East had been abandoned — the Trans Mountain expansion was the only pipeline proposal left standing.

While his critics insisted that "climate leaders don't build pipelines" — another simplistic slogan — Trudeau positioned the project within the larger cause of transitioning to a clean economy.