Protesters interrupt energy forum in Vancouver

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A member of the Tsleil-Waututh nation has been escorted out for interrupting a speech by Kinder Morgan Canada President Ian Anderson.

It happened at the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade’s annual Energy Forum taking place in Downtown Vancouver.

“You are not welcome on my lands,” said William George when he stood up and voiced his opinon.

William George says he’d do it again. “I made an impact. I stood up. I was loud. I made eye contact with him. But I was immediately escorted out. I’ll continue relaying my messages.”

Anderson says the debate about Trans Mountain is over and it’s time to get on with construction. He says the pipeline has undergone the most rigorous environmental review process in the country’s history.

His speech was also focused on certainty, saying investors must get it when governments approve project.

“It’s not to say that we won’t abide by, that we won’t meet all of the local.. requirements, all of the local interests… But at the end of the day, they can’t prevent us from continuing our work.”

The $7.4-billion pipeline proposal has prompted fierce opposition from environmentalists, First Nations, and the B.C. New Democrat government, all of whom are fighting the project in federal court.

Anderson’s speech was the second at the event interrupted by activists opposed to the Trans Mountain expansion. Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr was challenged by an environmentalist earlier in the day.

Anderson told the forum that 10 or 15 years ago, a pipeline would not have attracted the kind of attention and debate it does today.

“That’s fine. We can have those debates. We can have differences of opinion. We can have different views. We can oppose. We can support. That’s what we respect as part of living in a democracy society, such as we do. But at the end of the day, there have to be decisions. And decisions have to come with certainty.”

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is scheduled to deliver a keynote address later today.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, head of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, says in a statement that while politicians try to muster support for the project First Nations are planning costly delays that will force the expansion to be cancelled.

Vancouver is one of several stops for Notley who is on a pro-pipeline tour across Canada touting the importance of the energy industry for the overall economy.

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