Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help
The Current

Kinder Morgan pipeline protesters stay put, judge rejects injunction

Despite being arrested, the thing that's kept Tamo Campos and dozens of other protesters going up Burnaby Mountain is a controversial pipeline project. But now, BC's top court has ruled the it's the company-- Kinder Morgan-- that needs to finish its work and leave the mountain in just a few days. Protesters are delighted, Kinder Morgan disappointed....
CBC Radio ·
The Current21:59Kinder Morgan pipeline protesters stay put, judge rejects injunction - Nov 28, 2014
Despite being arrested, the thing that's kept Tamo Campos and dozens of other protesters going up Burnaby Mountain is a controversial pipeline project. But now, BC's top court has ruled the it's the company-- Kinder Morgan-- that needs to finish its work and leave the mountain in just a few days. Protesters are delighted, Kinder Morgan disappointed.

kinder-morgan-insert.jpg

A sign placed by an anti-pipeline demonstrater is pictured in the foreground in Burnaby, B.C.The proposed $5-billion expansion would nearly triple the capacity of the pipeline that carries crude oil from near Edmonton to the Vancouver area to be loaded on tankers and shipped overseas. (The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward)

As long as I have a voice and I'm standing, I am going to stand here and say NO!Amy George, Kinder Morgan Pipeline Protester

Turns out, as of Monday there will no longer be any immediate reason for protesters to stand on Burnaby Mountain. For months, they have resisted Kinder Morgan's exploratory drilling.

The company wants to tunnel through Burnaby Mountain to make way for its proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline between Edmonton, Alberta and Burnaby, B.C.

The energy company may have thought it had the high ground in its struggle to shoo away protests - it had an injunction that kept protesters away from the two drilling sites. But yesterday, the B.C. Supreme Court rejected Kinder Morgan's bid to extend that injunction.


kinder-morgan-pipeline-580.jpg

Anti-pipeline protesters locked themselves to the front doors of B.C. Supreme Court on Thursday morning. (Jeff Harrington/CBC)


The judge also ruled that all civil contempt charges against protesters should be thrown out due to errors in the injunction. What's more, the site must be cleared of excavation work by Monday.

Tzeporah Berman is a long-time environmentalist and author of "This Crazy Time" and she's been protesting on Burnaby Mountain all week.

The various legal and political battles over the work Kinder Morgan is doing on Burnaby Mountain is a complicated story to unfold. To help us grasp what exactly is going on and what's at stake, we were joined by long-time Vancouver Sun political affairs columnist Vaughn Palmer.

There are, of course, many people who believe that getting Alberta's oil to market is in the best interest of Canada as a whole. Brenda Kenny is the head of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association.


Have thoughts you want to add to this discussion?

Tweet us @thecurrentcbc. Or e-mail us through our website. Find us on Facebook. Call us toll-free at 1 877 287 7366. And as always if you missed anything on The Current, grab a podcast.

This segment was produced by The Current's Lara O'Brien and Marc Apollonio.

More from this episode