South Okanagan-West Kootenay (SOWK) Member of Parliament Richard Cannings has announced he will be holding a town hall meeting next week to discuss the controversial Trans-Mountain Pipeline expansion.
Cannings announced Friday he will be holding the town hall meeting with fellow NDP MP Nathan Cullen (Skeena-Bulkley Valley) in Penticton on Friday, Sept. 28.
In a news release, Cannings said he wants to discuss the Trans-Mountain pipeline expansion with constituents.
A federal court ruling recently halted construction on the expansion, citing serious concerns with the environmental impact of the pipeline and tanker expansion and a lack of meaningful consultation with affected Indigenous groups.
However, the Liberal government has already signalled they mean to press ahead with the expansion, having just spent $4.5 billion to purchase the existing pipeline from Kinder Morgan.
“I know that for many residents in Penticton and across B.C., the prospect of the Liberal government spending over $10 billion of taxpayers’ money to build a pipeline is deeply troubling,” said Cannings. “A seven-fold increase in tanker traffic not only increases the risk of an oil spill, which would be devastating for our coastline, but poses a direct threat to the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale.
“But more than just the immediate risks, the rush to ship out raw, unrefined bitumen speaks to a government that is not committed to fighting climate change. Imagine what this money could do if it was invested in clean energy, electric vehicle infrastructure and incentives, and building retrofits.
“Instead of posing a direct threat to the thousands of jobs in the marine and tourism industries here in B.C., we could be helping to build a low carbon economy.”
The expansion of the Trans-Mountain pipeline is opposed by a broad range of groups, including Indigenous communities concerned with the threat to the water and resources of their traditional land, and environmentalists opposed to government subsidizing fossil fuel industries that make it impossible to meet Canada’s global carbon reduction targets.
“I look forward to hearing from residents,” said Cannings. “We want to make it clear that being truly committed to fighting climate change, and reaching reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, is not achieved by spending billions on a pipeline.”
The town hall meeting will be held at the Penticton Public Library Auditorium on Sept. 28 starting at 7 p.m.
