Skip to content

Letter: Spending $12.6 billion on oil pipeline ludicrous in the face of pandemic

The Editor, Spending billions of taxpayer dollars on an oil pipeline in the middle of the climate crisis and global pandemic is ludicrous. Trudeau’s government bought the Trans Mountain pipeline for $4.5 billion.
20200915130924-5f60f93d61ca0878e2938019jpeg.jpg
Construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline is seen underway in Kamloops, B.C., Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020. A year after construction was allowed to restart on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, it's chief executive says it is on budget and on schedule for completion by the end of 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

The Editor,

Spending billions of taxpayer dollars on an oil pipeline in the middle of the climate crisis and global pandemic is ludicrous. 

Trudeau’s government bought the Trans Mountain pipeline for $4.5 billion. Since then, the estimated cost to complete the project has ballooned to $12.6 billion.

Why not spend that money to improve the services for our elders in long term care, fix the decades-long drinking water crisis on First Nations reserves, or improve our COVID testing capacity so parents don’t have to wait for hours with their children?

We can either let our government throw money at fossil fuels, or we can demand they build towards a just and healthy future that all our communities deserve.

Cecile Lemay, Surrey