By: Pranjali J Mann, News Writer
On May 7, members of climate organisations such as Save Old Growth, Protect the Planet, and SFU350 formed a human chain around Burnaby Mountain to hug the mountain. The protest aimed to create awareness for the construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project (TMX). This location is central to TMX construction as the Burnaby Terminal has a collection of oil storage tanks and the mountain tunnel involves “boring through the mountain to accommodate the pipeline expansion,” according to the StopTMX press release.
To understand the importance of the collective efforts against TMX construction, The Peak spoke to Dr. Kate Tairyan, director of undergraduate programs at SFU’s health sciences department and one of the key organisers of the campaign.
According to Tairyan, Burnaby Mountain is a “frontline for global climate crisis” as the TMX construction would double the size of existing oil pipeline storage and tripling the carrying capacity of diluted bitumen, an unrefined toxic carcinogenic crude oil.
Refuting the claims of the federal government, Tairyan stated, “Canada praises itself on the global scene to be a global climate leader — this is a lie because [we] have never met our climate commitments.” She noted the TMX expansion project is placing Canada farther behind in achieving climate goals. Tairyan added the government “is lying to our own people, lying to the global community and pretending to be a climate leader — climate leaders don’t build pipelines.”
The government of Canada claimed TMX “will create thousands of good, middle-class jobs [and] generate billions in revenues each year to help fund clean energy solutions.” They say TMX makes this possible by entering “new global markets in order to get a fair price for Canadian oil.”
Tairyan explained this catastrophic expansion project is not economically viable and won’t sustain without government investment. She said “instead of investing this money into our future, green energy and just transition, we are investing in a dying industry.
“[The] issue is beyond talking about our health and environment. This is about much more than that — this is about protecting our life and our right to live,” said Tairyan.
Tairyan emphasised building the pipeline is an “immediate threat of fire hazard.” Chris Bowcock, the fire chief for the City of Burnaby has expressed similar concerns regarding the inability to contain fire on the mountain. Tairyan said if there was a fire at the tank farm, the toxic fumes would engulf the atmosphere.
Tairyan was happy to see a huge number of people from different faiths and age groups come out on short notice. She hoped the message of love, care, and solidarity through the campaign would eventually extract some concrete action.
The SFU administration has yet to take a clear opposition stance on TMX. “It is shameful. This is not a political issue [ . . . ] This is about a climate emergency. Our campus, our people are at the frontline of this. The university has the obligation to clearly say where they stand on this.”
Tairyan emphasised the priority of the campaign. This is not about going against each other. This is about doing the right thing for future generations, for all of us and to show our love for the place and land that sustains us.”
