Burnaby MP Terry Beech is sponsoring an e-petition against the Kinder Morgan pipeline, but it’s not clear if that means he’s choosing sides on the issue.
The petition calls “upon the House of Commons to do all it can to prevent the expansion of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline, and support the municipal and provincial governments by rejecting the proposal for the expansion project.”
Harrison Phillips of Vancouver is listed as the proponent, and Beech is the sponsoring MP. Under the new e-petition rules, anyone hoping to present an electronic petition must find a member of Parliament to sponsor it. So far the petition has 31 signatures. A minimum of 500 signatures will trigger a response from government.
The NOW reached out to Beech for comment on Tuesday morning, but he was unavailable for an interview. The multibillion dollar Kinder Morgan expansion is in Beech’s riding, and his party’s cabinet has the final say on whether the project moves forward.
Burnaby South MP Kennedy Stewart, who brought e-petitions to the House of Commons with a backbenchers’ bill, said he was surprised to see Beech sponsor the petition because it suggests endorsement.
“That’s really how they are being interpreted. If an MP sponsors a petition, you’re actually in favour of what’s being asked,” he said.
Beech recently held a town hall meeting on the Kinder Morgan pipeline and climate change, but at no point did he come out for or against the pipeline.
Kai Nagata, spokesperson for the Dogwood Initiative, is campaigning against the pipeline project.
“Whether it’s gun laws or pipelines, I don’t think there are a lot of examples of MPs that are sponsoring petitions that they disagree with, so I think it’s a good sign,” he said. “In the riding where he lives, opposition to the pipeline is pretty unequivocal.”
Note: We will update this story with Beech’s comments when he’s available.
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