Trans Mountain pipeline protests follow Justin Trudeau around B.C. on long-weekend visit

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      Justin Trudeau is in British Columbia this B.C. Day long weekend.

      Yesterday (August 5), the prime minister walked through Vancouver's West End for the city's annual Pride parade. And today, Trudeau is scheduled to visit Penticton's Gyro Park for holiday festivities there.

      While his appearance with Vancouver's Pride parade was mostly greeted with applause and requests for selfies, Trudeau's weekend tour around southern B.C. has also come with a number of small protests related to the Liberal government's decision to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline system

      At an August 4 news conference in Duncan, Trudeau defended his $4.5 billion purchase from Kinder Morgan Canada.

      “There are people out there who think there is still a choice to be made between what’s good for the environment and what’s good for the economy. I don’t,” Trudeau said, according to Global News.

      “I know the only way to build a strong economy, moving forward, is by protecting the environment, and ensuring we are protecting the environment for future generations is a deep priority of mine. Always has been.”

      The Trans Mountain project involves twinning an oil pipeline that runs from Edmonton—where it receives diluted bitumen from the Alberta tar sands—to a port in Burnaby. Upon completion, it would triple the amount of bitumen transported to the Lower Mainland, increasing the number of oil tankers moving through Burrard Inlet from some 60 ships per year to more than 400.

      Trudeau's administration announced that Ottawa will purchase the pipeline from Kinder Morgan Canada, a subsidiary of the Texas-based Kinder Morgan Inc, last May.

      The deal is tentatively scheduled to close before the end of August 2018.

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