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Kinder Morgan Pipeline and
Bogus National
Energy Board
Hearings
Opposition Grows to Proposed
Pipeline Expansion
Kinder Morgan Pipeline
and Bogus National Energy Board Hearings
• Opposition Grows to Proposed Pipeline
Expansion
• No to the Sell-Off of Our Natural Resources!
We Need a New Direction for the Economy! - Statement of
CPC(M-L)
Vancouver Committee (Excerpts)
BC Government Proceeds with Site C in
the
Face of Broad Opposition
• Hands Off Site C Protest Camp!
• Executive Decree Hands Billions to Monopolies
to
Construct and Finance Site C Dam
• Dam Construction Will Destroy Prime
Agricultural Land
• For Your Information
Kinder Morgan Pipeline and Bogus National
Energy Board
Hearings
Opposition Grows to Proposed Pipeline Expansion
Five hundred people gathered in Burnaby on January 23,
to denounce as
a sham the pipeline hearings of the National Energy Board (NEB). The
NEB
is holding hearings regarding Kinder Morgan's application to expand its
Trans
Mountain pipeline capacity. The U.S. oil monopoly has applied to
construct
a new pipeline to more than double the amount of crude oil and diluted
bitumen it carries from the Alberta tar sands to the company's
Westshore
Terminal on Burrard Inlet.
 Demonstrations opposing the
hearings began the first day
of the
proceedings on January 19, when protestors "took over" the Willingdon
Trans-Canada Highway overpass. The protestors shouted, "NEB is a sham!"
and "Trudeau,
we said
no!" while beating drums, sounding foghorns and whistles, and marched
to the site of the NEB hearings at the Delta Burnaby Hotel and
Conference Centre.
Carleen Thomas of the Sacred Trust Initiative for the
Tsleil-Waututh
Nation, which has launched a federal court case to stop the pipeline
expansion,
said to the assembled crowd: "This project does not benefit us, not
only as
citizens, but as human beings. The scope is so narrow. How can a
regulatory
process not consider the impacts of climate change?" Grand Chief
Stewart
Phillip of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs said, "The
outstanding
question of today is, Prime Minister Trudeau, where are you?"
To start off the January 23 rally, a group of Indigenous
activist women
performed and drummed rousing songs including the "Woman Warrior."
After
several speeches, the Solidarity Notes Labour Choir affiliated with the
Vancouver and District Labour Council sang, "No Oil Tankers in the
Salish
Sea" and other songs composed by Earle Peach, the choir master.
Audrey Siegl of the Musqueam First Nation told the
crowd that the
members of the NEB inside the hotel do not have authority to be there
to
deliberate on the future of the Trans Mountain Pipeline project
because they
do not have the permission and mandate from the people. She and other
speakers pointed out that numerous organizations that applied to make
presentations to the hearings were denied the right to do so, and that
those
making presentations are not allowed to discuss the subject of climate
change
and no cross-examination has been permitted. The demonstrators declared
that
the NEB has turned the proceedings into a sham.
Brandon Gabriel of the
Kwantlen First Nation in New
Westminster said
that his people rejected $600,000 in bribe money from Kinder Morgan and
instead put up signs demanding that Kinder Morgan stay off their land.
Kinder
Morgan drillers trespassed anyway and chopped the signs down. He said,
"It
is time for system change. We are not going away. We will change
things."
Burnaby City Councillor Sav Dhaliwal, speaking on behalf
of Mayor
Derek Corrigan, said the planned pipeline expansion was not for the
benefit
of the Burnaby community or any other community, as "every drop of oil
will
go overseas. We take all the risk while the multi-nationals take none."
 Dhaliwal remarked that the
hearings are evidence that
the system is
dysfunctional adding, "This should have been stopped a long time ago
when
it was evident that the hearing is a sham, doesn't represent Canadians,
and is
not transparent. A public hearing minus the public! What kind of public
hearing is that?"
