Rallies for, against Trans Mountain pipeline planned in Metro Vancouver

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Protesters have gathered in Burnaby as part of a march against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.

The demonstration is moving ahead despite Trans Mountain being granted a temporary injunction, which will keep protesters at least 50 metres away from the company’s two sites, or face possible arrests.

Karen Mahon with Stand Earth says the injunction is an example of corporate bullying. “So this actually, if you map out 50 meters, that excludes people from using a soccer field, it takes out a dog-walking park, and it literally takes out public roads like the Gaglardi Highway.”

She believes it was a mistake for the court to grant the injunction, but says organizers have planned a route that will work. “Our march is going on as planned. Nothing in the court order changes any of our plans, and the court order is just a ridiculous overreach. It literally stops people from coming within 50 meters of a Kinder Morgan facility, and we’ve just mapped it out.”

The Protect the Inlet rally started in front of the Lake City Way SkyTrain station, and features a number of speakers.

The pipeline expansion project has drawn legal challenges and has also sparked a dispute between BC and Alberta (which has the world’s third largest oil reserves).

Kinder Morgan says it remains committed to environmental protection and world leading spill response and that it has “support from First Nations communities whose reserves it intends to cross,” a claim that has been disputed by some leaders.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has defended the project, saying the pipeline expansion is part of a larger national plan to meet emissions targets in Paris Climate Accord that includes a cap on tar sands emissions.

Kinder Morgan has said the expanded pipeline capacity — from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels of oil per day — would allow oil companies to access growing markets in Asia and U.S. states, including Washington state and California. It is scheduled to be completed by December 2020.

Related articles:

• ‘That pipeline is going to get built:’ PM dismisses BC’s Trans Mountain move
• BC government not backing away from Kinder Morgan fight
• BC NDP to appeal NEB ruling on Trans Mountain bylaw

Pro-pipeline protest planned in Vancouver

But not everyone is against the twinning of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline.

A pro-pipeline event happening this afternoon at Vancouver’s Jack Poole Plaza is planned on the same day as a march against the project.

The former is called the Rally in Vancouver For Our Shared Future, and is expected to bring together a number of different speakers in support of the project.

Stewart Muir is the Executive Director of the group Resource Works and one of the organizers of the event. He believes there is a silent majority that favours pipelines, one that is otherwise too busy or too afraid to make that support known publicly.

“I hear, over and over, ‘Well, we’re out there working. Maybe we’re working two shifts. Maybe we’re working down at the mill. We’re busy raising families. We’re doing all those things. We don’t have time to go out and be professional protesters.'”

He says support for pipelines includes First Nations. “Indigenous people in Canada want to be in the broad economy. They are supportive of things that occur on their territories and they want to be able to say so.”

Muir also warns if the Trans Mountain expansion isn’t allowed to go ahead, BC drivers can expect to pay even more for gas.

The Rally in Vancouver for Our Shared Future starts at 2 p.m. in front of the Olympic Cauldron.