Canada approves multi-billion-dollar pipeline project just one day after declaring ‘climate emergency’

Protesters hold placards against the Trans Mountain expansion project
John McEvoy


Just one day after declaring a ‘climate emergency’, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government in Canada has approved a massive pipeline project. And the decision has provoked major uproar worldwide.

Trans Mountain expansion project

The Trans Mountain expansion project is designed to carry three times more oil from Edmonton, Alberta to Burnaby, British Columbia. It’s worth C$7.4bn.

The Canadian government argues that the project will allow Canada to reduce dependence on US oil and export to markets via the Pacific Coast. The project, however, has been met with fierce opposition from both First Nations indigenous groups and environmental campaigns.

In August 2018, First Nations groups in Canada won a historic victory in the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal by temporarily quashing the project. They argued that they were not properly consulted about the future impact of the project and that it would “push Canada’s climate change goals out of reach”. The court found that “there was no meaningful two-way dialogue” between First Nations communities and the government, as required by the Canadian constitution.

The court put the project for review, and on 18 June Canada once again gave it the go-ahead. Trudeau claims revenues from the project will fund a “transition to a green economy”.

Related articles

“I want you to act as if our house is on fire”

Swedish school strike activist Greta Thunberg famously told world leaders:

I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is.

Global leaders paid lip service to Thunberg’s concerns, with many recently declaring a ‘climate emergency’ in response to the global climate breakdown.

Unsurprisingly, then, Trudeau’s decision to approve the Trans Mountain expansion project just one day after declaring a ‘climate emergency’ in Canada caused global outrage. Thunberg herself called the move “shameful”:

Canadian author and activist Naomi Klein said it was “perfectly Trudeau”:

Indeed, not long after shedding tears for Canada’s historic mistreatment of First Nations groups, Trudeau sent state forces onto their land to defend a gas pipeline in January 2019.

Today, though, we’re not only talking about genocide, but omnicide: the mass extinction of every living organism. And for this crime, there may soon be no organised life remaining to judge or be judged.

Featured image via William Chen/WikiCommons

We need your help ...

The coronavirus pandemic is changing our world, fast. And we will do all we can to keep bringing you news and analysis throughout. But we are worried about maintaining enough income to pay our staff and minimal overheads.

Now, more than ever, we need a vibrant, independent media that holds the government to account and calls it out when it puts vested economic interests above human lives. We need a media that shows solidarity with the people most affected by the crisis – and one that can help to build a world based on collaboration and compassion.

We have been fighting against an establishment that is trying to shut us down. And like most independent media, we don’t have the deep pockets of investors to call on to bail us out.

Can you help by chipping in a few pounds each month?

The Canary Support us

Related articles