NDP MP Fin Donnelly also denounced the hearing process
as a sham and
demanded that the new Liberal government make good on its election
promise
to put the approval process on a scientific footing. "Let us keep
working
together for a healthy economy, a healthy environment and a healthy
river,"
he said.
A contingent of Simon Fraser University students carried
signs opposing
Kinder Morgan's proposal to tunnel under Burnaby Mountain where the
university is located. The environment representative for the Simon
Fraser
Students' Society denounced the hearing process as invalid saying, "We
will
have the final say," that is "No consent" and "Yes to a different
future!"
Another SFU student called for "a new kind of politics
where promises are
kept and delivered," adding, "If we want a future, we have to fight for
it and
work together to protect this land for generations to come."
A representative of the Wilderness Committee said, "We
do not grant the
project permission. The world leaders who gathered in Paris will not
stop
climate change, but we will."
Dan Wallace, who was one of several activists arrested
recently aboard a
Kinder Morgan drilling rig in Burrard Inlet said, "Kinder Morgan needs
our
consent to do anything."
SFU science professor Lynne Quarmby, who was arrested in
2013 for
protesting Kinder Morgan drilling on Burnaby Mountain told participants
not
to "relax for one second." She called on participants to work to
involve friends
and neighbours saying, "Together we have power." She connected the
pipeline
expansion to the proposed Trans-Pacific
Partnership free trade agreement,
which the Trudeau Liberal government has agreed to sign, and said it
must not
be ratified.
Activists of CPC(M-L) distributed a statement and held
discussions with
other participants in the rally. The sham hearings on expansion of the
Trans
Mountain pipeline should be stopped, they said, and the Enbridge
Northern
Gateway project scrapped. But importantly, a new pro-social direction
for the
economy is needed for nation-building, an economy not based on the
extraction and sell-off of natural resources, the "rip and ship, boom
and bust"
economy. Events are already shattering any illusions about the Liberals
and
their promises, they pointed out. The activists emphasized the need for
people to
organize to
become the real decision-makers, to deprive the financial oligarchy and
global
monopolies of their power to decide against the will of the people.
No to the Sell-Off of Our Natural Resources!
We Need a
New Direction
for the Economy!
- Statement of CPC(M-L) Vancouver
Committee,
January
23, 2016 (Excerpts) -
 The people of British
Columbia, as well as many
municipal governments,
overwhelmingly oppose the plans of the U.S. monopoly Kinder Morgan to
expand its Trans Mountain Pipeline carrying diluted bitumen through
Burnaby
for export to markets overseas. The youth and members of First Nations
have
been in the forefront of the struggle to stop this disastrous path of
plundering
resources from the earth, building massive pipelines to transport it,
and
increasing by 7-fold the number of tankers in coastal waters.
Following the defeat of the
Harper Conservatives in the
federal election
last October, many people hoped for real change: change from an economy
based on "rip and ship" for the profits of the few; and transition to a
diversified economy that meets the needs of the majority of the people,
and
that is environmentally sustainable.
But people rightly suspect that the National Energy
Board hearings [held]
in Burnaby from January 19 to 29 will more or less rubber-stamp the
Kinder
Morgan [Trans Mountain expansion] plan, without any thoroughgoing
review
of scientific evidence about the true impact of this proposed plan on
the lives
of people, their economy, and their environment.
 Despite promises by the
Liberals to revise the National
Energy Board if
elected, the members of the NEB, who are responsible for evaluating the
Kinder Morgan plan, are the same ones that were appointed by the former
Harper Conservative government. All of them have ties to the energy and
petroleum industries, and thus can hardly be expected to deliver an
objective
and fair assessment of the proposed plan, or to make recommendations to
the
federal government that will benefit the people of BC and the rest of
Canada.
Thus people are demanding that the NEB hearings be stopped, and the
Kinder
Morgan plan scrapped.
Events are showing people
that we cannot have illusions
that the Liberal
government will keep their promises to put a stop to the plans of
Kinder
Morgan and other such plans of the financial oligarchy. Only the people
can
be depended on to steadfastly oppose that which harms their interests
and the
interests of society. The problem of the day is how can people advance
from
being only protestors, to becoming the actual decision-makers.
