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Ottawa groups reject TransCanada spin at company’s pipeline “trade show”

Ottawa, ON – A growing number of groups are rejecting TransCanada’s proposal to build a tar sands crude pipeline through the Rideau River and the City of Ottawa. Today, local groups including Ecology Ottawa, the Council of Canadians, 350.org Ottawa, SaveCanada and Greenpeace Ottawa, are attending an Open House being hosted by TransCanada to voice their opposition to the Energy East pipeline.

TransCanada is holding an Open House in an effort to spin the pipeline as good for Ottawa and other communities along the route. The groups and concerned residents will have a visible presence at the Open House and will share their message with the company and with other residents, distributing flyers and factsheets and talking with attendees.

“We think this pipeline is all risk and no reward for Ottawa,” says Ben Powless, Pipeline Community Organizer for Ecology Ottawa. “We don't want tar sands crude in the Rideau River, or climate change anywhere. We simply want a clean energy future without TransCanada.”

“These so-called Open Houses are more like trade shows,” says Andrea Harden-Donahue, Energy and Climate Justice Campaigner with the Council of Canadians. “They are not true consultations and won't succeed in selling this export pipeline and the risk of a tar sands spill it brings to our community.”

“We can't support a pipeline that’s fundamentally linked to the expansion of the tar sands,” says Lisa Pepper, on behalf of 350.org's Ottawa Chapter. “The tar sands are basically a climate time-bomb, and this pipeline is the biggest fuse that’s been proposed.”

“Communities across B.C. and the U.S. have already said ‘no’ to tar sands crude pipelines,” says Brett Hodnett, on behalf of Greenpeace Ottawa. “The only reason TransCanada wants to build this pipeline is to get this oil onto tankers, and it’s been blocked everywhere else they’ve turned by incredible opposition.”

“We want people to understand the risks, and to know they can also stand against this pipeline,” says Yan Roberts, on behalf of SaveCanada. “We're calling for residents from coast-to-coast-to-coast to join us in building a movement for a brighter, better country.”

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