Canadians are split on whether Alberta or B.C. is right in the ongoing Trans Mountain dispute, according to a poll released Thursday.

The two provinces have traded shots this month over whether B.C. should be allowed to restrict the flow of Alberta’s oil through the province to the Pacific coast. The war of words has escalated into an interprovincial trade spat that has seen Alberta boycott B.C. wines and call on the federal government to step in and resolve the matter.

When asked which province’s argument was more persuasive in the dispute, Canadians were split 50-50, according to data released Thursday by the Angus Reid Institute. However, a slim majority (55 per cent) believe that the B.C. government is wrong in its attempt to delay the Trans Mountain expansion.

Support within the provinces themselves, however, showed a much stronger support for Alberta. On overwhelming 82 per cent of respondents in Alberta supported the province’s stance in the dispute, while just 52 per cent of British Columbians supporting Premier John Horgan’s argument.

“The idea that pipelines are a divisive issue is almost a cliché in Canada today, but the results of this study drive home just how divided the country really is,” the Angus Reid Institute said in the report.

The study’s findings back this claim up as respondents failed to reach a clear consensus on whether they support the Trans Mountain extension. Of the 2,501 Canadians polled, 30 per cent said they ‘moderately support’ the project. The support was nearly evenly split among the other four options: ‘Strongly support’, ‘moderately oppose’, ‘strongly oppose’ and ‘not sure’ (between 16 and 19 per cent apiece).

Just over half the respondents (53 per cent) said the federal government should have final say on energy projects like Trans Mountain, representing a dip of only one per cent from data collected on the same issue in 2016.