Photo: On September 22, 2026, Bill Darnell, co-founder of Greenpeace, was arrested on Parliament Hill while taking part in a Seniors Climate Witness nonviolent climate action in opposition to new fossil fuel projects.
This morning, Prime Minister Mark Carney stated: “I’m proud to announce that the Government of Canada is officially listing the West Coast Pipeline, now known as Pacific Link, as a project of national interest.”
He added: “Over the next year, the Major Projects Office, supported by Canada’s Energy Regulator, will lead consultations with all stakeholders to set the conditions for the projects, specifics about the ownership, the benefits, the environmental protections, and the local hiring, contracting and oversight.”
And to be able to export this oil, the Prime Minister stated: “The federal government is investing $10 billion to expand Roberts Bank Terminal, which will serve as the landing point for crude moving through Pacific Link.”
The Roberts Bank Terminal is located on the Strait of George in Tsawwassen/Delta, British Columbia (about 35 kilometres south of the Rogers Arena where the Vancouver Canucks play hockey).
The statement posted by the Prime Minister’s Office highlights the timeline includes a deadline of “September 1, 2027, clearing the way to get shovels in the ground” and that this announcement provides the proponents “with confidence that the federal government supports this project”.
CBC News explains: “Listing the West Coast Pacific Link oil pipeline on Schedule One of the Building Canada Act means the federal government has moved from considering whether it should be built to how it will be built by fast-tracking the approval process, including environmental assessments.”
Secwepemc territory
When the Government of Canada first announced it would refer the West Coast Pipeline project to the Major Projects Office, it noted that the pipeline would “largely follow the existing Trans Mountain corridor”.
The current Trans Mountain pipeline crosses about 518 kilometres of unceded Secwepemc territory in northern British Columbia.
While the Trans Mountain pipeline was being constructed, Tiny House Warriors built small houses and placed them “strategically along the 518 km Trans Mountain pipeline route to assert Secwepemc Law and jurisdiction and block access to this pipeline”.
When the Carney government held its Canada Investment Summit in Toronto last month, Secwepemc-Ktunaxa land and water defender Kanahus Manuel stated outside the gala dinner of investors: “They’re the land rapers, they’re the thieves, they’re the ones that we’ll continue to fight back against. They’re our enemy, our enemy is there, just a short distance from us, and when they try to come through, we’re going to let them know, get the fuck out of Toronto and get the fuck off Native land.”
UBCIC opposition
In August 2026, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) stated: “The destructive and disastrous consequences of expanding fossil fuel production extend far beyond any single territory. From catastrophic wildfires to destructive floods and rising seas, the impacts of climate change are already being felt across this country. Every new fossil fuel project deepens that crisis.”
Seniors’ Climate Witness
Less than two weeks ago, eleven members of Seniors Climate Witness were arrested on Parliament Hill in Ottawa as they called on “the Government of Canada to reject new fossil fuel pipelines, uphold its climate commitments, respect Indigenous rights, and invest instead in a safe, clean and livable future.”
Michael Polanyi, who helped organize the Seniors Climate Witness protest, said the idea for it first came during the peak of the wildfire season this summer while at the same time – in “stark juxtaposition” – Ottawa announced it would spend billions on the West Coast Oil Pipeline and refer it to the Major Projects Office.
Indigenous land defenders and environmental activists
In May 2022, CBC News reported: “In a letter dated April 29, [the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination] CERD said the governments of Canada and British Columbia ‘have escalated their use of force, surveillance, and criminalization of land defenders to intimidate, remove and forcibly evict Secwepemc and Wet’suwet’en Nations from their traditional lands…’ The letter goes on to name the RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) and private security forces as the perpetrators.”
And last year, Mary Lawlor, then the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, stated: “People all around the world have been calling for climate action for decades. As they have been ignored, and the climate crisis has spiralled, they have found new ways to organise and advocate, including through civil disobedience.”
We continue to follow this.
