News Release
August 29, 2018
Indigenous Opposition Steadfast as Kinder Morgan Canada Stockholders Prepare to Vote on Trans Mountain Deal
(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – August 29, 2018) Tomorrow in Calgary, Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd stockholders are scheduled to vote on Canada’s offer to purchase the Trans Mountain pipeline and tanker project. They are widely expected to accept $4.5 billion from the federal government for a line they only paid $550 million for in 2005.
“No matter who owns this pipeline and tanker project, it will be stopped. Kinder Morgan executives recognized Justin Trudeau’s desperation to placate the oil lobby and are exiting the project with massive profits on the backs of Canadian taxpayers,” said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC). “The $4.5 billion the Trudeau government wants to spend could place Canada at the top of the pack for renewable energy instead of binding us to 60-plus years of increased climate-destroying emissions.”
“The Trans Mountain pipeline and tanker project does not have the consent of all affected First Nations, and Trudeau cannot force this project through without Indigenous consent,” said Chief Bob Chamberlin, Vice-President of the UBCIC. “With Canada as owner, we need to see a major scale up in transparency, accountability and oversight for the project if the courts don’t compel an outright cancellation.”
The sale will include the existing Trans Mountain line, the Puget Sound pipeline to refineries in Washington State, associated tank farms in Edmonton, Kamloops and Sumas, as well as the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, BC.
After the shareholder vote, the deal is expected to close in the third or fourth financial quarter of 2018. However, the Federal Court of Appeal verdicts, which are scheduled to be released tomorrow morning, could force the outright cancellation of the project.
Chief Judy Wilson, Secretary-Treasurer of the UBCIC, concluded “First Nations land defenders and water protectors along the pipeline route have launched frontline resistance to the tar sands project. In Secwepemc territory, which comprises more than half the total pipeline route, the Tiny House Warriors are building structures along the construction path. In Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, and Musqueam territories, Coast Salish leaders built Kwekwecnewtxw – a traditional Watch House beside Kinder Morgan’s construction site to organize resistance to the pipeline and tanker project. We will not back down, no matter how the stockholders vote tomorrow.”
Opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline and tanker project includes the Province of British Columbia, the state of Washington, the cities of Burnaby, Victoria, Vancouver and 19 other municipalities, more than 350,000 petition signees, and 25,000 people who have vowed to do “whatever it takes” to stop the pipeline.
Media inquiries:
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President, Union of BC Indian Chiefs: (250-490-5314)
Chief Bob Chamberlin, Vice-President, Union of BC Indian Chiefs: (250-974-8282
Chief Judy Wilson, Secretary-Treasurer, Union of BC Indian Chiefs: (250-320-7738)