May 18, 2018

VANCOUVER—Leadnow, Sierra Club BC, SumOfUs.org and the Wilderness Committee will begin running radio ads Friday urging British Columbians to call their MPs to express their opposition to using public funds to bail out the Kinder Morgan pipeline and tanker project.

“The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and the Alberta and federal governments have mobilized a massive, coordinated propaganda campaign to promote Kinder Morgan’s pipeline and tankers project,” said Mark Worthing, conservation and climate campaigner with Sierra Club BC. “Finance minister Bill Morneau confirmed today that the federal government is full steam ahead on a Kinder Morgan bailout, but no matter how much public money they throw at Kinder Morgan, B.C.’s opposition to this pipeline remains firm and will not bend.”

Alberta recently launched a $1.2 million ad campaign, $700,000 of which will be spent in B.C. alone. The federal government is actively negotiating a bailout package that could cost taxpayers as much as $10 billion. No one knows how much CAPP is spending, but they are known as one of the most well-financed, powerful lobbying organizations in the country.

The ads are funded with individual donations from concerned Canadian residents. The ads will run from May 18 to 28 on Virgin Radio 94.5 FM.

“Prime Minister Trudeau wants to use billions of taxpayer dollars to bail out a foreign oil corporation’s ill-conceived pipeline project,” said Peter McCartney, climate campaigner with Wilderness Committee. “Not only are British Columbians asked to take on the risk of a spill, but now he actually expects Canadians to cover Kinder Morgan’s losses when this proposal goes belly-up?”

"Trudeau needs to get his priorities straight. Taxpayer dollars should pay for schools and hospitals, not handouts to big oil. Indigenous rights should come before corporate profits," said Jolan Bailey, a climate campaigner with Leadnow.

"Liberal MPs in B.C. are already worrying about how many votes they’ll lose if Trudeau follows through on his reckless bailout plan. With Kinder Morgan’s hardball ultimatum to the federal government fast-approaching, MPs need to hear loud and clear from British Columbians that they do not support any bailout of Kinder Morgan, or any other company," said Emma Pullman, campaign manager at SumOfUs.org.

On April 8, Kinder Morgan delivered an ultimatum to the federal government, setting a deadline of May 31 to gain certainty that the project can be built. Since then, the federal and Alberta governments have scrambled to deliver the certainty Kinder Morgan has demanded.

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Radio script available upon request.

Media contacts:

• Mark Worthing, Sierra Club BC   (250) 889-3575   mark@sierraclub.bc.ca
• Jolan Bailey, Leadnow  (604) 441-6916   jolan@leadnow.ca
• Peter McCartney, Wilderness Committee  (778) 239-1935   peter@wildernesscommittee.org
• Emma Pullman, SumOfUs.org (778) 887-6776   emma@sumofus.org