Mark MY words, Premier Notley

June 04, 2017

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip is challenging Alberta Premier Rachel Notley on Kinder Morgan. On Tuesday, Premier Notley declared that no NDP/Green government or First Nations objections would stop its construction, saying, "Mark my words, that pipeline will be built, the decisions have been made."

Her comments riled many in British Columbia, and Grand Chief Stewart Phillip responded with his own declaration:

"Mark my words, Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project will never see the light of day."

The war of words heated up this week, as Prime Minister Trudeau, instead of taking the opportunity to gracefully let the matter drop, doubled down on his commitment to build pipelines to fight climate change. 

With a new government committed to using "every tool in the toolbox" to fight Kinder Morgan, Alberta and Ottawa are panicking. After years of the boom and bust cycle of oil dependence and no clear route to get off it, they have instead focused their ire on First Nations and British Columbians who have vowed to do whatever it takes to stop the project. 

Today, Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi told the incoming BC NDP/Green government it should resist being "obstructionist" and give in to the inevitable. 

While Notley and Nenshi and the corporate sector push the line that federal approval means Kinder Morgan's pipeline will be built, we invite them to look at Enbridge, which also received federal approval but was directed to go back to the drawing board after a Supreme Court case found that consultation with First Nations - constitutionally required - was not undertaken. It effectively killed that pipeline - and it's going to happen again. 

Your help is critical to challenge the rhetoric coming from Alberta and Ottawa. Here's what you can do:

1. Share this blog post with your friends, family and social network.

2. Share this post on Facebook. 

3. Retweet this tweet (or make your own and tag us in it! We promise to retweet) 

Big Oil and the politicians who depend on it are panicking. It's up to us to carry the message far and wide, without the help of big media:

"I stand with Grand Chief Stewart Phillip. We will do whatever it takes to stop Kinder Morgan."

Full text of Grand Chief Stewart Phillip's remarks

Mark my words, Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project will never see the light of day. There is an undeniable element of electioneering in Prime Minister Trudeau’s and Premier Notley’s very public and very reckless and inflammatory remarks.

The interests of Alberta stop at the border.

The transport and conveyance of toxic materials is a concern of all responsible British Columbians. We do not accept the unscrupulous liability of dirty oil coming through any pipeline system to benefit some Texans or multinational interests at the expense of our inherent responsibilities to our grandchildren’s grandchildren!

Premier Notley is speaking out one side of her mouth that they need to uphold and embrace the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and then on the other hand completely rejecting the notion that we have the right to free, prior and informed consent to protect and defend the health, safety and well-being of our people and the environmental integrity of our respective territories.