Bloomberg is reporting that according to people familiar with the decision, but who wish to remain anonymous, as many as four major decisions will be announced after the close of the markets today.
Decisions on three major crude oil pipeline projects are awaiting the decision of the Trudeau government, including Enbridge’s Line 3 and Northern Gateway, and Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain, as well as a tanker ban along British Columbia’s northwest coast (Trudeau had previously pledged to ban these tankers).
The Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion is supposed to run parallel to an existing 715-mile long pipeline but would triple the capacity of crude oil running from Alberta to Burnaby from 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000. Burnaby would be the only West Coast access for the export of Canadian oil, says Kinder Morgan.
Reuters is reporting that Burnaby mayor Derek Corrigan says he will join in the protests against the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, even if it means the end of his political career.
“It’s not nice to be a politician who has been 15 years in this office, to be heading into the end of my career with something that would show civil disobedience,” Corrigan, 65, told Reuters. “I lose sleep about whether or not this is going to turn into being something ugly.”
It has been pointed out that the growing backlash against new energy infrastructure in North America has taken on a life of its own, so much so that the Seattle Times is reporting that Cam Fenton, the Canadian communications Manager for 350.org, an environmental group, is calling the Kinder Morgan opposition movement “Standing Rock North.”
