The battle lines that are rapidly taking shape in Canada over the future of oil pipelines hardened on Dec. 2 when Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr said the federal government was ready to use “defense forces” or police against protesters.
In ratcheting up the debate, he was immediately condemned by political opponents who accused him of “reckless, irresponsible and incendiary language.”
At the same time, intentionally or not, he raised the issue to a new level.
“If he is truly concerned about the rule of law, he should know that in this country the federal government has no authority to use our military against pipeline protests,” said Randall Garrison, a Member of Parliament from the New Democratic Party.
Carr, speaking to business leaders in Alberta and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., tried to soften his position by insisting that “no warning was intended” in his comments that “if people choose for their own reasons not to be peaceful then the government of Canada, through its defense forces and police forces, will ensure that people will be kept safe. ... We live under the rule of law.”
Others distance themselves
Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan and Transport Minister Marc Garneau distanced themselves from Carr’s position, declaring they would “always protect the right of Canadians to protest when they don’t agree with something. ... We’re confident they would do so peacefully.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged “there’s lots of people” who disagree with his decisions to approve expansions of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline to Vancouver and Enbridge’s Line 3 to Wisconsin, adding: “That’s fine and that’s fair and you’re allowed to.
“I look forward to working with people to manage and mitigate the very real fears that people might have” about the impact of transporting bitumen from the Alberta oil sands to export markets, he said.
But Trudeau also observed that if pipeline construction is stopped there is nothing his government can do to prevent the shipment of crude by rail “which is more expensive, more emitting and much more dangerous.”
Ric McIver, interim leader of the Progressive Conservative party in Alberta, noted that federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May said she is prepared to go to jail to prevent the Trans Mountain project from being built.
“She has declared war on common sense and Canadian unity,” he said. “We can’t let the pipeline get held up by people who will never agree to any standard. The law of the jungle cannot prevail.”
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley headed into hostile territory to argue that exporting crude will obtain higher international prices for producers, generating revenues for national health care and education programs, while sending a message to energy-sector investors that Alberta is open for business.
Concerns over pipeline
However, Andrew Weaver, leader of the Green Party in British Columbia, said it was “offensive for the premier of another province to come to our province and to market” production from the oil sands that undermines Canada’s climate-change commitments.
“Nobody has any idea of the beast that is going to be unleashed in Vancouver over this issue,” he said. “It’s out of the box now and I don’t know how you’ll ever stuff it back in.”
Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, said the two pipelines would put rivers and coasts at risk and have devastating impacts on climate change.
He said that in less than a week more than 10,000 people has signed a petition to stop Kinder Morgan, while 100 First Nations and tribes across North America have joined forces under a Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion to stop Trans Mountain, Line 3, Keystone XL, Energy East and the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Phillips urged Trudeau to see the error of his ways and “not allow the same kind of ugly, hateful and violent reaction to the peaceful prayers of our brothers at sisters” at the Standing Rock camps in North Dakota that have been established to defy federal orders and stop construction of Dakota Access.
Fight on numerous fronts
Sven Biggs, energy and climate campaigner for the environmental group Stand.earth said the Trans Mountain approval “signals the beginning of a new phase in the struggle against pipelines.”
He and Greenpeace oil sands campaigner Mike Hudema said they are ready to carry their fight to numerous fronts from the streets to courts and the legislature.
“Diversity in tactics is a key strategy,” said Hudema. “That will mean lawsuits, meeting with government officials, showing up at the ballot box (in the May 2017 British Columbia election), protests and direct action.”
For B.C. Premier Christy Clark it could be an about-face from the 2013 election campaign when New Democratic Party leader Adrian Dix stunned his own party by unilaterally opposing Trans Mountain and sacrificed what was seen as an insurmountable leader in the polls.
Clark is now faced with tying her re-election chances to arguing that Trans Mountain will be a source of jobs and revenue, provided she can reach an agreement with Kinder Morgan to allocate a portion of its pipeline profits to British Columbia and to establish a “world-class” response program for oil spills on land or water.
