The federal government’s $4.5 billion Kinder Morgan bailout is "a shameful act" when the federal government is not investing $3.2 billion needed to provide clean drinking water for First Nations, Chief Bob Chamberlin said in an impassioned address to a large gathering of protesters in Vancouver Tuesday.
Indian Chiefs, condemning the Trudeau government’s decision to spend $4.5 billion in taxpayer funds on Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline and its troubled expansion project.
For me, the shameful act is that the government of Canada tells First Nations across the country that it doesn’t have $3.2 billion for safe drinking water on reserves.” Thousands rally to protest pipeline buyout Carrying banners and signs, more than 1,000 people gathered at a park overlooking the ocean in downtown Vancouver to protest after Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s announcement in Ottawa.
Among the event’s speakers were elected Indigenous leaders, youth, activists and organizers, and two candidates vying to become Vancouver’s next mayor.
"We have a sacred obligation — not just Indigenous people — to care for what was given to us by our ancestors, for our next generation….This is the responsibility of every single one of you living on our territory,” he told the audience, to cheers and drumming.
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh refused to condemn peaceful, civil disobedience against the pipeline, saying dissent is part of democracy.
“We’ve got coastal communities that are concerned and are feeling frustrated and let down.
I’m going to use my platform to talk about those issues.” ‘Kinder Morgan put their tail between their legs’ In Vancouver on Tuesday, Kennedy Stewart, who will end his term as a federal member of Parliament for Burnaby South in June, to run for the mayor’s office in Vancouver, gave a fiery speech against the federal government’s decision.
Stewart, a longtime critic of Kinder Morgan, was arrested in March alongside Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May while protesting the pipeline expansion.
ET on May 30, 2018 to include comments from Singh.