#StopTMX

The RCMP was founded as a paramilitary police force to enforce the theft of indigenous land. Nothing has changed in our history. However methinks the legendary Sam Steele would not have acted as vilely as our current officers in arresting an unarmed person.

Maybe we will get a new party in BC and see some real change.

What does it mean to be an ecosocialist? We think it means understanding that the rising concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few, at the expense of the many, is hurting many people now, while it also fuels the climate catastrophe that is driving us towards extinction.

We want to make big changes. And we’re inspired by people like Greta Thunberg, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jeremy Corbyn, Bernie Sanders and the folks at Extinction Rebellion, who also want to make big changes.

Maybe you’ve noticed that none of the parties currently in the legislature seem to want to make big changes. It’s as if they don’t understand or care about the size of the problems.

• homelessness and gentrification is getting worse
• inequality is getting worse
• overdose deaths continue at a massive, tragic rate
• fires, droughts and floods are more frequent
• climate catastrophe is upon us, while BC builds more fossil fuel infrastructure.

http://www.bcecosocialist.ca/

Pondering wrote:

Politicians can't make the people do what the people don't want to do. 

Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion are in a whole different ball park from  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jeremy Corbyn, and Bernie Sanders who are not nearly as extreme even though they do want to act with much greater haste. 

I love your chose of the adjective, "extreme." Tell me is QS also an extreme party, because I think the messages are similar.

Pondering wrote:

kropotkin1951 wrote:

Pondering wrote:

Politicians can't make the people do what the people don't want to do. 

Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion are in a whole different ball park from  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jeremy Corbyn, and Bernie Sanders who are not nearly as extreme even though they do want to act with much greater haste. 

I love your chose of the adjective, "extreme." Tell me is QS also an extreme party, because I think the messages are similar.

Yes. I don't necessarily equate extreme with bad and I am using the word in the relative sense. In 1960, supporting gay marriage was extreme. Now it's mainstream. 

You are wrong a homophobic asshole was a homophobic asshole and a racist was a racist in 1960 and the CCF was still running on parts of the Regina manifesto. What you are saying is that anything out side of the current status quo is extreme. Maybe extreme has no negative connotations to you but you are one of the few English speakers who would arrive at that idea. Extreme weather is the problem that TMX is going to exacerbate and that is also becoming commonplace now but it is still extreme.

For me digging up the tar sand gunk is extreme, precisely because it is an evil product that is toxic to humanity. My feet are my extremities and rather large but they are not extreme.

​Editing due to massive formating issue that is too much of a hassle to fix

BUYING TRANS MOUNTAIN WOULD END BADLY FOR BROOKFIELD, ANALYST WARNS

It would be a serious error for Toronto-based Brookfield Infrastructure Partners to invest in the Trudeau government’s troubled Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, a leading energy and finance analyst warned yesterday, after a news report identified Brookfield as a potential “dark horse” buyer for the project.

Brookfield, which has been building a profile as a green infrastructure investor, would run “significant risks” if it acquired the pipeline, U.S. investment banker Tom Sanzillo, finance director at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), told The Energy Mix in an email. “At the current levels of government exposure, this transaction would not be viable for a private equity investment.”

Sanzillo was reacting to a Bloomberg news report that identified Brookfield as “one unexpected suitor” for the pipeline, just days after Ottawa admitted the project had gone over budget by 70%—or 133%, compared to the first estimated released by its original proponent, Kinder Morgan, in 2014. The price tag now stands at C$12.6 billion, not including the $4.5 billion the federal cabinet shelled out to buy the pipeline on taxpayers’ behalf.

Bloomberg cited a report Monday by Ian Gillies, an analyst at Stifel FirstEnergy, that pointed to Brookfield’s “excellent access to capital markets” and proven ability to manage energy infrastructure assets as factors that would put it in the running to buy TMX, along with pipeliners TC Energy, Enbridge, and Pembina Pipeline Corporation, and several Indigenous consortia.

Brookfield spokesperson Claire Holland said the company doesn’t comment on speculation.

To make any deal at all plausible, “Brookfield would need the government to sell the pipeline and all for an amount substantially below Canada’s outlay, which will probably reach $20 billion (purchase price plus construction plus interest and carrying losses),” wrote Sanzillo, a former deputy comptroller for the State of New York. Even that kind of financial concession would merely “move the investment needle from an outright reckless investment to a very speculative one for Brookfield, and at a considerable financial loss for Canadian taxpayers.”....