Let us continue to build the movement to stop both
Kinder Morgan and
Enbridge. Let us link our opposition to these mega-projects to
opposition to
Site C for similar reasons. The Peace River alluvial soil valley could
feed 2
million people fresh vegetables easing reliance on California produce
in the
north. Let us link all our No! protests to a positive Yes! campaign for
empowerment of the people as decision makers! Yes! for a new direction
for
the economy!
No
to the Kinder Morgan Pipeline and to Sham NEB Hearings!
Stop the Increased Exportation of Fossil Fuels and the Sell-off of Our
Natural Resources!
A New Direction for the Economy Is Needed!
Organize for People's Empowerment!
BC Government Proceeds with Site C in the
Face of Broad
Opposition
Hands Off Site C Protest Camp!
The Union of BC Indian
Chiefs issued a statement on January 8,
denouncing
the provocations, arrests and threats against Indigenous peoples and
settlers
protesting BC Hydro's land clearing for the Site C dam. Along with
environmental groups and other organizations and individuals in the
Peace
River area and throughout the province, the Union of BC Indian Chiefs
(UBCIC) is demanding that the project be halted. The full press release
is
reproduced below.
***
The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is denouncing BC
Hydro's
deliberately provocative and reckless attempts at fast tracking
construction on
the proposed Site C project despite the legal uncertainty of the
project moving
forward.
Treaty 8 Stewards of the Land have been
camped out at
the historic Rocky
Mountain Fort Camp since late December to defend their traditional
territory
in the face of the proposed $9 billion Site C dam, which would flood
107
kilometers of the Peace River and its tributaries. Local landowners
have also
joined in the fight.
 Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of
UBCIC, stated,
"We are
absolutely outraged that BC Hydro is working at the proposed dam site
when
critical court proceedings are in motion and a decision on Site C
proceeding
has yet to be determined. Yesterday, BC Hydro moved equipment in toward
the camp, despite publicly saying they are speaking with Site C dam
protestors
and local authorities to try to peacefully end the standoff. The RCMP
made
three arrests at the north bank entrance of the project yesterday
morning
including a former regional district director. We are deeply concerned
that BC
Hydro's actions are increasing tensions on the ground."
Through formal resolutions, the Union of BC Indian
Chiefs fully supports
the efforts of Treaty 8 First Nations to ensure that their Aboriginal
and Treaty
Rights are honoured and preserved.
Grand Chief Phillip concluded, "We continue to urge the
provincial and
federal governments to immediately cease proceeding with the proposed
Site
C dam project until such time as the Site C court proceedings are
complete
and the Site C Dam proposal is properly reviewed by the BC Utilities
Commission. Further provocations on the part of BC Hydro will only
serve to
escalate tensions in an already volatile situation."
Executive Decree Hands Billions to Monopolies to
Construct and Finance
Site C Dam
 At a BC Hydro substation in
Burnaby, Premier Christy
Clark and BC
Hydro CEO Jessica McDonald announced on November 25, 2015 the main
contractors for the Site C dam construction. Awarded the contract are
the three
member monopolies that comprise the Peace River Hydro Partners
consortium.
They are Korean engineering Samsung Corp., ACCIONA, a Spanish
construction monopoly, and Petrowest Corp., an Alberta-based company,
which is expanding beyond the oil and gas industry with this project.
The "civil works" covered
by this contract include
excavation, river
diversion tunnels, intake and outlet structures, a kilometre-long
earth-filled
dam, a 70-metre-high concrete buttress and a road network. Site C will
be the
largest hydro project in the province's history. BC Energy Minister
Bill
Bennett said the price-fixed project at some $8.3 billion does not
include a
separate $1.5 billion contract for a dam and river diversion.
Despite widespread opposition from all sectors of the
population, work has
already begun on the project. On July 7, 2015 the provincial government
issued two dozen authorizations under land, water, forest and wildlife
acts
providing permits for timber removal, road building and site
preparation.
