The Council of Canadians Chilliwack chapter is working with allies to mobilize local residents against a proposed deal with Kinder Morgan that will be discussed by their city council later today.
Chilliwack chapter activist Wendy Major writes, “Ian Stephen, the Interim Campaign Director of the WaterWealth Project, has sent out a message to encourage folks to get e-mails over to the mayor and councillors ASAP before the meeting starts at 3 p.m.”
His message says, “On May 19th, the City of Chilliwack will be deciding whether or not to receive $800,000 from Texas-based energy giant Kinder Morgan as part of their community benefits program so long as they can build [the Trans Mountain pipeline] through the communities of the Fraser Valley. There has been no public discussion on this decision, announced only Friday [May 15], and there remain unanswered questions about the implications of taking the money. …The City of Chilliwack is still supposed to submit their official concerns [to the National Energy Board] to ensure the Health and Safety and general well being of local residents; but by accepting this money they would be directly aligning the City with the interest of a foreign fossil fuel giant.”
Stephen highlights, “Take a quick minute now to call or email the Mayor and Council directly before the Council meeting Tuesday. Even a short sentence of concern can mean a lot to show our local politicians that people are concerned about this issue.” Mayor Sharon Gaetz and councillors Chris Kloot, Chuck Stam, Jason Lum, Ken Popove, Sam Waddington and Sue Attrill can all be reached by telephone at 604-793-2900 while a web-form to send them an email can be found here.
The Chilliwack Progress reports, “If council votes in favour, the next step is signing a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ with Trans Mountain Pipeline LP, with the understanding that will ‘indicate a willingness to receive community funding if the pipeline project receives approval from the National Energy Board (NEB)’, according to a news release released by the City of Chilliwack on Friday afternoon. The funding would pay for a $1 million pedestrian bridge linking the Vedder north and south trail links from the Southern Rail Bridge. …[Kinder Morgan’s] Community Benefits Program was set up to invest in local communities along the proposed pipeline route, and is [being framed as] ‘an acknowledgement and thanks in advance for people’s patience as some construction disruption will occur should the pipeline project receive approval’…”
The Texas-based energy giant Kinder Morgan wants to increase the capacity of the Alberta to British Columbia pipeline from 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 barrels per day. The project would produce an estimated 270 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over a 35-year period. About 100 people were arrested last November, including Council of Canadians activist Brigette DePape, for protesting against surveying work being done for the pipeline on Burnaby Mountain. Researchers at University College London have concluded that 85 per cent of the tar sands cannot be burned if the world wants to limit global warming (as it must) to under 2 degrees Celsius.
For more on our campaign to stop pipelines and tankers, please click here.
