For a second time, the federal government has approved the Trans-Mountain pipeline expansion project, and reaction has been swift in the Kamloops area.
The Opposition Environment Critic and Kamloops-North MLA Peter Milobar applauded the decision, and he says environmental concerns with the Trans-Mountain pipeline are unfounded.
“I’ve done a lot of work on trying to get my research done on this. I’ve taken a boat tour, I’ve seen first-hand what the spill response is going to be, how the boats will be piloted, what the responses are. Unfortunately, the NDP to a person have refused to go on any of these types of tours to get better educated on what exactly would happen in real time if something were to happen,” Milobar says.
“So I think it’s a little disingenuous for them to continue to put forward ideas and put fears in people that are really unfounded, when you look at what the actual responses are.”
Milobar also says the pipeline expansion is a ray of hope for people who will be losing their jobs at the Canfor mill in Vavenby in his riding. A total of 178 workers at the mill will be out of work as of next month.
Meanwhile, the Kamloops-South MLA Todd Stone says the pipeline expansion should give opportunities for a number of mill workers in the area who are looking for work.
Stone says with Kamloops being a major staging ground for the pipeline it will create hundreds of direct jobs in the region.
“If only John Horgan and the NDP would get out of the way and end their obstruction of this pipeline project, this should afford an opportunity for a good number of families in the Interior of British Columbia, in and around Kamloops, to work on the Trans-Mountain pipeline and continue to put food on the table for their families.”
Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Cathy McLeod is not holding her breath that construction on the Trans Mountain pipeline will begin this season, despite a pledge from the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that the expansion project will start being built “this construction season.”
McLeod also commented about opposition to the pipeline from the BC government.
“I am really concerned that my taxpayer dollars have been used in court case after court case, when you know clearly this is a matter of federal jurisdiction. And quite frankly I do resent ongoing use of taxpayers dollars for something that I don’t think has a valid legal background to it.”
The federal government currently owns the pipeline, and it says it would be willing to sell up to 100 per cent of the pipe to First Nations groups arranging various bids. The Trudeau government has also committed to spending all of the proceeds obtained from selling the pipeline for clean energy projects.
– with files from Victor Kaisar
