Grand Chief Stewart Phillip promises expensive delays to Kinder Morgan Canada President Ian Anderson

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip promises expensive delays to Kinder Morgan Canada President Ian Anderson

For Immediate Release

Unceded Coast Salish Territories/ Vancouver— As Kinder Morgan President Ian Anderson, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, and Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr speak today to the Vancouver Board of Trade to muster support for the struggling pipeline and tanker project, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs promises more delays that will force the project’s cancellation. 

“West Coasters - First Nations and British Columbians - have already delayed this project through ongoing relentless opposition and delays and will continue to do so until Kinder Morgan is stopped. Anyone investing in Kinder Morgan should prepare for a long, drawn-out, and very expensive battle,” said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC). 

After putting heavy plastic snow fences in salmon spawning streams, the National Energy Board ordered Kinder Morgan to stop illegally interfering with spawning grounds and riverbeds critical to wild salmon. The biologist who authorized the fences in Kinder Morgan’s name is facing calls for investigation into his professional ethics. 

Last month, Kinder Morgan also illegally erected a heavy chain link fence topped with razor wire fencing off part of the waters of the Salish Sea. 

“Kinder Morgan cannot be trusted to follow a simple permitting process without flagrantly breaking the law. How can we trust them with salmon, orcas, and our water?” asked the Grand Chief. “The Kinder Morgan pipeline has been witness to to numerous, incessant and costly delays resulting from the resistance of British Columbians and First Nations peoples throughout the country. I am committed to continuing to resist this project until it has been stopped dead in its tracks.” 

The Kinder Morgan pipeline and tanker project is opposed by numerous First Nations and the Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion, which represents 150 Nations, Tribes and Bands across Canada and the United States; the Province of British Columbia; the cities of Burnaby and Vancouver and twenty other municipalities; along with more than 250,000 petition signers.

The Coast Protectors campaign is proudly hosted by the UBCIC. UBCIC was formed in 1969 and works collectively amongst Indigenous Nations in B.C. as an advocacy body to provide a cohesive voice supporting communities exercising their inherent rights and title within their respective territories. The UBCIC upholds the principles and standards articulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples for the establishment and maintenance of a universal framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity, well-being and rights of all Indigenous Peoples.

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Contact: Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) | (604) 684-0231 | president@ubcic.bc.ca

Coast Protectors is hosted by the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs - 342 Water St, 500, Vancouver, BC V6B-1B6, Canada
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