As Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) begins hearing testimony on the controversial Kinder Morgan tar sands pipeline expansion project in British Columbia, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under fire from environmentalists and First Nations activists who say he’s breaking an election promise to fix what they call a broken pipeline approval process.

“We’re here to change the fundamentally flawed NEB process,” said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs at a protest—one of several taking place around the country this week—on Tuesday. “The outstanding question of today is, Prime Minister Trudeau, where are you?”

“Every day these hearings proceed, more damage is done.”
—Kai Nagata, Dogwood Initiative

Kinder Morgan Canada is seeking NEB approval to increase the capacity of its Trans Mountain Pipeline to 890,000 barrels a day from 300,000. According to the Vancouver Sun on Wednesday, the expansion could increase the number of tanker trips through the region from about 70 per year to more than 400, raising the prospect of major spills, as well as other social, economic, and environmental impacts.

Campaigners say the NEB approval process doesn’t sufficiently take into account any such individual and cumulative impacts, resultant greenhouse gas emissions, or First Nations rights and traditions. What’s more, they charge that the NEB—packed with fossil fuels executives appointed by former Prime Minister Stephen Harper—makes no effort to meaningfully involve members of the public.

“Public faith in the NEB is at an all time low,” said Karen Campbell, a lawyer at the Canadian legal charity Ecojustice, on Wednesday.

Explaining why he would not give his scheduled testimony, Lower Nicola Indian Band Chief Aaron Sam told Indian Country Today Media Network: “The National Energy Board process does not take our considerations seriously. It does not take into consideration the rights of Indigenous people. It doesn’t take into serious consideration taking care of the environment, our salmon, our animals, our water, and we’re not going to take part in a process that has a predetermined outcome.”

As the National Observer reports, “Under its ‘real change’ election campaign in 2015, the Liberal Party promised to ‘make environmental assessments credible again’ with an overhaul of the NEB. The government has yet to make an announcement however, on how the process will change, despite large pipeline projects like the Trans Mountain expansion currently under review.”