David Suzuki, Elizabeth May, and Paul Manly hold press conference on Kenney government’s misleading Trans Mountain pipeline campaign.

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“I am extremely disappointed that the court did not recognize the right of B.C. to regulate environmental risks, as a separate area from the NEB’s overall regulatory authority,” said Ms. May. “However, I am very pleased that the B.C. government is appealing. I hope that environment minister George Heyman will initiate a provincial environmental review of the project. Under former Premier Clark, no review was undertaken. The failure of the NEB review creates an opportunity for B.C. to properly assess the project’s impacts.”

“We are in a climate emergency. Continuing to fund the development of pipelines that will prevent us from reaching our climate commitments is short sighted and dangerous for future generations. Any dilbit spill incurred in any one of the 800 water crossings, from the B.C.-Alberta border to the Burnaby port or in marine waters, cannot be cleaned up. Dilbit will separate, with bitumen sinking and the toxic dilutent moving as a gas through the air. There is no way to clean up dilbit in fresh or salt water,” concluded Ms. May.

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Elizabeth presents a petition on behalf of her constituents, who are calling on the government to halt the purchase of the Trans Mountain pipeline.

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Mr. Speaker, this is my last week in the House of Commons, and this will be my last petition that I present on stopping the Kinder Morgan pipeline.

Citizens of Burnaby have signed this petition, immediately calling on the government to prevent this new pipeline from proceeding through British Columbia. They are especially upset about the risks to the environment and our local economy. The signatures really started to pick up after the natural resources minister threatened to use the army on British Columbians to force it through.

I urge the government to pay attention to this and all the other petitions I have presented on this.

The post Kennedy Stewart’s last petition: Stop the Kinder Morgan pipeline appeared first on Elizabeth May.

Mr. Speaker, I have a second petition. This was put together by citizens of Canada. Some people do not recognize that our petition process can accept signatures from those under 18 years of age. This petition comes from Salt Spring Elementary School.

The petitioners ask the government to reconsider spending $7.4 billion on an expanded pipeline. They specifically advocate that the Government of Canada instead build 2,600 wind turbines, thus creating 268,600 jobs; construct 15,600 acres of solar panels; and fund alternative uses for a transition to a renewable energy economy

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Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Timmins—James Bay made a lot of good points about this pipeline. I want to put something to the House that I do not think anyone has raised yet, and that is the financing around this, which is pretty dodgy. We have to remember that Kinder Morgan was founded by Richard Kinder who was a senior executive of Enron.

Kinder Morgan had to go out on the open market. At a National Energy Board hearing, it said that all the money for the project would be raised by the parent company out of Houston. It raised about $1.7 billion from investors. About a year and a half ago, Richard Kinder told his shareholders that he used that money to pay down debt. Then it changed the corporate structure of the organization and had Kinder Morgan Canada stand alone and not as part of Kinder Morgan of Houston. They are related as a subsidiary. However, it is a pretty clear tell that Kinder Morgan was backing off the whole idea of building the expansion.

Therefore, the reason we are paying so much for an existing pipeline, which was never part of the problem, was the blackmail note from Kinder Morgan, falling due May 31. It was not about getting the ransom; it was about shooting the hostage. What it really wanted to do was get out of it and blame someone for that.

Our poor beknighted front benches over there were terrified of a press conference on May 31, in which Kinder Morgan would announce that the Prime Minister of Canada could not get it done, that the Minister of Finance could not get it done. We had the problem of an unwilling vendor, and we know one pays through the nose when one has an unwilling vendor.

Charlie Angus – Member for Timmins-James Bay

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. When Kinder Morgan gave that ultimatum and said “If you don’t give us a really safe environment, we’re leaving”, that meant it was leaving. The potential for confrontation was very clear.

We saw the Prime Minister jump up and say, “Before you go, we’ll pay off all your investors to the tune of $4.5 billion.” That is the best payout. If I were the CEO, I am sure my investors would be giving me a slap on the back for that. That is a heck of a lot of money to pay for such little effort.

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Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada apparently just bought a pipeline from Kinder Morgan for $4.5 billion, which it bought for $550 million. There are 15 different court cases right now: indigenous rights cases, environmental group cases, and municipal cases. When the Federal Court of Appeal rules, if the court rules that the permits are invalid, what is the government’s plan? Will it restart the environmental assessment process and restart consultations?

Jim Carr – Minister of Natural Resources

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is asking the government to speculate hypothetically on what a court may or may not say. We could look retrospectively at what courts have said. Even very recently the Supreme Court has spoken about consultation and actually has sided with the proponent. However, it is not a good idea for us to speculate on what a future court might say on a case that has nothing to do with the ones that have been decided already. We do know that through this process, there was unprecedented consultation with indigenous people. Forty-three communities signed on to benefit agreements, 33 in—

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Welcome back to Elizabeth May’s parliamentary week in review! This weekly e-newsletter recaps her work in Parliament when the House is in session. Using the links below, you can watch videos of Elizabeth’s interventions in the House, keep up with her media releases, and read articles she has written. 

This week in the House, Elizabeth mythbusted five of the biggest misconceptions about the Kinder Morgan pipeline project. She spoke favourably of the proposed amendments to the Canada Elections Act while protesting the Government’s abuse of time allocation motions. She also demanded transparency around any and all complaints from the People’s Republic of China following the recent Aecon decision.

Meanwhile in committee, Elizabeth presented amendments in clause-by-clause review of the Fisheries Act, Bill C-68; the omnibus environmental protections legislation, Bill C-69; and the budget bill, C-74. Several of her amendments were accepted for C-68 and C-69. 

