Democracy and climate activists staged sit-ins Friday morning at the B.C. Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions in Victoria and Premier David Eby’s Vancouver office, calling on the provincial government to reject the U.S.-backed Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Pipeline.
Savannah Barret, the Vancouver Island organizer for Dogwood B.C., was present at the sit-in at the ministry office on Blanshard Street, where she said the project was first approved in 2014 when environmental assessments were different from what they are today.
"We're echoing the calls from Indigenous sovereign nations that want a modern environmental assessment for this project, and that it should not proceed without that," she said.
The proposed pipeline would run from Hudson’s Hope to the proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG natural gas liquefaction and export facility near Prince Rupert. The pipeline would consist of both land-based and marine sections. Depending on the final route, it could include up to 780 kilometres of land-based pipeline and up to 120 kilometres of twin marine pipelines, according to the B.C. Government.
In 2024, the project was sold to the Nisga'a Nation in northwestern B.C. and the Texas-based Western LNG. Among the biggest of the project's investors is Blackstone Inc., led by CEO and chairman Steve Schwarzman, a friend and advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump, and one of the Republican Party’s top 10 donors.
Barret pointed out the irony of the province pulling U.S. alcohol off B.C. liquor store shelves and communicating that B.C. and Canada are "not for sale," while simultaneously looking to approve a pipeline largely owned by a "billionaire funding the man who's been threatening to annex Canada for months."
The Victoria activists hosted the two-hour sit-in in the hopes of speaking with Minister Adrian Dix as the project's substantial start application comes close to approval by the government. They said Dix has been instrumental in fast-tracking the project as U.S.-Canadian relations erode due to the new American administration.
"Adrian Dix oversees this ministry, and he's been a leading force in accelerating this project through the government. Not hearing the demands of Indigenous nations in opposition to this, to say, 'Stop, this cannot go forward,'" said Barret.
The project is opposed by the Gitanyow Nation, whose territory includes 50 kilometres of the pipeline route.
"Pushing forward with this American-owned, American-built project on Indigenous lands would sow the seeds for a protracted and painful conflict," noted a news release.
In the release, the president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said he was "deeply disappointed" in the project's approval, as the province recently released their 2024 Climate Change Accountability Report, which showed that the province will likely miss its own emissions reduction targets.
"Climate change does not recognize people or borders. We are risking the prosperity and health of future generations for profits in the hands of American investors. I am proud to stand in solidarity with the Nisga'a, Ts'msyen, Gitanyow, Gitxsan, and Wet'suwet'en people who will continue to fight against this project," noted Phillip in the release.
