Trans Mountain Pipeline
The Issue With the Pipeline Expansion
The Trans Mountain pipeline is a proposed pipeline that would be built alongside an already existing pipeline route. It would run from Edmonton, Alberta, to Burnaby, B.C. The pipeline has potential risks that many are not willing to take the chance with. The pipeline would have detrimental effects on the environment. The pipeline is expressly designed to carry diluted bitumen and other heavy oils from Alberta's tar sands. The danger with this is if these oils are spilled, they will sink to the bottom of the first layer of earth making it impossible to remove the oil using conventional oil removal methods. Even if these oils are not spilled, tar sand oils produce 3-4 times more carbon emissions than other conventional oils. Meaning even without an oil spill, each year the expanded pipeline would be responsible for more carbon than the combined annual carbon emissions of 90 nations around the world. An oil spill could also cause the 76 resident orca's living on B.C's south coast to go extinct. In addition, building the pipeline would ignore Indigenous rights. There are over 133 Indigenous communities with an interest in this pipeline or interests potentially affected by it. However, 43 of the communities (33 of them located in B.C) have signed benefit agreements, while The Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion has 53 First nations in B.C who are against the pipeline.
Protests
The Wet'suwet'en First Nations people have been fighting against this pipeline for over a decade. The Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs say they have authority over traditional lands and reservation. This would mean that the elected officials don't have the authority to build the pipeline over where it was proposed to be built. The issue between the Wet'suwet'en First Nations and the pipeline gained some traction over social media. The Wet'suwet'en First Nations gained mass support, which then led to the protests. People came together to use passenger traffic and freight to create a rail blockade across Canada. This has forced the CN to temporarily lay off around 450 employees. These protests are pressuring Justin Trudeau to resolve the conflict quickly and peacefully. Though this did not happen, the RCMP was sent twice with enforcement operations. There was an interim injunction granted by the B.C supreme court in 2019, and an interlocutory injunction in 2020. According to the hereditary chief the police response was excessive. The RCMP was allowed to make arrests using minimal force if people refused to cooperate. Dozens of arrests were made in the two operations, though no criminal charges were laid. Additionally, resources seen during the enforcements actions included heavily armed tactical teams, division liaison personnel, regular uniformed officers, canine units, helicopters, drones and snowmobiles. The total costs for the RCMP enforcements for the year 2018/2019 was $3.6 million, and for the year 2019/2020 the total cost came to $9.5 million.
