Tsleil-Waututh Nation pleased that BC government has rejected Enbridge's pipeline proposal

Tsleil-Waututh Nation is pleased that British Columbia has rejected Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline, saying the proposal doesn’t address the province’s environmental concerns. “It reassures us that the people of British Columbia are being heard when it comes to the health of our environment,” said Chief Maureen Thomas, Tsleil-Waututh Nation. “We feel certain that when the province applies their five criteria to Kinder Morgan’s proposal that they will find that it also fails to meet those basic standards.” Tsleil-Waututh Nation is opposed to Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain proposal to build a new pipeline to bring crude through Burrard Inlet and the Salish Sea to foreign markets. That proposal would see the transport of crude oil expanded from 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 barrels per day. The pipeline terminates in Tsleil-Waututh territory. Tsleil-Waututh Nation is among the majority of First Nations in B.C. that believe the risks associated with mega pipeline projects are too great to accept. More than 160 nations have signed the Save the Fraser Declaration, a ban on tar sands pipelines through First Nations traditional territories. It also bans tar sands oil tankers on the north and south coasts of British Columbia. “We are now looking to Stephen Harper and the federal government to see how they will respond. It is now overwhelmingly clear that the vast majority of British Columbians do not support these pipelines,” said Thomas.