The Editor,
Re. "Pipeline would endanger human life" (Letters, tricitynews.com, Sept. 6).
I am writing today to voice my displeasure with Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) process and the corruption of the values espoused by our current federal government with respect to it treatment of First Nations and the climate change crisis.
The purchase of Trans Mountain pipeline by the federal government destroyed any chance of an unbiased consultation process and is a clear case of the fox minding the chickens. The consultation ordered by the Federal Court of Appeal ruling Aug. 30, 2018 was biased on its face as the federal government, through its purchase of the project, is now the proponent with five billion taxpayer dollars invested.
I believe the Federal Court of Appeal intended all options to be on the table in its ruling, including the project not going ahead. If there was no chance to get to No, how could the concerns of the nation be fairly considered?
The federal government has stacked the deck with its purchase of the project and, thus, has violated the court-ordered obligation to perform meaningful consultation and negotiate in good faith.
It is absolutely insane that the feds have wasted taxpayer dollars to buy a bitumen export pipeline that will endanger our coast, remove our ability to receive value-added revenue/jobs and further encourage the heavy oil industry that has proven to be a climate change nuclear bomb.
Geoff Hunt, Port Coquitlam
