B.C. Conservatives criticize Alberta-Ottawa pipeline plan through southern route

OTTAWA — The recently unveiled southern route for a proposed new West Coast oil pipeline is facing criticism from a surprising corner: provincial Conservatives in B.C.They say that the southerly route, which cuts through B.C.’s highly fertile Fraser Valley , places an unnecessary strain on already dwindling prime farmland in the area.The planned route, announced earlier this month by the federal and Alberta governments, will run some 1,200 kilometres from Bruderheim, Alta. southwest