Pipeline poll shows big split across the Rockies
Posted June 16, 2016 7:18 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
BURNABY (NEWS 1130) – Call it the Rocky Mountain Rumble! The continental divide is a convenient marker when it comes to support for the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion with a new poll showing a significant split between BC and Alberta.
Angus Reid has found Albertans register the highest level of agreement with the National Energy Board’s decision to approve the project at 63 per cent, while BC residents are most opposed with 34 per cent.
“These results definitely reflect the mood and the voices you are hearing out of Calgary and Vancouver,” says Shachi Kurl, executive director of the Angus Reid Institute.
“Mayors Naheed Nenshi and Gregor Robertson have been trading barbs on this issue and the prime minister has a bit of a tricky spot to navigate through in keeping both provinces on side,” she tells NEWS 1130.
While it is perhaps no shock that opposition to the Trans Mountain project is highest BC, Kurl adds it may be surprising to some that supporters of the NEB decision (41 per cent) outnumber naysayers (34 per cent) in the province.
“A big part of this split centres on the urban/rural divide in BC. In Metro Vancouver and the coastal regions you see a much higher level of opposition to Trans Mountain than you do in the interior and northern British Columbia,” she explains.
Perhaps the only thing BC and Alberta agree on when it comes to the expansion is that the project will likely be built.
Overall, two-in-three Canadians think the pipeline will either “definitely” or “probably” (53 per cent) be expanded. In British Columbia, this rises to nearly three-in-four, while in Alberta it’s three-in-five.
Kinder Morgan wants to triple the capacity of the Trans Mountain pipeline which transports Alberta oil to its terminal in Burnaby.
