Letter re Trans Mountain Pipeline

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Bowen  Denman  Hornby  Gabriola Galiano  Gambier  Lasqueti  Mayne  North Pender  Salt Spring  Saturna  South Pender  Thetis 
 
 
 
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 
Email  information@islandstrust.bc.ca 
Web  www.islandstrust.bc.ca 
 
 
350 Court Street No. 1 
Friday Harbor, WA 98250 
Telephone: 360.378.2898  
Fax: 260.378.7208 
www.sanjuanco.com 
 
September 5, 2018          File No.: 5020-30 
Via email: pm@pm.gc.ca  
 
The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P. 
Prime Minister of Canada 
Office of the Prime Minister of Canada 
80 Wellington Street 
Ottawa ON K1A 0A2 
Dear Prime Minister: 
We, as elected representatives for the islands in the Salish Sea in both British Columbia and Washington State, write to 
express our disappointment at the news of your government’s decision to purchase the Trans Mountain Pipeline and 
proceed with trying to expand it despite the recent Court of Appeal ruling. We also affirm that we stand united with the 
Governments of British Columbia, Washington State and First Nations in their efforts to protect the Pacific Coast and 
the people who live here and hope you will use the opportunity of the court decision to reconsider the expansion of the 
Trans Mountain pipeline.   
We believe your plan to transform our waters into an export corridor for nearly a million barrels of toxic bitumen per 
day for the next 50 or more years exposes us to unacceptable levels of risk. Because we live along this corridor of risk, 
we feel compelled to speak out at this critical moment. 
The islands in the Salish Sea have been described as the Pacific Coast’s answer to cottage country but for us, it’s where 
we work and play; where we raise our children, grow our food, and make our lives. Tourism is a major part of our 
economy, with visitors coming from all over the world. The Salish Sea is a living legacy, essential to our shared, 
collective identity, as much as the Rockies, the prairies, or the Great Lakes. Its protection should be a national priority 
on both sides of the border. 
In 1973, an International Joint Commission proposed that the islands and waters adjacent to the British Columbia-
Washington State border be protected as an international park. This region has some of the world’s most biologically 
rich waters, historically abundant with salmon, while the islands provide habitats for countless species. This ecological 
legacy is due to the careful stewardship by the Coast Salish people who have lived in this region since time immemorial 
and whose culture remains tied to these traditional territories and waters.  
Despite an international reputation as a pristine environment, the Salish Sea faces immense pressure from ever-
increasing levels of industrialization, marine shipping traffic, and climate change. Into this already stressed 
environment, the Trans Mountain expansion 

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