Residents of Forest Grove and Westridge neighbourhoods are signing a “peoples’ injunction,” hoping to bar Kinder Morgan from continuing work on the pipeline in Burnaby.
Burnaby Residents Opposing Kinder Morgan Expansion (BROKE) and the Justin Trudeau Brigade – a group that staged demonstrations outside the Westridge Marine Terminal at the end of last year – are hosting a ceremony to have others add their names to the document. Organizers say so far they’ve collected 150 names. A potluck and strategy session will follow.
The ceremony is on Saturday at the Parish of St. Timothy (4550 Kitchener St.) in Burnaby from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. The group is inviting residents to brainstorm how residents want to go forward, including continued protests.
The document outlines reasons residents are opposed to the pipeline expansion, including safety concerns of building additional tanks, removal of trees contrary to Burnaby’s bylaws, environmental risks to Burnaby’s conservation areas and the Burrard Inlet, and the lack of consent from the City of Burnaby, Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish and Musqueam nations.
The document – which has no legal force – orders Kinder Morgan and any affiliated companies to halt work on the pipeline and at Burnaby terminals, including removing trees, obliging police to arrest protesters, and threating civil action and damages against protesters.
“We, the citizens of Vancouver and Burnaby and residents of Westridge neighbourhood, are by signing this declaration empowering ourselves to take such action to enforce it as will be decided by us in free and open discussion,” reads the document.
Earle Peach of the Justin Trudeau Brigade said the group spoke to some 300 residents, many who signed adding additional reasons they do not support the project. He said many neighbours may oppose the pipeline, but may not know how to proceed with protests. That could include legal action.
“It’s not an injunction per se, but it’s expressing the will of a group of people, and it’s instructing the object of the injunction, Kinder Morgan, to stop what they’re doing,” he told the NOW.
Members of the Justin Trudeau Brigade were named in Kinder Morgan’s injunction preventing protests and blocking at the Burnaby terminals, and from coming within five metres of the entrances.
People interested in attending Saturday’s event and should bring food to share at the potluck. Following the signing event, there will be a strategy session for community members to discuss how they want to move forward.
For more information, find the event hosted by Justin Trudeau Brigade on Facebook, or email earlpeach@yahoo.ca .
