A pipeline project that would vastly expand Canadian oil exports to Asia is dividing the country, pitting indigenous groups and people who fear damage to the scenic coastline near Vancouver against the central government and the energy industry.
The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion would triple the capacity of an existing pipeline to ship oil extracted from the tar sands north of Alberta across the Canadian Rockies. It would end at a terminal outside Vancouver, resulting in a seven-fold increase in the number of tankers in an environmentally sensitive area.
This May 3, 2018 photo shows the Kirkeholmen oil tanker anchored outside the Kinder Morgan Inc. Westridge oil terminal in Vancouver, Canada, at the end of the Trans Mountain pipeline that begins in northern Alberta.
Many indigenous people see the pipeline as a threat to their land, echoing concerns raised by Native Americans about the Keystone XL project in the U.S.
The project also has strong support in a country where energy production in economically vital.
