By: Olive Visser, Peak Associate
Content warning: brief mention of violence against an Indigenous person.
On January 28, climate activists and community members gathered at Burnaby City Hall to oppose the city’s recent community contribution agreement with Trans Mountain Corporation. The agreement involves an expenditure of $20.1 million from Trans Mountain to support the development of “emergency response and safety planning” for the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project (TMX). It also prevents the city and Trans Mountain from speaking negatively about each other.
The federal government purchased the Trans Mountain expansion project in 2018. Many have criticized its parallels to Canada’s colonial history, with multiple First Nations — the Squamish Nation, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, and Coldwater Indian Band — claiming the project was started without proper consultation. Activists continue to call on the government to consider Trans Mountain’s impact on the environment, animal life, and Indigenous sovereignty.
The protest was supported by Mountain Protectors, Burnaby Residents Opposing Kinder-Morgan Expansion, Protect The Planet, SFU350, T-Rex Against TMX, the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment, and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.
Anishinaabe Elder Jim Leyden (Stem-may-kochx-kanim) opened the event by celebrating the recent release of Leonard Peltier, an American Indian Movement (AIM) activist who was controversially arrested in 1975 for the death of two FBI officers. AIM “is a grassroots movement for Indigenous rights” that was “founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.” Bill Wilson, a Kwakwaka’wakw Hereditary Chief and politician who passed away four days prior, was also honoured.
Darcy Demas from Oceanside Dakota followed with drumming and sang the “AIM song.” The song originated within the AIM in response to the murder of an Oglala Lakota man, Raymond Yellow Thunder.
“It’s a very important thing that we have to do. It’s to protect the sacred. Those trees, those are sacred to us,” said Demas, regarding the rally.
Burnaby mayor Mike Hurley stated the community contribution agreement is not a “gag order,” which is a legal restriction on information sharing; the agreement means the city requires “pre-approval” from Trans Mountain before any public releases.
Elan Gibson from the Burnaby Residents Opposing Kinder-Morgan Expansion said it was “shocking news to have this agreement done without involvement of the community.” She noted that by-laws like “the Community Charter and Local Government Act [requires] advanced public notice of matters of public interest.
“At the base of Burnaby Mountain, below the university, sit two time bombs.” — Douglas Courtemanche, climate activist
“The pipeline wasn’t even supposed to be completed until they had submitted emergency preparedness plans,” she continued. Gibson said she was told an emergency preparedness plan would not occur until “late 2026 or 2027.” She believes this is “too late,” citing California’s recent wildfires and a decrease in humidity across Canada.
Douglas Courtemanche, climate activist and plastic surgeon at BC Children’s Hospital, spoke about the danger of tank farm fires and explosions: “At the base of Burnaby Mountain, below the university, sit two time bombs.
“There have been many tank farm fires,” he continued. “By the end of 2022, there were over 600 tank farm fires around the world.” Courtemanche also said “research suggests it takes about five days to extinguish a tank farm fire.”
In 2021, the City of Burnaby released a risk assessment for the Burnaby tank farm that cited an “unusually high risk, particularly for seismically caused tank fires,” which are fires triggered by earthquakes. Natural Resources Canada predicts “a one in five chance of a very strong earthquake” occurring in Vancouver within the next 50 years.
“There are 29,000 undergraduate students at SFU, 5,200 graduate students, 1,100 faculty, and thousands of staff. Those on Burnaby Mountain do not have an escape route,” Courtemanche explained. “The effect on the land is devastating [ . . . ] It’s polluted with heavy metals like lead and arsenic and the residue of electrical equipment and composite plastic products.
“The City of Burnaby needs to stand for and with the people of Burnaby,” Courtemanche expressed. “And each of us, as Leona Prince says, needs to be a good ancestor.” Prince is an award-winning educator from Lake Babine Nation and Nak’azdli Whut’en, and belongs to the Likh Tsa Mis Yu (Beaver) Clan.
In a statement to The Peak, SFU stated, “To evacuate Burnaby Mountain, SFU worked with the City of Burnaby on an emergency evacuation route for pedestrians to leave campus and to accommodate emergency vehicles in case roadways are blocked. The SFU emergency route runs through Burnaby Mountain Park between Centennial Way and University Drive, following the existing trail alignment.” They also stated that they are “one of the partner agencies with the City of Burnaby-led multi-agency, full-scale emergency response. The full-scale exercise is expected to take place in 2027.”
During the rally, some attendees entered a Council meeting to present Mayor Hurley with the “Dinosaurs of 2025” award. “Burnaby City Councillors are pedalling us towards extinction,” said Mountain Protectors in an Instagram post. One person in a red dinosaur suit was detained by Burnaby RCMP for causing a disturbance. According to Mountain Protectors, the activist was not read their charter rights nor were they informed of their right to legal counsel.
The Peak will continue to cover the Trans Mountain expansion.
