Stop Kinder Morgan - A Canadian Call to Action

My fellow Canadians,
There is a crisis happening on Burnaby Mountain. A Texas-based oil company has come to Canada and intends to dramatically expand its pipeline system through a densely populated area and through park land. This is an issue that demands the attention and action of ALL CANADIANS. Whether or not you are concerned about climate change or the dangers posed by a near tripling of a pipeline transporting toxic bitumen, this issue affects you. What’s at stake is nothing less than your democratic rights.

Kinder Morgan is currently trying to conduct survey work on land that was designated by the citizens of Burnaby as conservation land. As such, the City of Burnaby has forbidden Kinder Morgan from conducting its pipeline preparation efforts on those lands. The company, however, has steadfastly ignored the City and the wishes of its citizens. (Burnaby’s citizens overwhelmingly oppose the pipeline expansion.) Instead, Kinder Morgan approached the National Energy Board (NEB), a non-elected Federal body with sympathies for the interests of oil companies. Unsurprisingly, the NEB gave Kinder Morgan permission to proceed. But this was not a legitimate decision. The NEB does not possess the constitutional authority to override municipal laws. There was also a major conflict of interest in the hearing since the NEB also approved $136 million dollars of Canadian taxpayer money to help Kinder Morgan develop their proposal.

Since when can a non-elected regulatory board trump the democratically voiced wishes of Canadians? The NEB does not represent the interests of the Citizens of Burnaby. By granting a company the right to ignore municipal laws, the NEB has made corporate interests superior to the rights of individuals. THAT IS NOT DEMOCRACY.

And that’s what this fight boils down to: CANADIAN DEMOCRACY.  If Kinder Morgan succeeds in installing their pipeline through City property and against the wishes of the citizens of Burnaby, it will mean that our votes are meaningless. The citizens of Burnaby voted specifically to designate these lands as park, immune to development or destruction by corporations. It is the law. That law is being ignored by an American company who believes that its interests supersede the citizens of Canada.

We must not allow this to stand.

We, the citizens of Canada, have the final say on what happens in our communities. Our votes and our laws must always trump the narrow interests of corporations. It is time for ALL CANADIANS to stand up for our democracy – for the right of individuals to decide what happens in our country, in our province, in our cities, and in our communities. If we lose that power, we will be handing the keys to our children’s future to corporations. THAT is what’s at stake.

Get involved. Come to Burnaby Mountain. Tell your elected officials and the media that Canada will not surrender its democracy to corporations. Post this message to social media. Stand up. Take action. Your future depends on it.

- A Canadian For Justice.

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigues of supporting it.”
― Thomas Paine
“A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.”
― Thomas Paine