The throng of protesters marching from Vancouver City Hall across the Cambie Bridge to Library Square included Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, First Nations leaders, Members of Parliament and environmental activists, according to CTV News.
At the start of the protest, Mayor Robertson told the crowd, “We’re going to walk the talk today from here to downtown, to send a clear message to our prime minister, his cabinet and members of parliament to say no to Kinder Morgan’s pipeline and oil tankers.”
Cambie Bridge was covered in a red banner that read “No Kinder Morgan” while the waters below were filled with kayakers holding signs. There were plenty of signs in the crowd reading “No consent, no pipeline,” “Defend the coast” and “Stop Trudeau’s pipeline.”
The Center for Biological Diversity points out that since 2006, Kinder Morgan has had at least “184 leaks and other pipeline incidents caused by corrosion, ruptures, equipment failure and other problems” in the United States.
The pipeline would also increase Trans Mountain Pipeline’s carrying capacity three-fold, to 890,000 barrels per day, as well as increase tanker traffic from around 60 tankers per year to over 400 in the Salish Sea, a prime foraging area for Canada’s endangered orcas.
Kinder Morgan proposes to build a $6.8 million, 1,150 kilometers (710-mile) long pipeline to deliver dirty Alberta tar sands oil to the U.S. and Canada. The line would run from Edmonton, Alberta to Burnaby, British Columbia and Metro Vancouver’s harbor.
Just six days ago, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he was considering approving the Kinder Morgan pipeline, announcing environmental measures that will be put into place to placate the opposition, meaning all of British Columbia, reports Bloomberg.
And while the bottom line is Trudeau’s interest in getting at least one pipeline request through his cabinet, he is also elated at Donald Trump’s election to the presidency in the U.S., feeling sure the TransCanada Corp’s Keystone XL pipeline will be revived.
Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party and MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands, looks at Trudeau’s announcement to all British Columbians as “a line in the sands, you do not cross this and think you’ll ever elect a Liberal MP in British Columbia ever again.”
The last hurdle for the pipeline is federal approval. This comes after the National Energy Board regulator gave Kinder Morgan “conditional” approval earlier this year. And barring any lawsuits, there is no reason to suppose Trudeau will not see it approved.
