Nelsonites rally against Kinder Morgan pipeline
By Nelson Daily Staff
A boisterous group of people against pipelines joined thousands across the country Monday in front of Nelson City Hall to protest the federal government’s purchase of Kinder Morgan Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline and its expansion.
The rally was part of a national day of action against the project.
Demonstrators held up signs and sang songs outside the office of Kootenay Columbia MP Wayne Stetski, who is opposed to the project.
Stetski, who could not be present for the rally, had a statement read on his behalf chastising the recent decision by the Trudeau government decision to pay $4.5 Billion of taxpayer money, plus mounting costs to complete the twinning of the TMP to ensure the project goes forward.
Anger only increased as news spread that Kinder Morgan Canada was paying two senior executives $1.5-million bonuses to stay with the company as it completes the massive pipeline sale.
This was the second protest in Nelson.
Last week, following the announcement by Finance Minister Bill Morneau, a group against pipelines staged a protest rally in the 400 Block of Baker Street in the amenity center outside Phoenix Computers.
The planned expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline, which was first build in 1953, would nearly triple its capacity by adding some new pieces and “twinning” the line along its existing more than 700-mile-long route, which starts in Edmonton, Alberta and ends in Burnaby, B.C., northeast of Vancouver.
If completed, the expanded line could carry as much as 890,000 barrels of oil a day, with the new capacity specially designed to handle a form of heavier tar sands oil, diluted bitumen. The increase in oil tanker traffic off the West Coast of BC could could be as much as seven times to 34 per month.
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