Group protests proposed pipeline at MP's office
Citizens United for a Sustainable Planet say Trans Mountain pipeline expansion would be a 'climate disaster'
More than 40 members of Citizens United for a Sustainable Planet (CUSP) gathered at a Northwestern Ontario MP's office on Friday to call for the cancellation of a proposed pipeline expansion on Canada's west coast.
The CUSP members also delivered a sample of water from British Columbia's Burrard Inlet to staff at Thunder Bay-Superior North MP, and Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour Patty Hajdu's office.
It was one of dozens of similar actions that took place Friday across Canada, in opposition to the proposed pipeline, said Paul Berger, CUSP member.
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"It threatens the land and the water, but even moreso, it threatens the climate," Berger said. "It's another pipeline that would allow the Alberta tar sands to expand, and we simply can't do that at this point."
"It's 2018, we know we're in the middle of a climate crisis, and we have to stop expansion."
Berger said even though the proposed pipeline would run a route between Alberta and B.C., it's not just a western Canada issue.
"Climate change is much broader than any one province or territory," he said. "It's incumbent upon all Canadians and citizens to stand up for what they believe in."
Hajdu wasn't present, as she was in Ottawa during the CUSP gathering.
Later Friday, however, she released a written statement:
"Thank you to the constituents of Thunder Bay-Superior North who came to my office today to share their concerns," Hajdu stated. "I am truly disappointed that I was unavoidably delayed in Ottawa and not able to personally hear from the group and accept the water sample directly, as I had planned."