Legislation from British Columbia that sought to halt the Trans Mountain Pipeline was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday. The legislation was found to be ultra vires (outside the jurisdiction of the British Columbian government to pass) as the constitution grants the authority to the Federal government for interprovincial projects.

This power comes from Section 92(10)(a) of the Constitution Act of 1867, sometimes referred to by its old name: the British North America Act. The Supreme Court’s ruling affirmed the decision of a five-judge panel of the British Columbia Court of Appeal which found that the legislation, which banned shipments of bitumen into British Columbia, was unconstitutional.