 Public support for Trans Mountain plummets as costs rise: poll

Only 16 per cent of Canadians say they are comfortable with the federal government spending more than $12 billion of taxpayer money to build the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, according to a national survey by Nanos Research.

When asked “What do you feel is the maximum amount taxpayers should spend to build the pipeline,” 43 per cent across Canada replied: “It should not cost taxpayers any money.” That number climbs to 59 per cent in Quebec.

The survey was commissioned by B.C. environmental group Dogwood, and conducted January 27 to 29. On February 7 Trans Mountain updated its estimated construction cost to $12.6 billion.....

Supreme Court rejects Trans Mountain legal challenges. So, what’s next?

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Thirty-two per cent of the pipeline route still not approved

Trans Mountain plans to have the new pipeline in service by 2022 and project construction is already underway in some areas of B.C. and Alberta.

On Thursday, dump trucks were moving in and out of Trans Mountain’s Burnaby Terminal, where the drone of construction work from inside the chain-link fence could be heard above the pitter-patter of the rain. The number of tanks used to store crude oil and refined petroleum products at the Burnaby Terminal will double to 26 with the pipeline expansion.

Just a few kilometres away, work is also underway at the Westridge Marine Terminal on Burrard Inlet, where three new shipping berths will be constructed to accommodate additional tanker traffic.

While construction of the pipeline itself has begun in the Edmonton area, 32 per cent of the route still needs approval from the Canada Energy Regulator.

Thirty different detailed route hearings will take place this spring and summer during which the regulator will consider objections to portions of the pipeline route from Burnaby to just north of Kamloops, B.C.

“There are a number of spots that are super controversial,” said Biggs. And, if Trans Mountain is ordered to find a new route for some segments, it could further delay construction and drive up the costs, he said.

“Costs are mostly driven by delays.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Trans Mountain said the corporation has included a $500 million contingency in its cost estimate to cover the costs of delays caused by protests, weather, or other factors. 

First Nations are back in court this Monday to file a new appeal to the Supreme Court challenging Trans Mountain. These Nations are taking to the highest court in the land to defend their rights to meaningful consultation, and challenge the approval of the TMX project that imperils drinking water, threatens fisheries, and poses an existential threat to their way of life. 

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Although we can’t gather in the streets or outside the courthouse, we want Indigenous Nations to know they have thousands of people behind them. We are excited to be hosting a briefing and Q&A gathering online at 4 pm PST/7 pm EST on April 7. Please join us to hear about this new Supreme Court challenge directly from Tsleil Waututh Chief Leah George, Khelsilem Tl'aḵwasik̓a̱n of Squamish Nation, legal expert Eugene Kung  and Pull Together’s own Mary Lovell. Join the conversation.... here. 

Sign the petition: Liberty Mutual must stop insuring tar sands

Insurance giant Liberty Mutual is a huge backer of the destructive tar sands sector, which spells disaster for the climate and Indigenous rights. As a top fossil fuel insurer with at least $8.9 billion invested in fossil fuel companies, Liberty Mutual is complicit in the destruction of waterways and sacred land.

Tar sands oil is one of the dirtiest, most carbon-intensive fuels on the planet, and its extraction has already contaminated the drinking water and food of First Nations in Canada and unleashed massive amounts of carbon pollution.

All tar sands projects need one thing: insurance coverage. Without insurance, new tar sands mines, pipelines, and refineries cannot be built, and existing projects cannot continue to operate.  

Last winter, Liberty Mutual adopted a policy limiting its business with coal, but it continues to insure the tar sands with no end in sight. In fact, Liberty Mutual is currently providing crucial coverage for the Trans Mountain and Keystone XL pipelines and has not ruled out covering Line 3......

‘They came to destroy and create fear’: Indigenous protester says men attacked Trans Mountain protest camp

RCMP are investigating after an Indigenous woman reported that several men stormed into a protest encampment and drove a truck into her home.

Kanahus Manuel is a Secwepemc woman who is part of Tiny House Warriors, a group that has set up a village of five mobile miniature homes on unceded land to protest the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline and the construction of nearby work camps, sometimes referred to as “man camps.”

They have been on the site since July 2018 and live there full time, on what is traditional Secwepemcúĺecw land near Blue River, about two and a half hours northeast of Kamloops, B.C. The Secwepemc, also known as Shuswap people, traditionally reside on a large territory in the interior of B.C.

