The Canadian town of Burnaby will be the site of the latest round of protests against an upgrade of the Trans Mountain pipeline, according to a new report by Al Jazeera.
The demonstration aims to be a showing of "clear opposition" against the project by environmentalists and indigenous groups. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau approved the project in 2016, which would triple the capacity of 1,150-km line that takes Alberta's tar sands to the coast of British Columbia.
"There comes a time in your life when you have to stand for something," said Ta'ah Amy George, an ender of the Tsleil Waututh tribe, which is participating in Saturday's march. As many as 10,000 people are estimated to join in the demonstration, she said.
"Our ancestors protected this inlet and this little piece of land that we got left with," George said. "They protected it for us … We're thinking of our [next] generations: my children and grandchildren and I have great-grandchildren."
The tribe alleges that the likelihood of a spill in the inlet that the Tseil Wauhtuth occupy is high because of future tanker activity on British Columbia's coast that will be boosted by the project. "It's not if there's a [spill], but when there's a [spill]," George said.
Kinder Morgan, the Texas-based company that is building the project, affirmed Canadian citizens' civic right to oppose projects, but argued that the project was designed in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way.
"We support the right to peacefully and lawfully express opinions and views about our project and we understand that not everyone supports the expansion," a Trans Mountain spokesperson told Al Jazeera in an email.
"We're confident we can build and operate this project in a way that respects the values and priorities of Canadians and in respect of the environment."
By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com
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Zainab Calcuttawala is an American journalist based in Morocco. She completed her undergraduate coursework at the University of Texas at Austin (Hook’em) and reports on… More
Comments
If BC wants to play this game fine no pipeline. Then we (Alberta) might as well shut the existing flow down and we will see the amount of tanker traffic that will be bringing in all the gasoline desiel and jet fuel into BC to sustain the province. Not to mention maybe we won't allow BC to transport it's natraul gas into Alberta we could and should cripple BC just like they are trying to do to Alberta.