FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 3, 2026
BC Green MLAs support First Nations’ Pacific Link Pipeline court challenges, call for South Coast tanker ban
VICTORIA, B.C. – BC Green MLAs-elect Emily Lowan, Saanich North and the Islands, and Jeremy Valeriote, West Vancouver – Sea to Sky, are expressing their full support for First Nations challenging the Pacific Link Pipeline consultation process in federal court.
“W̱JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip First Nation) has stewarded Saanich North and the Islands since time-immemorial. I’m grateful they are once again standing up to protect our beautiful home, and as the MLA for this region I’ll take up the fight in the Legislature,” said Emily Lowan, Leader of the BC Greens.
“The Building Canada Act is forcing rip-and-ship economics through ecologically irreplaceable lands and waters, without meeting constitutional requirements to consult with First Nations. The courts, and the Provincial Government must uphold these basic human rights.”
St’át’imc Chiefs Council, which includes lands and people in parts of the West Vancouver – Sea to Sky provincial riding, have also launched a federal court challenge.
“The Pacific Link pipeline is not a well-developed project proposal; it’s a few sketches on a map, to be subsidized almost entirely by taxpayers. First Nations in my region are being told that the Crown will not consult with them, despite the very real possibility this project cuts through their territory. Meanwhile, the Crown has provided very few details of the project to the First Nations it has chosen to hurriedly consult,” said Jeremy Valeriote. “Rushing the environmental and human health impact assessments of a major project through fragile ecosystems will have enormous costs for generations to come.”
“Expanding the Roberts Bank Terminal, just classified a ‘project of national interest,’ will destroy breeding habitat for over a hundred species-at-risk, and is a death sentence for southern resident orcas. The BC Greens will continue to advocate for a South Coast Tanker Ban, and the transition to a green economy,” added Lowan.
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Media Contact
Amy Attas
Communications Officer
BC Green Caucus
+1 (204) 740 0280 | Amy.Attas@leg.bc.ca