Those announcements came just four days before the 10th annual "Paddle
for
the Peace (River Valley)" in which hundreds of people in canoes and
boats
demanded cancellation of the Site C project. According to the
provincial
government and BC Hydro, the people's opposition and their popular will
are
inconsequential, the ruling capitalist elite have made their decision
and the
time for "consultation" and discussion is over.
British Columbians are outraged that a clique of
politicians representing
monopoly right can usurp both the rule of law and broad public opinion
to
dictate and enforce its private will. Three construction monopolies are
to be
directly enriched, others within the financial oligarchy will suck the
blood of
the people and Mother Earth through financing the project, and energy
monopolies will benefit from the electricity to engage in the rip and
ship,
boom and bust sell-out of natural resources.
The Right to Say No
Site C is not a done deal. Many people demand their
right to
say no. First Nations, Peace River settlers and their allies are
contesting the
project in the courts. Even the Joint Review Panel established by the
provincial and federal government ministries of the environment has
grave
reservations and serious questions about the project.
In its May 2014 Report, the Joint Review Panel raised a
number of critical
questions, including the fact that no authority has demonstrated a need
for the
electricity to be generated by this expensive project. Also, BC Hydro
has not
made a credible case for the financial viability of the project.
 Many critics point to the burden
imposed arbitrarily by
the Campbell
Liberal government to permit private "run-of-river" power contracts
that have
already inflated the price of production of electricity for BC Hydro
resulting
in higher hydro bills. The added financial burden of Site C, which is
being
financed through private global moneylenders with huge profits siphoned
off
by the construction monopolies, may be sufficient to create a crisis.
The crisis
would be an excuse for arbitrary executive authority to privatize BC
Hydro
further, selling off lucrative pieces "to pay down the debt" or finance
other
infrastructure projects, as some jurisdictions are now doing. The
Ontario
Liberal government's privatization of Hydro One is a dangerous example
of
a crisis- and panic-driven neo-liberal decision.
The Joint Review Panel also recommended that the project
not proceed
without review by the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC). But Premier Clark
has refused to allow the BCUC to review the Site C project. This
violates the
legislation that mandates BCUC "to ensure that ratepayers receive safe,
reliable, and non-discriminatory energy services at fair rates from the
utilities
it regulates, and that shareholders of those utilities are afforded a
reasonable
opportunity to earn a fair return on their invested capital."
Is Clark afraid that the BCUC will disclose that the
three monopolies
constructing the project, the global moneylenders financing it, and the
energy
monopolies directly benefiting from the electricity are going to profit
to such
an extent that Site C, together with the private "run-of-river"
projects, will
bankrupt BC Hydro and the public treasury and mean a huge jump in
electricity rates, general taxes and further privatizations?
The development of Site C violates the Treaty rights of
the Treaty 8
peoples, and certainly also any notion of the Trudeau government of
establishing new "nation-to-nation" relations. The federal government
has a
duty to step in to enforce its jurisdiction over this trans-provincial
river. The
Peace River runs into Alberta to the Slave River, Slave Lake and
empties into
the Arctic via the Mackenzie River. The federal government's fiduciary
responsibility for Indigenous rights and for protection of the waters
and the
fish and the right of the people to say no, make it incumbent upon the
government to stay the arbitrary authority and actions of the Clark
government.
Finally, several cases are directly before the courts
right now with claims
by both Indigenous people and non-Indigenous farmers from the valley.
By
pushing through the project at breakneck speed, the Clark clique is
riding
roughshod even over the courts.
The energy requirements of the people of BC and their
economy are not
the concerns the government is addressing with this decision to proceed
with Site C, nor
is it
food security for British Columbians, nor environmental protection, and
certainly not the wishes and concerns of the First Nations and settlers
whose
lands will be flooded, nor the rights of people generally to decide on
issues
that affect them. The government concern is the demand of the
monopolies for
somewhere to invest where a maximum return is guaranteed by the state,
and
that somewhere at this point in time is Site C and other privately
constructed,
financed and managed yet state-backed big infrastructure projects. This
is not
nation-building in the public interest; it is nation-bankrupting,
nation-wrecking.
