It’s time to speak up for the coast, for the climate and for Indigenous rights! Will you join us to tell this panel to put this pipeline to bed?
Details are sparse but sign up to speak and we’ll keep you updated on how and when to make your voice count in person.
You can sign up here:
http://sierraclub.bc.ca/
Victoria schedule so far:
August 22: Victoria BC, times and location TBD
-invitational roundtable (local government) with public participation
-First Nations roundtable
August 23: Victoria BC, times and location TBD
-invitational roundtable (NGOs) with public participation
public town hall with open participation
**Sierra Club BC and Wilderness Committee will be organizing an event outside the public town hall. If you’d like to get involved, contact Galen Armstrong at galen@sierraclub.bc.ca or Emily Hoffpauir at emily@wildernesscommittee.
See complete listings at www.forthecoast.ca/
Background info
To recap, a Texas pipeline company wants to ship Alberta bitumen to refineries in China using Burrard Inlet to load more than 400 oil tankers a year. This proposal is nearly double the size of Enbridge’s recently rejected Northern Gateway.
Communities along the pipeline route would be subject to increased vulnerabilty to more spills. The entire Lower Mainland and South Island would be affected by an oil tanker spill, plus everyone who relies on salmon from the Fraser watershed — or the multi-billion dollar tourism industry on the south coast. And that’s before counting the climate impacts.
100% of Lower Mainland coastal nations oppose this pipeline and tanker project. 16 First Nations in BC are firmly opposed. Reconciliation and sovereignty mean listening to First Nations when they say no.
A new federal panel has been appointed to hear from the public along the pipeline route. This process is separate from the National Energy Board, which already recommended approval of the project. The Trudeau government will weigh both reports before delivering a final decision in December.
Here are the meeting dates:
August 9, 10, 11: Burnaby BC
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August 16, 17, 18: Vancouver BC
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August 19: North Vancouver BC
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August 23, 24: Victoria BC
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The timing sucks with lots of people away for summer holidays, but this is your last opportunity to speak publicly about the project. If you can make it to one of these dates (whether as a speaker or just to support your neighbours), please sign up here.
If you can’t make it to the meetings, you can send a letter to the panel here:
http://sierraclub.bc.ca/