TMX protest calls for cancellation of pipeline in throne speech

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Demonstrators fighting the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion will be protesting in front of the offices of two Burnaby MPs ahead of the federal government’s speech from the throne.

Members of Climate Convergence plan on picketing in front of NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s office in Burnaby South, and at the one of Burnaby North-Seymour MP Terry Beech.

The group wants to pressure the federal government to include the cancellation of the pipeline project in Wednesday’s throne speech.

“Anything less would be a continuation of the ‘business as usual’ politics which got us into this mess in the first place,” organizer Alison Bodine says in a statement. “TMX is the litmus test we can’t afford governments and political parties to keep failing.”

“The 19 billion dollars in taxpayer dollars wasted on buying and building the TMX pipeline would be much better spent in helping the poor and working people most impacted by the government of Canada’s disastrous response to the Covid-19 pandemic.”

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The throne speech will be a roadmap to get Canada through a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and kickstart the economy. It is expected to cover the federal government’s plan for immediate health care spending, measures to support Canadians, and a green recovery plan.

Proper physical distancing measures will be followed during the demonstration, according to organizers.

“By no means should our respect for public health protocols in avoiding mass gatherings be mistaken for a slackening of our commitment to this struggle and opposition to destructive agendas – especially the TMX pipeline expansion,” says Thomas Davies.

The federal government purchased the pipeline in 2018 and vowed to go ahead with plans to twin the line to carry diluted bitumen from Edmonton to Burnaby.

-With files from Cormac Mac Sweeney