“Stop Trudeau’s Pipeline”, thousands march in opposition to Kinder Morgan expansion

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – With a decision on the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion looming, a dense crowd of protesters marched down the Cambie Street Bridge to urge the Trudeau government to say “no”.

The $6.8 billion project would triple the capacity of the existing pipeline linking the Alberta oil sands with Vancouver Harbour. The National Energy Board approved the project in May, giving the federal government until December 19 to decide whether or not to proceed.

At Vancouver city hall, many of the gathering ralliers scolded Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberals for failing to live up to environmental promises.

“Climate leaders don’t build pipelines” read one sign, “Justin: please don’t make me stand in front of a bulldozer” said another.

“The idea of building another pipeline is totally hypocritical, and our government should realize that, because they’re one of the people that signed that agreement in Paris to get rid of fossil fuels,” says rallier Gary Beattie.

Organizers aimed to demonstrate the depth of opposition to the Kinder Morgan expansion. For activists like Ranyia Dube, who have been speaking out against the project for years, seeing thousands of people rallying together was encouraging.

“You come to events like this, and you see you’re not alone, and it just gives you the energy to just keep pushing against it, and just standing up for the land that doesn’t have a voice,” she says.

Mayor Gregor Robertson has predicted several more large protests if the federal government green-lights the Kinder Morgan expansion.

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