First Nations activist reflects on years-long fight against Trans Mountain pipeline expansion
The taps have been turned on for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion – a national infrastructure project that overcame fierce public opposition, construction delays and cost-overruns that pushed the final bill to more than $34 billion.
In a news release Wednesday, Trans Mountain announced the 1,100-kilometre project from Alberta to an export terminal in Burnaby, B.C., was online and said it expected the first tankers to depart with oil sands product later this month.
Seated on rock near the beach at New Brighton Park in East Vancouver, Will George, a member of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, used the day to reflect on his years of activism against the project.
"These are our spiritual highways which sustained our people for thousands of years,” he said gesturing out to Burrard Inlet. “So all the direct action that I was called to do over the years was a high honour."
The expansion will increase Trans Mountain’s capacity from 300,000 to close to 900,000 barrels a day.
It will also bring a significant increase in tanker traffic to Burrard Inlet and the Salish Sea.
Despite the efforts of George and other activists, they could not stop the project.
Proponents of the pipeline say it is a key piece of infrastructure that will provide a boost to Canada’s oil industry, contribute to job growth and provide revenue from royalties and corporate taxes.
"These broader economic benefits of infrastructure like this is perhaps the most important implication of the project now coming online,” said Trevor Tombe, an economist from the University of Calgary.
Private firm Kinder Morgan originally proposed the project, but when the company threatened to back out in 2018, the federal government stepped in and bought existing pipeline and the expansion project for $4.5-billion.
The Trudeau Liberals initially projected that the total cost of the finished project, including the purchase price and construction costs, would come in around $7.4-billion.
Cost overruns throughout the years drove the final price to $34-billion, which works out to $873 for every person in Canada.
"There's no question we have some problems here in this country around building some major infrastructure,” said Tristan Goodman, president and CEO of Explorers and Producers of Canada. “And as much as it's a day to celebrate, it's also a day to reflect. We really can do better than this."
The Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations were among a group of First Nations that brought the fight against the project all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, where they were unsuccessful.
In July 2018, George and other activists actually suspended themselves in hammocks beneath the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge – dangling above Burrard Inlet for close to 36 hours before being arrested.
George spent 28 days in jail in 2023 for violating a court injunction when he blocked the entrance to Trans Mountain’s Burnaby Mountain tank farm.
"It puts a lump in my throat. It's hard to know that all that work that my nation did, that I did, and the people of Vancouver, still didn't arise to protecting our lands and waters. They're still at a huge risk right now,” he said.
The $34-billion Trans Mountain expansion project officially came online May 1 with no photo ops, no ribbon cutting – and no public fanfare of any kind.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More Canadians are moving to the U.S. Here's one of the main reasons, according to an immigration expert
Recent data from the U.S. census revealed that more than 126,000 people moved from Canada to the U.S. in 2022. An expert said that one of the main reasons for this move is the cost of living.
Bus carrying Quebec tourists crashes in Cuba, leaving 1 dead and 26 injured
One person is dead and 26 were injured after a bus carrying Quebec tourists was involved in a collision in Cuba on Sunday.
Her gut was producing alcohol. Doctors didn't believe her
For two years doctors told her she was an alcoholic. Then they realized her gut was making alcohol from carbohydrates, a rare condition called auto-brewery syndrome.
'They need this protection': Trudeau gov't re-offers $1.5M for enhanced Pride security in Canada
For the second year, the federal government is offering up to $1.5M to Pride organizations across the country to fund enhanced security measures, amid a continued rise in anti-LGBTQ2S+ hate.
Here's how far B.C. drivers must keep from cyclists, pedestrians under new law
A new law protecting cyclists and pedestrians in British Columbia takes effect Monday, establishing minimum distances that drivers must keep from so-called vulnerable road users.
Prospective jurors in Hunter Biden's firearms case questioned on gun rights, addiction
A federal gun case against U.S. President Joe Biden’s son Hunter opened Monday with jury selection, following the collapse of a plea deal that would have avoided the spectacle of a trial so close the 2024 election.
AFN national chief blasts governments' inaction on fifth anniversary of MMIWG report
On the fifth anniversary of a national inquiry's report into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations is blasting all levels of government for what she calls slow progress to stop the crisis.
B.C. school district apologizes for asking students 'Should Israel exist?'
The Burnaby School District superintendent has issued an apology and launched an investigation after a Grade 6/7 class was presented with a question regarding the existence of Israel.
Toyota apologizes for cheating on vehicle testing and halts production of three models
Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda apologized Monday for massive cheating on certification tests for seven vehicle models as the automaker suspended production of three of them.