A citizen-led group wants to stop Kinder Morgan by putting its proposed Trans Mountain expansion project to a popular vote.
Dogwood Initiative recently announced it plans to force a referendum under B.C.’s Recall and Initiative Act, depending how next year’s provincial election plays out.
“If there is a party after the provincial election that is determined to side with the federal government and Kinder Morgan on this pipeline, then we’ll launch a citizens’ initiative,” campaign coordinator Sophie Harrison told the NOW.
A citizens’ initiative allows a registered voter to propose changes to an existing law where the province has jurisdiction. For the referendum to go through, the voter must collect signatures from 10 per cent of registered voters in each provincial electoral district within 90 days of the initiative’s launch.
Only five referenda have been held in B.C. since 1991. The only successful one was in 2011, when the HST was defeated, forcing the provincial government to return to the former GST/PST model.
Harrison anticipates a “really hard” campaign, but said she’s confident it can be done.
“We’ve been preparing for it for years. Dogwood has over 250,000 British Columbians in our network who are concerned about these issues, (and) has a head start with over 500 trained volunteer canvassers already working with us on this,” she said.
Dogwood volunteers held a “day of action” on Saturday, collecting signatures from people who would support a citizens’ initiative.
“We had 17 canvassing events around the south coast. There were 239 volunteers who came out and we gathered over 2,000 new petition signatures, so it was a really big day for us,” said Harrison. “We were able to connect with a lot of folks on the streets who were really angry and frustrated following the federal decision but didn’t know where to go next.”
On Nov. 29, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his cabinet is approving Kinder Morgan’s controversial $6.8-billion Trans Mountain expansion project. The following day, Premier Christy Clark said almost all of the province’s five conditions for any new energy projects have been met. She told reporters she thinks all conditions will be satisfied before the May 9 election.
