Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is asking for input from First Nations that have territory along the proposed Trans Mountain pipeline route.
Trudeau sat down with the Indigenous Advisory and Monitoring Committee at the Cheam First Nation near Chilliwack on Tuesday morning.
WATCH: PM meets with indigenous leaders on TMP construction monitoring
“This does not mean that everyone is unanimous around this project,” Trudeau said in his opening remarks to the gathered Indigenous leaders.
“I know there are folks around this table and certainty across this country that go from strongly opposed, to somewhat opposed to kind of neutral to somewhat supportive to strongly supportive. I think it’s important we continue to listen.”
The advisory community was set up so that communities along the proposed route could weigh in on the project.
Trudeau acknowledged that the situation around the pipeline expansion has changed now that the federal government has spent $4.5 billion to purchase the existing structure from Kinder Morgan with the goal of finishing the project.
The Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion has a list of 53 First Nations in B.C. that oppose the project, while 33 have signed project benefit agreements in return for support of the project.
Trudeau’s government has promised to honour the agreements that First Nations have signed with Trans Mountain.
WATCH HERE: Rallies held across Canada to protest Trans Mountain pipeline
“I think we can all agree that as this project goes forward it is done right and done in a way that minimizes concerns and negative impacts and maximizes benefits and partnerships,” said Trudeau.
Indigenous Advisory and Monitoring Committee co-chair Ernie Crey said the federal government’s purchase of the project is a “game changer” and has changed the relationship between First Nations and the pipeline owner.
Crey, who supports the project, described the meeting as a positive one but said First Nations still expect to play an active role in the decisions being made around the expansion’s construction.
“We want to be inside the fence working with regulators to ensure that they work with us to protect our values and interests in the lands and in the water,” Crey said.
“What we know now is it will be constructed and we are going to be closely involved.”
Protesters welcomed Trudeau to British Columbia from outside the meeting.
There is growing concern about what the Trans Mountain pipeline could cost taxpayers in the long term. Ottawa will look for a buyer for the project once they can ensure work will start on the twinning.
What is unclear is how the estimated $7.4-billion cost of the expansion would be covered if the federal government can’t sell the project.
“There is a tremendous uprising to try to make Justin Trudeau make a change in his decision making,” said Eddie Gardner, president of the Wild Salmon Defenders Alliance.
“It is a misguided decision, it is misplaced political will. Instead of investing some $15 billion in a misguided dying industry, that money should be invested in renewable technology. The world counts on Canada to be a leader in climate change. This is the wrong way to go.”
Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna doesn’t agree with the sentiment that Ottawa cannot honour its climate change targets while still supporting the pipeline project.
Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, she said it’s time to move on.
“A decision was made, as I say, by the federal government over a year ago. Also by the former government of British Columbia. We need to provide certainty to investors and we also need to bring people together,” she said.
“The environment and the economy go together and this project will go ahead.”
- With files from the Canadian Press
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