Oil - Pipelines

February 15, 2018

Elizabeth May

The National Energy Board announced on Thursday that Kinder Morgan can begin construction of its Trans Mountain pipeline expansion at the Burnaby Mountain tunnel entrance. The construction work is subject to other federal, provincial and municipal permits.

The NEB's decision allows the Texas-based energy company to begin clearing and grading work at the entrance to the Burnaby Mountain tunnel on its Westridge Marine Terminal property to avoid potential impacts on migratory birds that might use the area later in the spring.

Friends,

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently said “if I thought there was a danger to the beautiful British Columbia coast, I would not have approved the Kinder Morgan pipeline.”  

The thing is, I live on this coast, and the community members, Indigenous leaders, and even politicians that surround me don’t share Trudeau’s level of certainty. In fact, we’ve seen many scientific reports indicating that Kinder Morgan would be devastating for the Pacific.  

We’ve heard lots of good reasons to fix or end NAFTA, but the most important one has been ignored. It’s the energy proportionality clause, a rule like no other in the world. Under it, Canada must make available for export to the US three-quarters of its oil production and over half its natural gas. If left in place in NAFTA 2.0, the rule can single-handedly prevent Canada from achieving its Paris climate promises.

FEBRUARY 5, 2018

First Nations communities and their supporters are planning to ratchet up on-the-ground resistance to Kinder Morgan Inc.'s planned expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline with a call for a mass demonstration on Burnaby Mountain in March.

Members of the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation – which is challenging the federal approval in court – is launching a campaign of volunteer recruitment and training Tuesday through a network of allied Indigenous communities and environmental groups.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is confident that his approval of Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain expansion will withstand legal challenges from First Nations who say they were not adequately consulted on it.

The federal government "went through all the right steps" before giving the green light to the hotly-contested pipeline project, he told National Observer in an exclusive interview on Tuesday afternoon.

Premier Rachel Notley is signalling that her government plans to accelerate its online warfare in support of a controversial pipeline project.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Notley explained that this would drive home Alberta's message in the “ongoing dispute that British Columbia has triggered with Alberta and with all Canadians.”