Obviously the N/S route is better physically and economically mainly because being shorter.
But that may not be the main factor towards what ends up.
If for example Aroland insists on a royalty type payment as compensation for 'their' land and it involves every train and cargo, that can be prohibitively a night mare.
On the other hand if the James Bay route has little if any complications, well no need to go further.
There is also a pipe from KWG or from KWG with Noront in combination. Should both railway paths be too complex due to local politics then it could default to pipe or perhaps still other means that we no longer consider.
Time and politics will determine, we can only speculate at this time. Ed.