The decision to proceed with Site C, the consequences
should it go ahead,
and the process by which the decision was made, all point to the
necessity for
a change in the direction of the economy and for democratic renewal and
empowerment of the people.
The people say No! to the dictate of the monopolies and
monopoly right.
The peoples of British Columbia and Canada want to be the
decision-makers
in their own land; they want to make the decisions on a new basis that
serves
the public interest, and not be subjected to the dictate of the global
monopolies
and their narrow private interests.
Dam Construction Will Destroy Prime
Agricultural Land
Site C dam, the second largest Canadian infrastructure
project presently
proposed, will flood over 100 kilometres of the Peace River plus two
major
tributaries. 57,000 acres of land including over 31,000 acres of forest
land and
25,000 acres of farmland will be wiped out. Besides the homes and farms
of
settler farmers, the homes of members of Treaty 8 First Nation will be
destroyed, as well as their cultural and sacred burial sites.
Traditional hunting,
fishing and trapping territories will be ruined.
The unique microclimate of the Peace Valley is suitable
for cantaloupes,
watermelons, tomatoes, corn, fruit trees and much more. Presently much
of the
land is only being used for pasture as farmers are unwilling to make
major
investments while the spectre of dam construction and flooding looms.
Agriculture experts including well known agronomist
Wendy Holmes say
the agricultural land to be destroyed as a result of dam construction
is capable
of feeding a million people. The Peace River land is important for food
security, as conversion of farmland for non-agricultural development
and
recreational use is growing rapidly across BC. As well, production of
non-food
products such as wine is expanding in the Okanagan and Fraser Valleys
and
Saanich Peninsula on Vancouver Island.
The provincial government has been carrying a massive
advertising
campaign touting the benefits of the dam including thousands of
construction
jobs, potential power for 200,000 homes as well as their liquefied
natural gas
schemes, which have yet to begin and may never see the light of day.
Government advertisements also carry misinformation portraying the
Peace Valley as
frozen, barren hillsides mainly uninhabited but for a few Indigenous
people.
Despite the fact that construction of the dam would block a major
migratory
route for trout, the ads boast of widespread fishing and recreation
opportunities, which will supposedly be opened up.
Amongst the most outspoken opponents of Site C is
Richard Bullock,
former chair of the BC Land commission. The Liberal government fired
Bullock in May 2015 because he opposed the provincial government's
amendments to the Land Commission Act
in 2014. Those changes make it
easier for mining and energy monopolies to have agriculture land
removed
from the Agriculture Land Reserve (ALR). Bullock also opposed the
provincial
cabinet's order removing all the Peace River Valley from the ALR.
First Nations including the West Moberly First Nation,
as well as
landowners including the Peace Valley Landowners' Association are
currently
challenging the Site C decision in the courts.
For Your Information
The BC Liberal government
announced on December 16, 2014
its decision
to proceed with the Site C dam on the Peace River. In its press release
the
government stated, "As the third project on the Peace River, the firm
energy
it provides will support the development of more independent power
projects
(IPPs) by backing-up intermittent resources, such as wind. IPPs
currently
provide 25% of BC's electricity and will continue to play a vital role
in
meeting the province's energy needs."
Since former Premier Gordon
Campbell's decision on April
19, 2010 that
Site C would proceed to Stage 3, several different justifications for
Site C have
been given. These include the export of power to California; powering
the
Horn River basin; powering liquefied natural gas plants in Kitimat;
supplying
power for 450,000 homes; powering hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to
extract
natural gas and the recently-added need to "support the development of
more
independent power projects (IPPs) by backing-up intermittent resources"
of
these private projects.
 The Site C dam would be the third
of four major dams on
the Peace River
that were initially proposed in the mid-twentieth century. The WAC
Bennett
dam was completed in 1967. The Peace Canyon Dam was completed in 1980.
