Pipeline protesters crash Kamloops city council meeting

KAMLOOPS – A small group of protesters opposed to the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion through Kamloops interrupted a city council meeting this afternoon.

The group, led by former mayoral candidate Mike McKenzie, asked council today, April 24, to put forward a motion to oppose the expansion.

“I am asking for someone on this council to oppose the Kinder Morgan pipeline,” McKenzie said, who was joined by several First Nations elders for the unscheduled presentation. 

Mayor Ken Christian said repeatedly they wouldn’t be able to discuss details of the Kinder Morgan project at the meeting, but McKenzie continued to speak, saying the pipeline expansion would negatively impact the land of the Skeetchestn and Sewepemc First Nations people.

“When you look down at the grassroots of this problem, our people are still being oppressed,” McKenzie said, adding there has been little communication between some First Nations communities and Kinder Morgan.

“We have a serious problem in modern times," he said.

The pipeline protesters left council chambers shortly after their dialogue with council.

The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion has been in the works since 2016, when the federal government initially approved the project. Recently, Kinder Morgan has suspended all non-essential activity and spending regarding the pipeline expansion.

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