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1 in 4 pipeline opponents would consider civil disobedience: poll

About one in four opponents of the Kinder Morgan pipeline would consider acts of civil disobedience, according to a new poll. The Insights West survey, conducted on behalf of Burnaby South NDP MP Kennedy Stewart, found 48 per cent support the $7.
Burnaby Mountain, pipeline protests
Police with an anti-pipeline protester on Burnaby Mountain in 2014.

About one in four opponents of the Kinder Morgan pipeline would consider acts of civil disobedience, according to a new poll.

The Insights West survey, conducted on behalf of Burnaby South NDP MP Kennedy Stewart, found 48 per cent support the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain expansion project, 44 per cent oppose it and nine per cent are undecided.

“These polling results reflect what I see on the ground here in British Columbia,” said Stewart in a press release. “Thousands of pipeline opponents have contacted their MPs and participated in marches. Now it appears many are prepared to take their opposition to another level.”

Kinder Morgan is proposing to build 980 kilometres of new pipeline that will transport up to 890,000 barrels of diluted bitumen per day from Alberta’s tar sands to B.C.’s coast. The project was federally approved in November 2016 with 157 conditions, but the B.C. NDP has vowed to use every tool available to stop it.

The pipeline has caused a trade war between Alberta and B.C., with Alberta halting B.C. wine imports and suspending electricity talks earlier this month.

The poll was conducted online between Feb. 7 and 9, and had 938 respondents. Opposition to the project was highest among women (52 per cent); people aged 35 to 54 (51 per cent) and residents of Metro Vancouver (49 per cent) and Vancouver Island (45 per cent).

When asked what actions they’d consider to oppose the pipeline, two-thirds said they’d write a letter to their MP, 54 per cent said they’d consider attending a public protest and 23 per cent said they’d engage in acts of civil disobedience to stop or disrupt construction.