How many British Columbians believe Ottawa will reject the Kinder Morgan pipeline? Not many, I’d wager.

Beyond the specifics of Kinder Morgan’s bullying, the drama that has played out on Burnaby Mountain reflects a broken, corrupted system. People know the deck has been deliberately stacked against them, against their communities, against First Nations, and against our planet’s future.

The National Energy Board process is rigged to favour the federal government’s fossil fuel agenda and the multinationals that profit from the tar sands. Plain and simple.

Burnaby Mountain symbolizes everything that is wrong with how we make decisions about fossil fuels and pipelines. As SFU professor Lynne Quarmby said, before she got arrested, “We’re here because the process is a sham.”

So how did we get to this point? Two events figure prominently.

In 2010, the provincial government handed over to Ottawa its power to conduct environmental assessments on proposals such as Kinder Morgan’s. And in 2012, the federal government enacted radical changes in the way environmental assessments are conducted.

Review timelines were shortened, public participation was severely restricted, and companies such as Kinder Morgan no longer have to undergo cross-examination of the evidence they present to support their case.

In the case of the Kinder Morgan process, 468 citizens had their application to participate rejected and 452 had their application for intervener status downgraded to a simple letter of comment. Anyone who was deemed (in the National Energy Board’s subjective view) not to be “directly affected” by the proposed pipeline was barred. Anyone who wanted to raise issues around climate change was barred.

Marc Eliesen, a former president and CEO of B.C. Hydro, withdrew from the process in disgust, calling it “fraudulent” and a “public deception”.

This is a rigged process, pure and simple. So when the City of Burnaby asserts its jurisdiction over a municipal park on Burnaby Mountain, the NEB supports Kinder Morgan’s arrogant view that a Texas-based pipeline company should not be subject to local laws.

Last week, several First Nations were providing testimony in the Kinder Morgan hearings in Victoria: sharing powerful stories and histories based in thousands of years inhabiting and governing these lands and waters through which oil tankers are proposed to travel. Many of these nations are also speaking out about the limitations of the review process, expressing distrust that their voices will be heard or their rights recognized.

The provincial government has quietly enabled this sham of a process. In 2010, Victoria signed an agreement with the federal government that said, in essence, that a federal environmental assessment was equivalent to a provincial one. This allowed Ottawa to make decisions on B.C.’s behalf and gave away B.C.’s say in our own future when it comes to pipelines.

As a result, the provincial government is merely an intervenor in the process, having to file motions in an attempt to force Kinder Morgan to answer its questions.

Who has a real say in this sham of a process? Not First Nations. Not B.C. residents. Not municipalities. Not even the B.C. government.

There’s a simple solution: the province can terminate the equivalency agreement by providing 30 days’ written notice. The B.C. government can then conduct its own environmental assessment and ensure British Columbians’ views, First Nation title and rights, and the climate implications of tar sands pipelines are fully reflected in the process and the result.

People are taking matters into their own hands because they have been shut out of the official process and are determined to make their voices heard. The provincial government can give them that voice by exiting the NEB process and ensuring the people who live here have a say in what happens here.

Not to do so means we will get a pre-ordained decision in favour of Kinder Morgan when this sham of a process concludes.