By: Mason Mattu, SFU Student
The City of Burnaby recently struck a $20.1 million deal with Trans Mountain Corporation to prohibit any negative public communications about the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project (TMX). This comes after the city published a risk assessment report investigating the “potential for disaster from a major incident at a Trans Mountain Pipeline facility.” The report details risks such as oil spills, tank fires, and explosions at the Westridge Marine Terminal and the Burnaby Mountain Terminal.
This $20.1 million deal, dubbed a “community contribution agreement,” comes with a promise from Trans Mountain to invest in emergency planning and safety enhancements. The deal prohibits either party from publishing “any negative public communications” about the other “whether based on fact or opinion or otherwise.”
In 2019, Vancouver experienced the height of protests against TMX. Trans Mountain Corporation is a Canadian Crown Corporation that has operated in Canada since 1951. Their latest project, TMX, will see oil transported from Alberta to BC for export. In 2020, “the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, the C’eletkwmx (Coldwater People), and a coalition of smaller Indigenous Nations” expressed concerns about protecting the environment and their rights.
Though the City of Burnaby agreed to the deal, Burnaby mayor Mike Hurley stated in 2019 that the expansion of TMX “[ignored] public safety and environmental threat to people whose lives and property will be at risk moving forward.” This year, however, Hurley told CBC that the “reality is, those tankers are coming in now. There’s one getting filled every day.” He added, “Oil is still flowing through Burnaby Mountain and down to that loading facility [ . . . ] and we can’t be prepared without an agreement with TMX about how that’s going to be managed.”
Burnaby councillor Alison Gu told The Peak, “The City of Burnaby, particularly myself, remain opposed to the project, but have little to no tools for recourse.” She also said, “what should be happening is supporting municipalities who are faced to bear the brunt of decisions made at other levels of government.”
Duff Conacher, a representative from Democracy Watch, expressed his concern on this issue, stating that Trans Mountain “has essentially bought the silence of the city, and at the same time, the city has essentially gagged itself.”
In addition, Green Party leader Elizabeth May said, “This type of agreement should not be legal in Canada,” in a statement on October 8. “Our governments, at all levels, must have the ability to openly scrutinize and hold companies accountable for actions that threaten public safety and the environment.” She added, “Since TMX is a Crown Corporation, this is public money shutting down free speech.”
In a statement to The Peak, the City of Burnaby stated, “The community contribution agreement signals our commitment to public safety, recognizing that the most effective way to ensure the safety of residents is to work collaboratively with Trans Mountain.” They added that the deal “does not restrict mayor and council from voicing their opinions on matters concerning Trans Mountain.”
Trans Mountain is currently finishing construction on the Burnaby terminus on top of Burnaby Mountain, close to SFU.
