Burnaby RCMP carry away a protester from the Kinder Morgan site. Photograph By Jennifer Gauthier
A majority of Canadians might not agree with the people protesting the expansion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline but that doesn’t mean they think the protesters should be condemned.
That was one of the findings of a second Angus Reid poll about an issue that has dominated headlines in British Columbia.
The poll found that six in 10 Canadians think the protests are not representative of the mainstream. However, only 46 per cent wanted Premier John Horgan to speak out against them.
Most people — 58 per cent compared to 20 per cent — think that Kinder Morgan could have done a better job in earning public support. They say that the company’s current troubles are self-inflicted. This view is held by 56 per cent of people who support the expansion and 70 per cent of people who are against it.
Although the pipeline runs from Alberta to B.C., more than half of Canadians say they are paying close attention to the issue, the poll says. Only in Quebec does that level of interest fall below the 50 per cent mark.
The first part of the poll, revealed last week, showed that in spite of the protests, support for the TransMountain pipeline is growing.
In February, 48 per cent of B.C. residents supported the pipeline and 40 per cent were opposed. By mid-April, Angus Reid says, the level of support grew to 54 per cent while those opposed dropped to 38 per cent.