The third dam, "Site C" was proposed at a site 83 km downriver from the
Peace Canyon dam, 7 km southwest of Fort St. John.
The proposal was rejected after BC Utilities Commission
(BCUC) hearings
in 1983 and again rejected in the 1990s.
In October 2014, Site C received environmental
assessment approvals from
the federal and provincial governments in spite of recommendations from
the
Joint Review Panel that the project not proceed without review by the
BCUC.
Soon after, in December 2014 the provincial government approved the
construction of the project at a cost of $8.335 billion plus a project
reserve of
$440 million.
The reservoir for the dam would require the flooding of
5,550 hectares of
land and over 100 km of river valley along the Peace River and its
tributaries,
including prime agricultural land.
In the past, such a project would have been subject to
review by the
BCUC but the Clean Energy Act
of 2010 legislated exemptions from BCUC
regulations and review for several projects, including Site C, the
Northwest
Transmission Line, the two new generating units (5&6) at the Mica
Station,
a generator addition at Revelstoke (Unit 6) scheduled for 2015, the
call for Bio-energy, the smart meter project, a proposed "feed in
tariff program" (subsequently withdrawn) and various other requests for
"clean power proposals."
BCUC is an oversight body, a mechanism of civil society
established by
the provincial government. The BCUC website defines its role as
follows:
"The Commission's primary responsibility is the regulation of British
Columbia's natural gas and electricity utilities. We also regulate
intra-provincial pipelines and universal compulsory automobile
insurance." The Clean Energy Act
virtually eliminates the BCUC's role and any
oversight,
even on such massive projects as Site C.
Canadian Mega-Project Spending
Canadian mega-project spending continues
to rise. The
value of the country's 100 biggest public infrastructure projects has
grown to
$161.3 billion, an increase over 2015's $157.9 billion, according to ReNew
Canada, which on January 11 released its 10th annual Top100
Projects report.
Toronto's $9.1-billion Eglinton Crosstown LRT is this
year's new No. 1
public infrastructure project, overtaking the $8.775-billion Site C
hydroelectric
energy development in British Columbia, which had occupied the top spot
since 2013. In November 2015, the Province of Ontario announced the
Eglinton Crosstown public-private partnership's cost over 30 years,
boosting
it up from its No. 5 rank in 2015.
Overall, the list is dominated by $57.5 billion in 28
energy projects, with
hydroelectric generation-- including the controversial Site C
project -- claiming
the four of the top 10 spots:
1. Eglinton Crosstown LRT -- Transit -- Ontario -- $9.1
billion
2. Site C -- Hydroelectric -- British Columbia -- $8.775
billion
3. Muskrat Falls Project -- Hydroelectric --
Newfoundland
and Labrador --
$7.65 billion
4. Romaine Complex -- Hydroelectric -- Quebec -- $6.5
billion
5. Keeyask Hydroelectric Project -- Hydroelectric --
Manitoba -- $6.496
billion
6. Southwest Calgary Ring Road -- Transportation --
Alberta -- $5
billion
7. Bipole III Transmission Line -- Transmission --
Manitoba -- $4.6
billion
8. Green Line LRT -- Transit -- Alberta -- $4.5 billion
9. New Champlain Bridge Corridor Project --
Transportation -- Quebec --
$4.24 billion
10. Turcot Interchange -- Transportation -- Quebec --
$3.67 billion
Beyond energy, the report includes 22 transportation
projects, 19 transit,
12 buildings (social, educational, and government facilities), 10
health-care
facilities, six water/wastewater, two remediation efforts, and one
waste
management development.
"There are 25 newcomers in 2016, representing $25.8
billion in new
mega-project investment," said André Voshart, Executive Editor, ReNew
Canada.
The report ranks public projects by cost, including
descriptions, funding
sources, and key players. The list excludes privately held oil and gas
developments. It can be accessed at http://renewcanada.net/2016/insights-into-canadas-top100-projects/
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