‘This is not going to happen’: hundreds rally at Kinder Morgan terminal gates

Four-day walk against Trans Mountain expansion finishes in Burnaby.

Several hundred people rallied at the gates of Kinder Morgan’s terminal in Burnaby on Sunday at the conclusion of four-day walk against fossil fuel expansion.

Some of the marchers, including federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, embarked on a full 75-km journey from Victoria, while others joined at various stops along the way.

Though the sun blazed down, energy was high as the walkers made their way to the terminal gates before a festival in nearby Westridge Park.

The “Walk for the Salish Sea” took place between May 25 to 28.

Cedar George-Parker, a youth from Tsleil-Waututh Nation who works with the community’s anti-pipeline initiative, told the crowd at Kinder Morgan’s Burnaby terminal that he will fight for his land.

“I will fight for future generations, not by myself but I stand with my brothers and sisters here,” George-Parker said.

“This is not going to happen, because we’re not fighting for money, we’re fighting for lives, we’re fighting for each other.”

Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is set to increase tanker traffic in Tsleil-Waututh’s backyard sevenfold.

Kinder Morgan recently announced it plans to move ahead with the project as long as it secures satisfactory financing.

Stephen Collis, who was sued by Kinder Morgan in 2014 after speaking out about test work the company was doing on Burnaby Mountain, said the four-day walk was symbolic because the group passed by large parts of the Salish Sea threatened by an oil spill.

“The intention is right there,” he said.

“To draw attention to these unceded territories, the nations that could be most affected by the project, and the ecosystems that are most affected by the project.”

Indigenous leaders from communities around the province, including Secwepemc, Sechelt and Coldwater were also present at the event, along with several local, provincial and federal politicians.

Green Party Leader May said she is disappointed in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for “breaking” his campaign promise about forging a new relationship with Indigenous people.

“That’s the single most important sacred promise that was made in the election, and approving permits for the Site C dam, approving Petronas up at Lelu Island, and approving Kinder Morgan, break a sacred vow,” she said.

“Justin, I’m so disappointed in you. You should be ashamed.”

[Top photo: CARA MCKENNA/METRO People demonstrate against the proposed Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion in Burnaby on Sunday, May 28, 2017 following a four-day march from Victoria to the Kinder Morgan terminal in Burnaby.]