The Georgia Straight
By Eoin Madden
November 6, 2014

As you read these words, a diverse and dedicated group of Burnaby citizens are making a stand against the Texan oil giant Kinder Morgan on Burnaby Mountain. After preventing Kinder Morgan from conducting destructive survey work in the Burnaby Mountain conservation area, six of these dedicated souls have been served injunction papers and are facing allegations of trespassing in their own public park.

As the resistance to the proposed Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline takes a more proactive form, the drama on the mountain is taking centre stage. It’s easy to understand why: here you have regular folks putting their careers and reputations on the line to stand up for their public park, and to protect their communities from climate change.

Here are the unavoidable consequences of a massive U.S. corporation offending its neighbours. Here is the battle to avoid runaway climate change and toxic bitumen spills in its most passionate, unvarnished form. In the battle to stop Kinder Morgan, we should never lose sight of what drives local citizens like the Burnaby Mountain “Caretakers” to action.

For starters, the very land upon which they are making their stand is a precious place, set aside for conservation after decades of hard work by the community. Back in 1972, dedicated neighbour John Clarke noticed the rampant level of development on Burnaby Mountain and volunteered his time for a year to petition for its preservation. In 1973, the City of Burnaby agreed with him and would-be developers were driven from the area.

Then in a 1996 referendum, the voters of Burnaby opted to merge over 300 hectares of additional land from Simon Fraser University into the park, creating a heavily forested conservation area that now sprawls 576 hectares. That’s a big accomplishment, and it illustrates the value of this beautiful resource to the surrounding communities.

When the Texans announced they wanted a giant new tar sands pipeline alongside their existing one, the community asked, “Where, exactly?” Even when the environmental review process kicked off, overseen by federal regulators at the National Energy Board (NEB), residents were left uninformed about the most likely route. Many of them were not even given the opportunity to ask that question, as the NEB refused hundreds the right to participate.

Those of us lucky enough to participate have been denied the right to cross-examine Kinder Morgan. The NEB has also barred questions about climate change impacts from the process altogether, and overruled Burnaby bylaws protecting the park in favour of the company’s bid to cut down trees and bore holes.

At any one point, there were at least three potential routes being discussed through the area, and even the NEB grew tired of being kept in the dark. It was left with no choice but to demand that Kinder Morgan come clean on its preferred route, and announced a resulting six-month delay in the review. Then the company informed stakeholders that the preferred route would involve drilling under the conservation area.

The growing sense of frustration is palpable within this community. Despite the NEB’s requests for more route information, it’s clear that the regulator is working towards green-lighting this giant new pipeline in the most expedient way possible.

This past weekend, the former CEO of B.C. Hydro publicly stated he was withdrawing as an intervenor from the NEB’s “fraudulent process” because he felt it was a “public deception.” Marc Eliesen intervened in the hope that he could provide expertise and allow a rational, informed decision to be made. Instead he found no willingness to have his questions answered, and he witnessed decisions by the NEB that reflected a “pre-determined outcome” in favour of the pipeline company.

He isn’t alone. Both the City of Burnaby and the Province of British Columbia have officially complained that their questions are being ignored, too, on critical issues such as oil spill preparedness.

This past weekend saw the delivery of an international climate change report that spells out the choice we have to make quite simply: we either stop developing new fossil fuel energy sources, or contend with dire environmental consequences including massive storms, food, and water shortages.

The Burnaby Mountain Caretakers are a mixture of young activists and mature professionals, students and professors. I believe they know what we all risk by not changing course. If we don’t stand up to Kinder Morgan’s bullying—in whatever manner we’re comfortable with—the costs will be far greater than the alleged damages spelled out in the company’s threatening legal papers.

Photo: Local citizens carry anti-pipeline signs at the Burnaby Procession Against the Pipelines, May 2014.