* If you are having trouble viewing this email, please view online at: http://elizabethmaymp.ca/category/news/week-in-review/​

Key Moments in the House

Adjournment Proceedings

• The top five whoppers from Kinder Morgan

​

​​Question Period

• Could the government commit to full transparency if China complains about Canada’s decision on Aecon?

Debate

• Bill C-76: We need to see 90% or 95% of Canadians voting and feeling good about the democratic experience
• Bill C-57: We cannot develop sustainably without basic research in science, the environment and economics

​In the News

• “Feds’ pledge to financially back Trans Mountain pipeline won’t eliminate all risk: Carr”

  (Rachel Aiello, CTV News, May 16)

• “Elizabeth May: Kinder Morgan ‘Blank Cheque’ would be ‘Spectacular Violation’ of an Election Promise”

  (Zi-Ann Lum, HuffPost, May 16)

• “‘Hell on earth’: May leans on Liberals to denounce Australia’s policy on asylum-seekers”

  (Kathleen Harris, CBC News, May 17)

• “Anti-pipeline activists hold ’emergency rally’ days before Kinder Morgan deadline”
• (APTN News, May 23)
• “Environmental Disaster is Canada’s New Normal. Are We Ready?”

  (Anne Casselman, The Walrus, May 23)

• “Federal Government Blocks Aecon Sale to Chinese Company”

  (Andrew Nikiforuk, The Tyee, May 24)

• “Evening in the Maritimes hauls in big catch, netting $150K for Citizen Advocacy Ottawa”

  (Caroline Phillips, Ottawa Business Journal, May 24)

• “As Trans Mountain debate rolls on, Ottawa pushes to change rules for big projects”

  (Tony Seskus, CBC, May 25)

• “May 25: Pipeline hypocrisy? Yes. No. Maybe … Plus other letters to the editor”

  (Elizabeth May, The Globe and Mail, May 25)

Public Statements

• Statement condemning the targeting of civilians in Gaza
• Statement in recognition of Ramadan
• Kinder Morgan and the déja vu politics of the Liberal Party
• Statement on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
• Elizabeth takes issue with carbon price report
• Elizabeth welcomes decision to block Chinese takeover of Aecon

Petitions

Elizabeth introduced the following petitions in the House this week:

• Adopt a national poverty strategy to provide for fair, sustainable living conditions for all Canadians.

Note: 

Elizabeth presents petitions once the deadline for signatures has passed. After presentation in the House, the government has 45 calendar days to table a response.

You may read the governments’ responses to petitions Elizabeth has introduced here.

View and sign open e-petitions currently sponsored by Elizabeth here.

Learn about the e-petition process or create one of your own here.

Community Newsletter

April 2018 Newsletter – Children

Have Your Say

Engage in Government consultations for key legislative items:

A Place to Call Home

Deadline: June 1

Click here to see all Government consultations.

Committees, Briefs and Responses

Submission to the Consultations on an Amendment to Aquaculture Regulation

Submission to the Transport Canada Parliamentary Consultation

Submission to the Consultations on the federal Carbon Pricing System

Submission to the Consultations on the Federal Leaders’ Debates

Submission to the Consultations on Health Canada’s Proposed Approach to the Regulation of Cannabis​

Submission to the Consultations on the Proposed Excise Duty Framework for Cannabis Products

Submission to the Canada-Pacific Trade Consultations

Brief Submitted to the NAFTA Renegotiation Consultation

Brief Submitted to the Minister of Food and Agriculture Canada for “A Food Policy for Canada”

Response Submitted to the Consultations on Tax Planning Using Private Corporations

Private Members’ Bills

Elizabeth May has introduced the following bills:

Bill C-401: This bill will lower the voting age to 16.

Bill C-387: This bill will establish a legislative framework for a national passenger rail service.

Bill C-269: This bill will abolish mandatory minimum sentences for all crimes except murder and treason.

Bill C-258: This “Think Small First” bill would require that every new bill introduced in the House undergo an assessment to determine how the bill would impact Canadian small businesses.

Bill C-259: The Open Science Act would require all federal departments to make all publicly funded scientific research available to Canadians on their websites.

For a list of private members’ bills Elizabeth May has seconded, please visit elizabethmaymp.ca.

Recent Events

Tuesday, May 22

• Elizabeth spoke at the Emergency Rally Against the Kinder Morgan Bail Out on Parliament Hill

​Thursday, May 24

• Elizabeth attended Egale’s 2018 IDENTITY Gala

Recent Events

Friday, May 25

• Elizabeth canvasses with Mike Schreiner in Guelph

​Saturday, May 26

• Elizabeth will deliver a toast at the Parliamentary Press Gallery Dinner

Monday, May 28

• Elizabeth will attend her court hearing in Vancouver

Have Your Say

Have Your Say

The post Elizabeth May’s Week in Review – May 25, 2018 appeared first on Elizabeth May.

“Subsidizing big oil at this point in the process is not surprising, but blaming Premier Horgan is plain shameful. British Columbians have done nothing to obstruct the project. Kinder Morgan still does not have permission from the National Energy Board to proceed. It has not yet fulfilled the 157 conditions. In fact, after issuing its April 8th threat to cancel the project by May 31st, it asked the National Energy Board for more time – into the fall- to meet one of the many unmet conditions. Kinder Morgan is taking the Liberal party for a ride and Canadians along with it.”

“Nearly every day, more scientific evidence is released pointing to an accelerating climate crisis. Subsidizing a fossil fuel pipeline – spurring more investments in GHG emitting oil sands- is unconscionable,” concludes Ms. May.

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