Trans Mountain Pipeline

On June 18, 2019, less than 24 hours after declaring a climate emergency, the Canadian government approved the climate-killing Trans Mountain pipeline.

The project proposes to twin the existing Trans Mountain pipeline, tripling its capacity to 890,000 barrels of oil per day, and expanding the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, B.C. in order to move crude from the tar sands in Alberta to B.C.’s coastal shores for shipping in massive tankers.

The Trudeau government originally approved the pipeline expansion in November 2016 and then went on to purchase it from Kinder Morgan when the company threatened to abandon the project. The government agreed to spend $4.5 billion of public funds to buy the expansion project, and that cost is expected to increase by up to $10 billion more. In August 2018, a few short months after the government bought the pipeline, the Federal Court of Appeal overturned the approval decision citing a significant lack of public consultation, particularly with affected First Nations.

This project threatens to unleash a massive tar sands spill that would threaten drinking water, salmon, coastal wildlife and communities. It is also entirely inconsistent with Canada’s commitments to reduce climate pollution under the Paris Agreement.

Opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline remains strong. Allowing the pipeline to proceed will make it impossible for us to meet our commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, threaten waterways and drinking water sources, and ignore Indigenous peoples’ right to say “no” to projects that threaten their land and way of life.

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