Defund Trans Mountain, Fund a Green New Deal
Call on federal leaders to defund the multi-billion dollar Trans Mountain pipeline and invest in a made-in-Canada Green New Deal.
Tell our federal party leaders that our dollars need to go toward tackling the climate crisis, creating millions of decent jobs, and investing in our communities — not expensive, dangerous fossil fuel projects.
Dear Federal Party Leaders, Finance Minister, and Finance Critics,
Over the next few weeks, you will debate some of the most important policy proposals of our lifetime. That’s why I’m calling on you to Defund the Trans Mountain pipeline and invest in a Green New Deal instead.
We need every dollar we can get to build back better from COVID-19 and tackle the climate crisis at the scale science and communities require. In other words, we can’t afford to sink tens of billions of dollars in the Trans Mountain pipeline.
Defunding the Trans Mountain pipeline is the first step to funding a Green New Deal that tackles climate change, creates millions of decent jobs, and invests in our communities.
A second wave of COVID-19 is hitting much of Canada, wildfire smoke is just starting to clear from the air, and we’re still at the base of a long road to recovery. In this critical time, Canadian federal leaders are debating some of the most important policy proposals of our lifetime. We have to speak up now to make sure they prioritize what matters.
The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is a new fossil fuel pipeline that would carry tar sands from Alberta to just outside of Vancouver, BC. Originally owned by Texas oil giant Kinder Morgan, the Government of Canada bailed the project out in 2018 when Kinder Morgan threatened to walk away, and we bought it for $5.4 billion.
Then, in early 2020, the Government released updated costs for the project. Now at nearly $13 billion and climbing, public support for the pipeline dropped as the public was told that we would need to foot this growing bill. This was all before COVID-19 hit, which no doubt has driven the cost of the project even higher.
Before Justin Trudeau bought the Trans Mountain pipeline, the project was such a bad bet that Texas oil giant Kinder Morgan walked away from the project. Here’s why:
There is a national movement pushing all levels of government to put people first as they build plans to recover from COVID-19. Learn more about the movement here.
We know that a Green New Deal sets us up to take care of people, create millions of decent jobs, and tackle the climate crisis. Learn more about the movement for a Green New Deal here.
The math just doesn’t make sense. The climate math doesn’t add up, the economics don’t make sense and, if we’re going to build back better, we need to put every single dollar we can to projects that help all people and communities. The longer we wait to defund TMX, the worse it’s going to be.
The pipeline might be creating a few short term jobs, but it’s doing so at a cost to the climate and to a just recovery from COVID-19. We need to put every dollar we can into transforming our economy to rebuild from COVID and tackle the climate crisis, TMX does neither.