Shrouded in mystery: Trans Mountain and City of Burnaby agreement

People began trickling into the plaza in front of Burnaby City Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 28, shortly after 4pm. Six months earlier, Burnaby Community Assembly celebrated the completion of its work on the official community plan (OCP), a celebration of democracy in the city, in this same spot. On Jan. 28, 2025, the mood was slightly different. 

The gathering in front of Burnaby City Hall was there to protest and demand answers about the city’s decision to sign a “Community Cooperation Agreement” with Trans Mountain Corporation. The city suddenly announced the agreement on its official channels on Oct. 1, 2024, and then clammed up. The agreement has been in effect since Sept. 27, 2024. 

As stated in the city’s announcement, the main purpose of the agreement was for Trans Mountain to offer support to the city in emergency preparedness in the form of $20.1 million over 21 years and logistical support. But the agreement went beyond support for the city; it came with some strings attached. Once the agreement came into effect, the city’s public communications about Trans Mountain would have to be approved by the fossil fuel company. 

Jan. 28 was a chilly, but clear and sunny day. The protesters brought snacks, hot drinks, musical instruments, and even their pets. It was a diverse group of Burnaby residents with many seniors present. 

Before the rally started, the Beacon spoke with Elan Gibson, a long-time Burnaby Residents Opposing Kinder Morgan Expansion (BROKE) member. This group opposed the tank farm and pipeline projects long before the federal government purchased them. Gibson said she had read the agreement when it first became public and found it very concerning. 

Her concerns spurred her to contact the city and request a town hall where residents could ask the city for clarification. She first wrote a letter to the mayor on Oct. 21, 2024; two days later, staff members responded to her. 

“I heard from a public affairs manager for the City of Burnaby, and he didn’t have any clue about the letter. All he knows is that he had to respond to the mayor’s request to contact me, so I had to forward him the letter,” Gibson said. “I gave him the reasons that I was asking for a town hall. I said I think that the community needs it. Basically, we need to understand why you signed this agreement. And he said he has to go back to the mayor and the city manager. And that’s the last I heard.” 

Gibson tried to contact the city several times but, by Jan. 28, had not heard back from them.  

Other long-time activists joined the protest, including Jim Leyden, the Indigenous elder at the Tsleil Waututh watch house adjacent to the Trans Mountain Tank Farm. Leyden, who was arrested last year for protesting TMX activities and pipeline and subsequently suffered myriad health issues, had strong words to say about the agreement and its implications. 

“They need to come forward and take part in these meetings, and the whole idea that they got, what, $20.1 million over 21 years. And if they do anything that pisses off Trans Mountain, Trans Mountain will withdraw the money,” Leyden said based on his understanding of the agreement. “It’s two and a half million or something a year, nothing compared to having sold their souls at the same time. It’s like that old joke, we always wondered if we were for sale. Now we know how much.” 

A new “community contribution” agreement 

The City of Burnaby has had a contentious relationship with the Trans Mountain tank farm and pipeline project. For years, the city tried to stop the addition of new tanks and the completion of the pipeline project. Over the years, there were several Canada Energy Regulator (CER) hearings about the dispute between the city and Trans Mountain. 

On Oct.1, 2024, the City of Burnaby announced it had signed the new “Community Contribution Agreement” with Trans Mountain Corporation and published the agreement online. The agreement came into effect on Sept. 27, 2024. 

At first glance, it seemed like the city had finally succeeded in holding Trans Mountain to account, and that the company would contribute to safety in the city, especially in the event of a fire or emergency related to its activities. 

According to the agreement, Trans Mountain will pay the city $20.1 million over 21 years and contribute to emergency preparedness. 

However, the second half of the agreement has a section titled “Schedule C—Information Management and Transparency.”

Schedule C deals with the city’s public communications about Trans Mountain. According to Schedule C, the City of Burnaby can no longer publicly say anything that would reflect “negatively” on TMX or portray it or its activities in a negative light. What constitutes “negative” public communication is left to Trans Mountain to decide. 

