June 18, 2019 - Islands Trust Responds to Government Decision on Trans Mountain

Extracted text (beginning)

Bowen, Denman, Gabriola, Galiano, Gambier, Hornby, Lasqueti, Mayne, N. Pender, Salt Spring, Saturna, S. Pender, Thetis 
 
 
News Release 
200 - 1627 Fort Street Victoria BC  V8R 1H8 
Telephone  250.405.5151 FAX:  250.405.5155 
Toll Free via Enquiry BC in Vancouver 604.660.2421.  Elsewhere in BC 1.800.663.7867 
information@islandstrust.bc.ca     www.islandstrust.bc.ca 
 
June 18, 2019 2019-14-IT 
 
ISLANDS TRUST RESPONDS TO GOVERNMENT DECISION ON TRANS MOUNTAIN 
Lekwungen territory, Victoria—The Islands Trust Council expressed disappointment on learning of today’s announcement 
that the Federal Government plans to continue with the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project.   
 
Last year, the Federal Court of Appeal quashed the government’s approval of the project, citing the need for better and 
more fulsome consultation with Indigenous communities and a more comprehensive look at the impact the project will 
have on marine life off the coast of British Columbia. 
 
“We are disappointed that the Prime Minster did not seize the opportunity the Court of Appeal presented him with to 
correct course on this issue,” said Islands Trust Council Chair, Peter Luckham. “The Islands Trust Council remains 
resolutely opposed to the Trans Mountain expansion project, believing that the massive increase in tanker traffic will 
bring intolerable environmental risks to the waters and islands in the Salish Sea, along with very real impacts on the 
communities who live and work along the oil tanker transport corridor and who are being asked to shoulder the burden 
of this decision for generations.” 
 
In September of last year, in response to the Court of Appeal Decision, trustees from Islands Trust along with councilors 
from San Juan County in Washington State wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister outlining the reasons for their 
opposition to the expansion project. In their letter they wrote the following: 
 
Is this our new reality: summers of dying whales and unbreathable air? A reality shaped by 
climate change. A reality shaped by short-sighted dependence on fossil fuels. We object to Trans 
Mountain not just because we live along the corridor of risk but because we believe that the 
environmental and economic costs are simply too high. We believe there are more visionary and 
less risky ways to spend billions of dollars to generate jobs and taxes for roads, schools, and 
hospitals. 
 
“It is distressing that the day after declaring a national climate emergency,” continued Chair Luckham, “the Federal 
Government continues to support pipeline expansion, even as the impacts of climate change are increasingly felt. In 
March of this year, the Islands Trust Council declared a climate change emergency in the Trust Area, following the 
example of other governments who have made similar declarations in their jurisdictions. As part of the declaration, we 
called on all levels of government to take action. For our part, we don’t use the term ‘emergency’ lightly

First 3,000 characters. Open the original for the whole document.