3 October 2018 (VANCOUVER) In response to the Trudeau government’s announcement on the Trans Mountain pipeline, Mike Hudema, climate and energy campaigner with Greenpeace Canada said:

“Throughout this process, the Trudeau government has listened to, but not heard or accepted the legitimate concerns from Indigenous Nations about the significant negative impacts the Trans Mountain expansion project would have on their communities. The real question for the government is are they willing to take no for an answer?

If not, these are just bigger boxes to check off in another process where the government has already pre-determined the answer — that isn’t consultation, it isn’t consent, and it definitely isn’t the path to reconciliation the Prime Minister committed to walk.”

Six Indigenous Nations challenged the approval of the Trans Mountain expansion in court. In August, a Federal Court found that the Trudeau government had failed to adequately complete Phase 3 consultations with First Nations impacted by the pipeline and quashed the approval, finding that consultation was more of a box checking exercise for the government than true dialogue.

In September, the Trudeau government set a 22-week timetable for the National Energy Board to assess the impact of the project’s marine shipping. If the Trans Mountain expansion is built, there would be a seven-fold increase in tanker traffic, or more than 400 tankers per year from the project’s Westridge terminal. The tankers would move right through the heart of the habitat for the endangered Southern Resident orca.

-30-

For more information, contact:

Mike Hudema, climate and energy campaigner at Greenpeace Canada, is available for interviews. To arrange an interview, please contact Steve Cornwell, 519-418-0071, [email protected]