KM: Libs & Cons vote to support pipeline

[Oscar]

Liberals and Conservatives vote together in support of Kinder Morgan pipeline

[ https://canadians.org/blog/liberals-and ... n-pipeline ]

June 7, 2017 - 10:20 am

The Liberals and Conservatives joined together yesterday to vote in favour of the 890,000 barrel per day Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline.

BNN reports, "The federal Liberal government has thrown its weight behind an Opposition motion backing Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, even as political turmoil in British Columbia threatens the project's future."

It adds, "The motion, introduced in the House of Commons by Conservative MP Mark Strahl, affirms that the project has social licence to proceed, is critical to the economy, is environmentally sound and should proceed as planned."

The article then notes, "It passed Tuesday by a vote of 252-51, with the backing of the Conservatives and all Liberal MPs, except two B.C. backbenchers who have criticized the project in the past. Terry Beech and Hedy Fry both voted against the project. ...B.C. MP Joyce Murray, who has also publicly opposed the project, was absent for the vote. The NDP and Green party Leader Elizabeth May opposed the motion, in line with their provincial counterparts in British Columbia..."

And it highlights, "[Natural Resources minister Jim] Carr said no matter what happens with the British Columbia government, it doesn't change the facts about the project."

Council of Canadians Comox Valley chapter activist Alice de Wolff had written Conservative leader Andrew Scheer prior to the vote on the motion.

She stated, "I oppose the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Extension and your motion to support it. Your claim that the project has the social licence to proceed is in direct contradiction to long-standing, strong opposition in British Columbia."

She highlighted, "The motion is obviously contrived to undermine the likelihood that an elected government in British Columbia will also oppose the project. It completely ignores the challenges by First Nations who have not given their free and informed consent to the use of their lands. Claims of the safety of these projects fly in the face of the experience of the people on the coast and the waters that have been contaminated by spills."

And de Wolff concluded, "Your notion that our national economy can only survive with the creation of jobs that are dependent on the notoriously fickle and environmentally damaging oil and gas industry is dangerously outdated. It flies in the face of the urgent need to support the growth of a healthy economy that is NOT dependent on this industry. Your motion and the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline do NOT have my consent."

For more on our campaign to stop the Kinder Morgan pipeline, please click here:
[ https://canadians.org/pipelines ]


Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]