“Neither Party nor its staff or consultants shall make, distribute or communicate in any way to any person any negative public communications, whether based on fact or opinion or otherwise, directly or indirectly, related to the other Party, including any communication regarding past disputes. Each Party shall ensure that their staff and consultants comply with this section and, in particular, the preceding sentence,” the agreement said. 

On Aug. 6, 2024, the City of Burnaby released a video animation and report outlining the risks of the tank farm and West Ridge Terminal to Burnaby. The animated video, which is still on YouTube, is particularly chilling. In it an earthquake sparks a fire at the tank farm which rapidly spreads to the surrounding forested areas, neighbourhoods, schools and the rest of Burnaby. 

The silent video also shows a fire and explosions at the Westridge Terminal spreading into Burnaby, blanketing the city with thick, black smoke. Even without audio, the animation is terrifying. One can only imagine what it would be like to smell the smoke and hear the explosions. 

The fact that the agreement came on the heels of the city’s released video and report is an interesting development. The Beacon spoke with David Gooderham, a retired Vancouver lawyer with decades of experience in municipal law and who read the agreement thoroughly. According to Gooderham, the timing of the video was unusual. 

“I can’t imagine that the city would have decided to do it quickly because they were going to sign this agreement,” Gooderham said. “It almost looks to me like whoever is running the show in Burnaby, the majority of Council, or the whole administration, are very supportive of Trans Mountain, they’re on Trans Mountain’s side, and they don’t think there are any serious concerns.” 

Gooderham added that the timing of the video’s release may indicate division within the city.

“Knowing, as I do a little bit about how big cities and these things operate, including schools and governmental institutions, you often have differences within them, where you have staff members who are profoundly concerned about this,” Gooderham said. 

Legal concerns

The wording around the communications restrictions in the agreement raises questions about what information the city cannot share with residents. The Beacon asked the city about whether it has to obtain Trans Mountain approval before letting the public know about spills, leaks, or other incidents. Chris Bryan, the city’s public affairs manager, responded via email. 

“This section of the agreement refers to a public announcement or press release, which are formal, pre-planned communications. It has nothing to do with time-sensitive, emergency communications,” Bryan said in the email. “In an emergency situation, the City’s priority would be to get reliable information out to the public as urgently as possible.”

Gooderham said this is not enough to ensure the safety of the people living in areas that may be affected by the tank farm or pipeline. 

“There are areas of maintenance and management where mistakes can happen, and if the standards of maintenance or oversight and management are not at the highest level, there could be situations where the city— and I just gave one example—where the city learns that the way something’s being done, procedures and maintenance by TMX have actually created a very imminent, serious risk,” Gooderham said. “Normally, the city would be free to issue a warning, to issue a statement. That statement might even go so far as to complain that Trans Mountain has failed to implement certain steps that it should have implemented.” 

In that situation, the agreement prevents the city from making any statement that Trans Mountain might perceive as “negative.” 

Gooderham told the Beacon that the language used in the agreement seemed unusual for a legal agreement, adding that the agreement is one-sided and unequal. 

“Obviously, the city lawyers did play a role, but I’m just astonished at the language of that clause,” Gooderham said. “This is basically taking away Burnaby’s ability to communicate with the public. I would have thought this would have set up warning flags to the lawyers at the highest level, worrying about the most serious obligations of the city, including legal obligations, a legal duty to warn of the dangers…It looks like something that a bunch of amateurs might have put in an agreement where one of them is the dominant power and the other is completely weak.” 

Trans Mountain, mayor, and city staff absent from town hall

On Feb.21, Burnaby residents were startled when the ground started shaking. The earthquake was relatively mild at around magnitude five but was enough to renew concerns about the fossil fuel facilities in the city. Some publications even reported that fossil fuel industry activities may have had a role in triggering recent earthquakes in the region. 

Many of the same activists who organized the rally at Burnaby City Hall, along with SFU students, faculty, and Burnaby Mountain residents, organized a town hall meeting in the ballroom at the SFU Student Union building on Mar. 17. 

