Trudeau’s approval of project some find analogous to Standing Rock incited thousands of activists, politicians and First Nations members to increase action

Opponents of a contentious Canadian pipeline project are preparing for a lengthy, multifaceted battle that will see thousands take to the country’s streets, courts and legislatures to contest the government’s recent approval of the project.

Prime minister Justin Trudeau announced on Tuesday that the Liberal government had cleared the way for Kinder Morgan’s C$6.8bn Trans Mountain Expansion project. Designed to transport Alberta’s landlocked bitumen to international markets via Vancouver’s harbour, the project will expand an existing pipeline to nearly triple capacity on the artery to 890,000 barrels a day.

But the decision will run into a roar of opposition, said grand chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs. “The marches and rallies will intensify. It will become more litigious, it will become more political and the battle will continue.”

More than 14,000 people have so far signed onto his organisation’s pledge to halt the project, driven by concerns over environmental risks, First Nations rights and the fight against climate change.

Other actions are also being planned, from a public interest group that has signed up hundreds of volunteers to canvass signatures for citizen-drafted legislation to block the pipeline to a group that is working to train its members on how best to physically block construction.

“Let’s be clear,” said Caitlyn Vernon of the Sierra Club of British Columbia. “Prime minister Trudeau has picked a fight with British Columbians by approving Kinder Morgan – and it starts now. The Kinder Morgan pipeline will not be built. Not on our watch.”

Trudeau said the approval of the project was the best option for all Canadians. “This is a decision based on rigorous debate, on science and evidence. We have not been and will not be swayed by political argument, be they local, or regional or national,” he said. “We have made this decision because we are convinced it is safe for BC, and it is the right one for Canada.”

The announcement was welcomed by the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade and the province’s Chamber of Commerce who called it a “big economic win for BC and for Canada”. Texas-based energy infrastructure company Kinder Morgan said in a statement that it was excited to move forward with the project. Construction is expected to begin in 2017 and the pipeline could be in service by late 2019.

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But the government’s approval was swiftly condemned by many others – some of who suggested that the Canadian project could see its own version of the Standing Rock protests that have gripped North Dakota.

“In the event that this gets to a place where Kinder Morgan is attempting to do work on the ground, there will be actions on the front line, there’s no question about that,” Phillip said. “I, along with a lot of other people, are prepared to be arrested again and again in our efforts to stop this.”

Some two years ago, as Kinder Morgan crews began carrying out survey work for the proposed expansion, the grand chief was among the more than 100 people arrested during a days-long protest. A well-respected First Nation elder and a group of retired seniors from number of churches were also among those detained, he said. “This is not just an indigenous issue, it’s not a radical environmentalist issue. It’s an issue that is of enormous concern to all British Columbians from all walks of life.”

Elizabeth May, leader of Canada’s Green party, said she was also prepared to go to jail to halt the pipeline project. “And I think I’m not the only one,” she told reporters. “I think I’ll be sharing a cell with the mayor of Vancouver, the mayor of Victoria, the mayor of Burnaby [and] First Nations leaders.”

Since the government announced its decision, the team at West Coast Environmental Law has fielded a steady stream of phone calls from First Nations groups curious about the possibility of legally challenging the project. Of the 120 aboriginal groups consulted by Kinder Morgan, just 39 have written letters of support for the project.

The Kinder Morgan project is already facing seven legal challenges, said Jessica Clogg of the organisation, with more expected in the coming weeks. “We’re also quite likely to see further legal proceedings from local governments, for example the city of Burnaby or the city of Vancouver.”

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Many of the project’s opponents are taking inspiration from Enbridge Inc’s Northern Gateway oil pipeline project. Despite being approved by the previous Conservative government in 2014, the proposed northern BC pipeline was the target of 18 court cases. In June a Canadian court overturned the approval of the project after finding the government had failed in its duty to consult with indigenous peoples.

On Tuesday the Trudeau government said the Northern Gateway project would not be moving forward, offering what Clogg described as a demonstration that “lawsuits, steadfast community opposition and indigenous law-based strategies can stop a pipeline”.

For those opposing Kinder Morgan, she said, the lesson to be gleaned from the decade-long battle against the Northern Gateway project was clear. “This is very much not over.”