On Sunday evening, around 10:45 p.m., the woman — whose legal name is Amanda Soper but who goes by the name Manuel — alleges, a group of men driving all-terrain vehicles plowed through the wood barricade that surrounds the homes and began yelling at her.

The men did not identify themselves but let her know they were supporters of the oil and gas industry. The vehicles had Alberta licence plates, according to Manuel.

She said that as soon as the men arrived on site, they started tearing down red dresses that were hanging to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

She said the men made misogynistic remarks and said Indigenous peoples don’t have the right to “take back land wherever you want.”

According to Manuel, the scene turned violent, when one of the men assaulted a village resident who demanded that they leave.

“I had to flee from my truck into my home. They knew where I was because I was flashing my light out of my window telling them to leave my truck alone,” Manuel said.

She said that’s when one of the men went into her truck, where the keys were still in the ignition and drove into her home. The tiny houses, as they are called, are effectively trailers that have been converted into miniature homes. Manuel said a hitch on the corner of the trailer prevented the truck from causing serious damage, but she still felt the impact of the collision while she was inside.

“They came right for me, full blast, with a big huge F-350,” Manuel said. “Who in their right mind would get into someone else’s truck and drive it into someone’s home?”

RCMP said the Clearwater, B.C. detachment is investigating the incident but could not provide further comment......

Sumas First Nation chief says Trans Mountain spill happened just south of a cultural and burial ground of great significance

Trans Mountain estimates as much as 1,195 barrels, or 190,000 litres, of light crude spilled from its pipeline pumping station in Abbotsford, B.C.

While an investigation is ongoing, the Crown-owned company said in a statement the cause of the spill appears to be related to a fitting on a one-inch, or 2.5-centimetre, piece of pipe.

The statement said the pipeline was expected restart Sunday after all safety protocols were completed.

It said the spill was fully contained on Trans Mountain property, the free-standing oil has been recovered and it will be disposed of at an approved facility.

Sumas First Nation Chief Dalton Silver said the spill happened just south of a cultural and burial ground of great significance to their people.

He said in a statement Sunday that it's the fourth time in 15 years that there has been a spill from the pipeline on their land.....

A volcano brewing beneath Canada

Was it only two years ago that Canada promised to develop legislation to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples? Just three years since Prime Minister Trudeau declared that no relationship was more important to this country than the one with Indigenous Peoples? And has it really been five years since people living on reserves were promised they would no longer need to boil their water to make it safe for drinking?

Oh, but we’re a forgetful nation. Soon, we may forget that it was only yesterday that the Section 35 rights of Indigenous Peoples were pushed aside to usher a pipeline across unceded territory.

Such forgetfulness is how we can have a Canada Day celebration one day, and the next we can strike down the rights of those whose laws, customs and culture stretch like roots beneath the land and waters of this “home on native land.” It’s how symbolic gestures can resonate prettily — witness Mr. Trudeau, taking a knee — while our judiciary, long a tool of systemic discrimination, persists in the continuation of our 150-year history of denying Indigenous rights.

“For us, water is life.”

Others have summarized their disappointment in the face of the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear Coldwater, Tsleil Waututh and Squamish Nations’ appeal of the Federal Court’s ruling on the Trans Mountain consultation. But take a moment and trace a line from what was suppsed to be our “most important relationship”, to what the promise of “clean drinking water” has become.

Let’s examine that route, not through lofty sentiments, but by way of plain evidence.

The Coldwater Indian Band is situated 270 km northeast of Vancouver. The sole source of drinking water for 90% of the community, the Coldwater valley was also deemed “the best possible route” by Trans Mountain when they were siting their 1150 km-long pipeline. In fact, for both Trans Mountain and its predecessor, Kinder Morgan, it became “our way, not the highway” as they adamantly refused to even consider a simple alteration of a few kilometers that would have made all the difference to Coldwater.

“For us water is life.”

It’s a profound truth that Chief Lee Spahan has patiently stated, first in hearings of the then-National Energy Board, and, later, in courtrooms where he worked to uphold a mandate to protect his community’s laws and well-being. As a result of his efforts, protecting the aquifer became one of 157 conditions imposed on the project by Canada’s energy regulator.

Yet: more than 8 years after bringing these concerns to government and industry tables, Coldwater are no closer to understanding why alternative routes have not been adopted. The Federal Court of Appeal overturned Coldwater’s case in February 2020, despite evidence it was presented showing that Trans Mountain had reneged on a commitment to complete a study of the Nation’s aquifer before settling on the route through the Coldwater Valley.

