Nearly 100 people lined a stretch of Highway 19A in Parksville Monday evening (June 4) to protest the federal government’s decision to buy the Kinder Morgan pipeline for $4.5 billion.
More than 80 protests were organized across the country outside of MP offices as part of a “National Day of Action to Stop the Kinder Morgan Buyout,” according to LeadNow.ca which has a petition to stop the pipeline purchase.
Shortly after 5 p.m. the Parksville protest had moved from the front door of Courtenay-Alberni MP Gord John’s office to the side of Highway 19A. Drivers honked their vehicles’ horns in support of the protesters.
Dan Favarger, one of the protesters, said he was gathering Monday to protest “because Trudeau has bought an open-ended cheque deal. It could go as high as $20 billion. I’m not prepared to put my taxes toward that. I’d rather put it toward something green.”
“The people that I’ve spoken to are pretty angry about this because it’s pretty presumptuous of Trudeau to make such a deal,” Favarger said.
He said he wants less corpocracy and to “claw back” the pipeline deal for the people.
Although Johns was in Ottawa Monday and not at his constituency office in Parksville, shortly after the Trudeau government’s announcement to buy the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, Johns released a statement saying it was a bad deal for Vancouver Islanders and demonstrates a failure of leadership.
“This is a bad deal that puts our coastal waters at risk with a seven-fold increase in supertankers carrying diluted bitumen, which when spilled will be devastating for our marine environment and our economy,” he said.
The LeadNow.ca Parksville event said “if there’s a massive backlash from voters, Trudeau could still cancel the buyout.”
“If enough people join local rallies, it could be enough to force Trudeau to reconsider this outrageous buyout scheme.”
In Johns riding alone, there were protests in Parksville, Hornby Island, Port Alberni and Courtenay.
