Burnaby MP Kennedy Stewart is hosting a meeting on the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion specifically for the Chinese community.
"It's taken a little while for the Chinese people who don't speak English as their first language to hear about this, and apparently there's a huge portion of the Chinese community that lives along the pipeline," Stewart told the NOW. "They seem to have gotten wind of this now, and they are organizing."
According to Stewart, the National Energy Board compels Kinder Morgan to advertise about its pipeline expansion proposal in local papers, but only French and English, and there hasn't been advertising in any other languages.
Stewart said he got some pipeline information translated into Chinese characters, which his office quickly ran out of.
Stewart speculated that the heightened concern was connected to media reports of a pipeline explosion in China.
"Apparently, it's to do with a giant pipeline explosion in China from a province where a lot of these folks come from, and there was a huge loss of life and property," Stewart said. "It has really heightened the awareness of pipelines."
The meeting is on Saturday, from 1 to 3 p.m. at 490 Sperling Ave. at the Lochdale Community Hall.
Stewart will host a presentation on the pipeline expansion and how to get involved in the hearing process, and a translator who speaks Cantonese and Mandarin will be there.