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In the 1970’s, Thomas Berger’s Mackenzie Valley inquiry recommended a ten-year moratorium on pipeline construction. The landmark report identified an urgent need to deal with deep underlying issues of sovereignty, land claims and consultation before major infrastructure projects could be embarked upon. Fast forward through half a century of inaction, and the lump under our collective carpet has become a volcano. As anyone watching the Wet’suwet’en uprising this winter may have noticed: neglect them long enough, and those ‘underlying tensions’ have a tendency to erupt.

When Jody Wilson Raybould was appointed Justice Minister, she adopted a mandate to pass legislation that would enshrine the right for Free, Prior and Informed Consent of Indigenous Peoples into law. She aimed to pass “new legislation that would … recognize rights, support Indigenous self-government, create pathways out of the Indian Act, and help Indigenous peoples rebuild their Nations and governments.” Writing in the Globe and Mail, Raybould recently lamented that “Time and again … ineffective baby steps were privileged over transformative efforts to address Canada’s colonial legacy… Too often, political expediency triumphed over bold and necessary action.”

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Putting the ‘wreck’ in reconciliation

In assessing the value of so many years of legal work on TMX by her Nation, Chief George-Wilson, herself a lawyer, cited the many reports commissioned — and paid for — by Tsleil Waututh Nation. She referenced evidence collected by international experts that corroborated the concerns of Indigenous Peoples, weaving together scientific, cultural, and Indigenous legal frameworks.

Yet, the Federal Court of Appeal court took such a narrow view of ‘consultation’ that they scarcely considered this evidence, or took the time to unpack the bigger questions around project risks. Instead of examining the government’s consultation record and making a judgment on the facts, as per established practice, the Federal Court of Appeal simply took the government’s word for it that consultation was adequate. And the Supreme Court of Canada, the guardian of the Constitution, declined to even hear an appeal.

No explanation was given for the dismissal, but First Nations were quick to weigh in on the implications. Says Chief George-Wilson. “This case is about more than a risky pipeline and tanker project; it is a major setback for reconciliation. It reduces consultation to a purely procedural requirement that will be a serious barrier to reconciliation.”

..from an email

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Trans Mountain just confirmed that Zurich Insurance - its primary insurer - has dropped its coverage! That means that companies that specialize in risk consider Trans Mountain to be "high risk", something we've been arguing for years, based on the lack of consent from all First Nations impacted by the proposed pipeline expansion.

With our friends at the Rainforest Action Network, Stand.Earth, Lead Now and Stop the Money Pipeline we’ve been targeting Trans Mountain insurers with demands that they drop tar sands projects from the list of things they will insure. Zurich is the third -- and the biggest -- to drop Trans Mountain so far! 

Now it’s time to ramp up the pressure on Liberty Mutual and the remaining insurers before they decide whether to renew their insurance policies at the end of August. 

We’re going to take action online together at 2:00 pm Pacific, tomorrow, Thursday, July 23rd https://act.ran.org/page/20920/subscribe/1 

This event is invitation-only, please register to get yours:

..my bold. horgan sang a diffent tune when invading wet'suwet'en territory. what a creep!

Responsibility for dealing with Tiny House Warriors protest camps on RCMP and local First Nations says Premier Horgan

The Premier says the responsibility for dealing with the Tiny House Warriors protest camp near Blue River falls on the RCMP as well as the Simpcw First Nation as well as Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc.

Asked about the issue as the Tiny House Warriors continue to protest the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, John Horgan says if there are laws being broken, the police should address it.

“If the chief and other community members feel that their liberty is being impinged by other people, they should call the cops,” he said, during a press conference earlier this month.

“I cannot tell the cops what to do, but if citizens who are there charged with protecting [the area] have concerns, they should raise that with local law enforcement and law enforcement in my opinion should respond to that.”

He noted it is up to the title holders on the land to make determinations about what can and cannot take place.

“Particularly if it is a demonstration that is highlighting Indigenous rights and title,” Horgan said. “Obviously, I defer to the chiefs to make determinations on her lands.”....

..he's envoking title land holders because it suits him. he ignored and even argued against it when it came to lng. then he and his pals sent in the rcmp. horgan is a hipocrate. the reality is he's saying the rcmp will handle the issue in this case and it's exactly like the wet'suwet'en case where the band council agrees to tmx while the title holders the people, say no. he's a hipocrate and consistent in trampling indigenous rights.