This Saturday (June 26), voters will head to the polls to cast their ballot in the Burnaby council byelection.
One of the most pressing issues is the Trans Mountain expansion project and candidates gave their views about it at a virtual town hall hosted by Force of Nature on June 22.
The question presented to the candidates was as follows.
"Do you support the City of Burnaby's opposition to the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion? What do you think the city can do to strengthen the ongoing opposition to the pipeline project, especially the Tank Farm Expansion on Burnaby Mountain which puts tens of thousands of SFU students and Burnaby residents at risk?"
The candidates in attendance were Mehreen Chaudry, Scott Van Denham, Claire Preston, Baljinder Narang, Lee Rankin, Mike Hillman, Alison Gu, Gulan Fidros and Teresa Rossiello.
Mehreen Chaudry
"The TMX pipeline, I don't think there are many people in Burnaby that would support that.
"So, I definitely do not support it. I have gone out to the treehouse also, with me and the kids, we've been going to the protests and we're adding our voice to the protest. I think that's the most important thing we can do.
"If, hopefully when I end up on city council, we will create more pressure on the federal government from a city perspective, making sure that we keep this pressure on and we keep adding more voices to this protest. We will do everything that we can to make this whole project as difficult as possible."
Scott Van Denham"I am opposed to the project.
"We need to put, different kinds of pressures that can be applied.
"One of the things we could do is state as a city, our opposition through encouraging the companies that are currently insuring the project, to withdraw from the project. Working with the First Nations in the community, also help them support their lawsuits against the project.
"The thing we also have to remember here, this is one facility out of five, six different facilities, so this doesn't end when Trans Mountain dies. There's going to be another four or five facilities we need to think about in the years to come."
Claire Preston
"I'm opposed to the Trans Mountain pipeline.
"Ever since I first heard of it coming up. I went to a couple of protests before COVID hit, it's really big on my mind.
"I was really disheartened when the city's previous attempts to litigate it and stop it were thwarted; however, I think, like other people have said, putting pressure on the insurers and the investors, maybe making our own fines that are steeper if things go wrong, even in the building process, not just post building process.
"There's a lot we can still do to put pressure on the Prime Minister and the Liberals at a federal level."
Lee Rankin
"This is personal to me because I spent two years of my life, it was my initiative to negotiate with SFU and the province to get 800 acres back from the university to Burnaby, so this is personal.
"This represents near-permanent industrialization of Burnaby mountain and let's not forget the Westbridge terminal.
"As a councillor, I supported and voted for the expansion of Barnet Marine Park westward and we had hoped to continue, but now you have this permanent blight on Burrard Inlet and Burnaby Mountain.
"Fines and stuff and raising our hands aren't going to do anything. But we need to tax this heavy industry as heavily as possible to make sure they pay for all the fire protection services. We need to do what we can to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
"This project is a dinosaur, it's a blight on what we're trying to do with our community."
Baljinder Narang
"I am definitely opposed, right to the time when I was a school trustee, I've been opposed to the Trans Mountain Pipeline.
"I've been very impressed when I witnessed how strong a case the city has put forward at every level in legal challenges, but they've been unsuccessful, unfortunately.
"The project is now in the hands of the federal liberal government and that has caused us anxiety in terms of how we move forward.
"The biggest concerns are about protecting our tank farms, our neighbourhoods and the people that live in those areas.
"I would be putting pressure on the federal government to make sure that they provide us the security and the safety that the communities demand whether it's putting in a fire hall or all the other facilities that are required, they have to fund that."
Mike Hillman
"I think the former city council rightfully put the matters to court, and it's unfortunate that they lost. But that said, I think as a council person and the role of a councilman and council person in governance, is to look after the safety of our citizens.
"I know there's a need to start looking at the backup systems, the base systems for safety. How do they know when things are going wrong? What is the backup in case something fails?
"There's work that needs to be done with our first responders and others within the community and make sure we have a safety plan. So we need to know what happens if something happens, what we do about it.
"If there's a major catastrophe and the people at the top of SFU are affected, how do we get them down? Number one: you can't, so I think having a fire hall up there and the federal government to fund that in operational terms. I know that is something they are working on.
"But safety is the number one concern and I think council needs to focus on every aspect of a safety plan."
Alison Gu
"I have been staunchly opposed to this project since the very beginning. Not only for its damage to climate and reconciliation but also for the extreme danger, it poses to the Burnaby mountain community.
"It has never made economic sense, especially with its steadily increasing price tag over $16 billion taxpayer dollars. It's deeply irresponsible, but to me personally, the fight isn't over.
"We need to ensure the residents of Burnaby mountain, staff and students at SFU are safe and that means finding a new fire hall, personnel and equipment to respond quickly."
Gulam Firdos
"From the beginning, I am against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
"But the situation is not bad right now. What can you do? Because the case has been approved in the court, the highest court of the country so I think the pipeline is going to go on.
"There is not much we can do about it, although we can do some protests and things like that.
"From the beginning, the City of Burnaby has been against this and we went to the court and we lost. But the thing is that the pipeline goes through, the next thing would be, what will be the aftermath? We have to think about the security, we have to think about how we can actually minimize the risks that the Burnaby and SFU students are facing.
"We have to think about the outcome and not go against the pipeline because that is something that we cannot do right now."
Teresa Rossiello
"I'm adamantly opposed to the TMX oil pipeline.
"I'm a north Burnaby resident and it's going to go right by my oldest child's high school. She's the reason I am fighting against this.
"What I'm going to do is I'm going to convince every Canadian that this pipeline is a money pit that everybody knows, that this is not only an environmental disaster but an economic disaster and it's bad for Canada's economy.
"We have to start there. That's how we can get the rest of Canada on board to help us fight this.
"The insurance companies are fleeing and so do we. We have to pull the plug on this disaster."
If you're still unsure who you would like to vote for, you can find all your election coverage details in our voting guide, including where to vote, times to vote, candidate questionnaires and ID you will need at the polling station.