Seats were arranged in a semi-circle, facing mics, podiums, and a projector screen displaying each speaker’s photo and occupation. A group of reserved seats on the left side of the semi-circle was notable due to the absence of the invitees. 

The empty seats had been reserved for Mayor Mike Hurley, Burnaby’s new fire chief, Miles Ritchie, a Trans Mountain emergency response representative, and Trans Mountain’s CEO, Mark Maki. The two seats reserved for Trans Mountain officials had stuffed elephants on them. 

Unlike the one in front of City Hall last January, this event had city council members in attendance. Councillors Joe Keithley, Maita Santiago, Daniel Tetrault and Alison Gu were present. Reah Arora, the newly elected MLA for Burnaby East, also attended the town hall. 

After an Indigenous welcome, several speakers addressed the audience about fire concerns on Burnaby Mountain. SFU assistant professor and wildfire scientist Sophie Wilkinson spoke about the abundance of flammable materials on Burnaby Mountain and the high fire risk with rising temperatures and drier conditions. 

“I think it’s completely wrong that we do not have access to the emergency preparedness procedures and plans from Trans Mountain on what they would do and what their planning is for if a fire were to occur inside their facilities and also inside the tank farm, or if a wildfire was to encroach from outside of these facilities,” Wilkinson said. “This is something that we really need to understand as a community up here on the mountain, and the wider public also needs this information so that we can better prepare everyone.” 

Other speakers included physicians who spoke about the health effects of fossil fuel fires and leaks, repeating some of the same information mentioned during the protest at City Hall in January 2024. 

After the first speakers concluded their talks, city councillors stood up and took questions from attendees. However, their responses did not provide much clarity on the agreement Burnaby signed with Trans Mountain and how that will affect the city’s processes. 

“The reality is that there are experts who are working on this, but as people have mentioned, it’s a huge-scale operation. The number of people that are required, the number of jurisdictions that are involved, any situation that happens at Trans Mountain will immediately become a provincial emergency because of the scale of responses required,” said Coun. Gu. “The City of Burnaby cannot do this alone. Every single jurisdiction of fire responders will be coming to the city of Burnaby to assist.” 

Mostly, the councillors repeated their personal opposition to the projects, saying the city’s fire chief had informed them of some new safety measures such as new sprinkler systems and the new fire halls 4 and 8. 

“I can certainly speak for myself and I’m sure the folks here, our opposition to the Trans Mountain Pipeline has not changed. It has not changed. We remain committed to being as vocal as we can be to highlight the deficiencies and the need for action,” said Coun. Santiago. “We’re absolutely committed to working with all of you. So it’s great to see our local MLA Reah Arora here, as well as a representative from the federal government through the office of Terry Beech.”

Trans Mountain’s response

Following the town hall on Mar. 17, the Beacon contacted Trans Mountain’s media team and requested an interview. Trans Mountain declined any interviews but agreed to answer questions via email. 

This is the statement Trans Mountain sent in response to the Beacon’s questions regarding emergency plans, why no representatives from the company attended the town hall, and what the agreement with the City of Burnaby means for safety and communications. 

“Though Trans Mountain did not have a representative available to attend the meeting, we remain committed to providing accurate and transparent information about our operations, including emergency preparedness.

Safety is one of our top priorities. Our Emergency Management Program (EMP) is a comprehensive framework designed to protect the public, workers, company assets and the environment. The EMP follows an all-hazards approach, focusing on mitigation, preparedness and response, with a continuous cycle of improvement as mandated by the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) Onshore Pipeline Regulations.

Trans Mountain’s emergency response plans are reviewed and filed with the CER, who also conducts regular inspections and audits of our facilities to ensure compliance with the highest safety and environmental standards. These plans underwent extensive consultation from 2014 through 2024 and are continually reviewed with stakeholder input, as required by the CER. Any incidents or non-compliance findings are also publicly reported.

We are committed to ongoing engagement with communities, including Indigenous communities along our corridor. Trans Mountain regularly engages with residents, community groups, and stakeholders through various channels. Anyone with questions can contact [email protected] and our team will respond.”

This piece was made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.

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