Poll Shows Most Canadians Support Trans Mountain

A bitter battle over Kinder Morgan’s US$5.8 billion Trans Mountain pipeline which has played out in the public has resulted in an increase in the amount of support the pipeline is getting, according to a new poll.

Two out of three Canadians now feel that the British Columbian government is wrong in its stance against Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline, according to a new poll by Angus Reid Institute—a 10 percent increase over the same poll taken in February.

The poll shows that 64 percent of Canadians feel that the B.C. government is wrong to oppose the Transmountain pipeline. The poll results show that sentiment is softening even in anti-pipeline British Columbia, which has been Trans Mountain’s most vocal opponent.

One of the poll’s other key findings is that people not only feel B.C. is wrong, but they are supportive of the TransMountain project as a whole, with 55 percent of Canadians saying they support the project—a 6 percent point increase over the February poll. Likewise, opposition to the pipeline project is dwindling, with only 26 percent of Canadians reporting that they oppose the project, compared to 33 percent in February.

In British Columbia specifically, 54 percent support the pipeline, compared to 38 percent who oppose it. In February, 48 percent of British Columbians supported the project and 40 percent opposed it suggesting that Kinder Morgan and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley—has done more to win over the public than B.C.’s Premier John Horgan.

Despite the rising sentiment, opposition for the pipeline remains, and protestors on Wednesday confronted Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, who has committed to getting the project done, even to the point of offering financial backing of the federal government to bring it home.

Trudeau’s cabinet officially approved the controversial project in 2016. The pipeline will triple the amount of crude oil moving from Alberta to British Columbia.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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