How We Got Here: A Tyee Pipeline Reader

No topic has captured the attention of Tyee readers more than the Kinder Morgan pipeline project — so much so that seven of the 10 most read articles this year were on the Trans Mountain expansion.

And our coverage has reflected that interest, with more than 50 articles on the project this year alone.

In the wake of today’s dramatic Federal Court of Appeal decision, we’ve prepared a sampling of that coverage to provide you with context and background.

In recent weeks, we’ve shared the stories of people arrested at protests at Kinder Morgan’s Burnaby facility. Those stories included a report on protestors who chose to be arrested over the risk increased tanker traffic poses to killer whales — a key element in today’s ruling.

Award-winning Tyee contributing editor Andrew Nikiforuk shared his reasons for standing against the pipeline, one of many pieces he has written on the issue, including prescient warnings it will be a disaster for taxpayers and that Kinder Morgan is not a company you want to make deals with.

Mitchell Anderson argued the pipeline project has nothing to do with Asian markets and everything to do with enriching U.S.-based refineries. A few months ago, he also pointed out the project makes no economic sense. And he warned that the federal government had bought the pipeline when the industry faced a bleak future. Columnist Paul Willcocks offered a critical look at the pipeline project’s numbers, and concluded they didn’t add up.

Contributing editor Crawford Kilian argued the pipeline project is doomed anyway. And analyst Bruce Livesey argued that Canada has essentially been captured by the oil industry.

On the other hand, Alberta-based writer David Climenhaga suggested a federal takeover of the pipeline might be a good thing if it removes the Texas-based corporation from the equation.

We’ve examined how the unprecedented squabble between two western provinces and the federal government is untested territory for the country’s constitution. This fight has pitted one NDP premier against another.

And when it isn’t getting two close neighbours into a weird wine war, it might just be producing new forms of Western alienation, particularly here in B.C. Mitchell Anderson believes Trans Mountain could mean the end of Justin Trudeau’s tenure as prime minister.