We will soon be sheltering in place, wearing masks indefinitely, and grudgingly embracing a ‘new normal.’ I am not referring to COVID-19; rather the increasingly visceral consequences of climate change.

While we tackle the pandemic, we must not forget that a second crisis is afoot. We were provided a stark reminder this summer as heavy smoke blanketed British Columbia, offering a preview of our future should we choose not to act. The good news is that both are solvable. But spending billions of taxpayer dollars on fossil fuel projects helps neither one.

The estimated cost of the Trans Mountain pipeline exceeds 20 billion (taxpayer) dollars — money that is better spent on our COVID-19 response and climate change mitigation efforts. Our political leaders are failing the Canadian public and Indigenous peoples with every tree felled, pipe welded, and dollar spent on this bitumen boondoggle.

If we are to take either crisis seriously, we must demand a cleaner, healthier, more just and equitable future from our political leaders. That begins with cancelling the Trans Mountain project.

James Mager

Victoria