Finance Minister Freeland: Rethink Trans Mountain

COVID-19 has changed everything.

Oil markets are in chaos, and companies like Shell and Total are pulling out of the oil sands. The oil boom is over.

But the federal government is ploughing ahead with the Trans Mountain pipeline project, putting billions of tax dollars at risk at a time when we need every public dollar to help Canadians weather the economic storm caused by the pandemic.

Trans Mountain will ship oil for 50 years, locking us in to decades of carbon emissions that will make it impossible to meet our climate targets. One major spill of toxic bitumen could devastate B.C.'s priceless coast. And the pipeline is set to bulldoze through the unceded territory of Indigenous communities who have not given their consent.

All this for a project that no longer makes sense. Building a heavy oil pipeline in the post-COVID age ignores science and economics. That's why more than 100 Canadian economists and energy experts have called on the government to rethink Trans Mountain.

Construction is still in its early stages, and billions could still be saved to fund the clean energy projects and green jobs that will build a healthy, resilient economy for all Canadians.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is in charge of Canada's financial health. She also holds the purse strings for the Trans Mountain project.

Sign the petition to call on Minister Freeland to make the smart choice for our economy and our climate: redirect the billions of dollars Canada is set to waste on Trans Mountain to rebuilding a healthy, clean economy after COVID-19.