Letter: Swallow your pride re: pipeline

Dear Prime Minister, Ministers, and MPs,

I am writing today to acknowledge my faith in, and to celebrate the power invested in, the system of the Federal Court of Appeal, which has made it clear that the relationship of our Federal Government with the Trans Mountain Pipeline is in clear violation of:

  1. negotiating in good faith, fair engagement, and meaningful consultation with all affected Indigenous Nations, thus violating their inherent right to self-government.
  2. the need to protect endangered and threatened species, such as the Southern Resident Orcas and the Fraser River Salmon.
  3. having a transparent and non-biased National Energy Board.

I strongly agree with this decision since it puts an emphasis back on Justice, the Environment, and Human Rights, rather than a blind focus on progressing the globalized trade agenda which seems consistently to have the opposite effects.

The court decision means that if this project was to go forward, it will take years of necessary delays– delays that obliterate any of the weak illusions of this project’s financial viability.

Please take the opportunity that is presented with this latest decision to acknowledge your mistake, swallow your pride, and retract your commitment to using my taxpayer money to purchase this project. Take the honorable route now. The small penalty is a tiny fraction of the potential costs to we who are directly affected, as well as Canada and the Earth as a whole. Please make our global climate, our local environment, and our regional relations with all our Indigenous Nations your top concerns when considering how our National economy should be structured.

Please make a stand now to protect our Environment, Climate, and Human Rights.  The opportunity is yours.

Rob Mercereau

Dunster, BC
