Trans Mountain emails a newsletter pretty much each week with updates on the project.
The topics vary each week, ranging from construction to employment to the latest court decisions.
One of the topics sent out on Thursday was about the fact that Trans Mountain has signed agreements with 59 Indigenous groups in B.C. and Alberta that “represent more than $500 million in benefits and opportunities for Indigenous communities.”
Interesting timing.
I say interesting because we’re in the middle of a national crisis with road and rail blockades in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en people who oppose the Coastal GasLink project in northern B.C.
Those blockades have expanded to include a range of causes, many centred around Canada’s historic and current oppression of Indigenous peoples.
One other issue, however, has crept into the protests – the Trans Mountain project. Many people interviewed at these blockades have cited their opposition to Trans Mountain, often referencing its potential impact on First Nations along the route.
So in the middle of all this rhetoric comes Trans Mountain touting its 59 agreements, although just as it is with the Wet'suwet'en, there is a might be a difference between agreements signed by elected band councils and how some hereditary chiefs feel about the project. (You can read the full statement here.) And there are other First Nations who have fought Trans Mountain in court.
“These agreements demonstrate our ongoing commitment to work through concerns and different views to mutual benefit. We will continue to build on these relationships and work to maintain the trust that enabled the support we have received from Indigenous communities,” said Ian Anderson, President and CEO of Trans Mountain Corporation, in the statement. “The agreements are a symbol and recognition of a shared respect and help ensure Indigenous groups are able to harness the economic value of the expansion in a way that creates a lasting legacy for their people.”
I’m sure this is all just a coincidence. Get ready for a long, hot summer of protests.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
