CALGARY - A TransCanada spokesman says the company was taken aback when the Quebec government announced it's planning legal action over the Energy East pipeline.
Tim Duboyce says the Calgary-based firm believed issues surrounding the province's review of the cross-Canada oil pipeline had long been resolved.
Quebec Environment Minister David Heurtel says the government sent two letters to TransCanada in late 2014 advising that Energy East must submit to a provincial environmental assessment.
Heurtel says he got no response from the company, so the government would have to ask for an injunction to force TransCanada to follow provincial rules.
However, Duboyce says there were a series of discussions with the minister's office in early 2015 and the two sides agreed on a provincial process that would not include a full-fledged environmental impact study.
Quebec announced that process last June and hearings are to begin on Monday.
