The National Post reports in its Wednesday, July 22, edition that the proposed southern route for a new West Coast oil pipeline is facing unexpected criticism from provincial Conservatives in B.C. Postmedia's Rahim Mohamed writes that they argue that the route, which goes through the fertile Fraser Valley, could harm valuable farmland. The route, announced by the federal and Alberta governments, will extend about 1,200 kilometres from Bruderheim, Alta., to Roberts Bank in Delta, B.C. This proposal was favoured over a Northern B.C. option opposed by Premier David Eby. B.C. Conservative agriculture critic Ian Paton says he's especially concerned as the party's MLA for Delta South, the riding where the proposed pipeline would end. Mr. Paton said the pipeline would deal yet another blow to his community's farmers, who've already lost plenty of farmland during the construction of multiple major transportation and resource projects. "Over the years, ever since I was a kid, Delta farmland has been split up by this project or the other," said Mr. Paton. "Do we need one more huge interruption going through our farmland in Delta?" Mr. Paton said he is concerned by the rate at which local farmland is dwindling.