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In Burnaby, thousands warned the Trans Mountain expansion would destroy the environment. In Vancouver, hundreds said blocking the pipeline would destroy the economy.

More than 5,000 people gathered at the Lake City Way SkyTrain station in Burnaby on Saturday morning, where First Nations leaders spoke before elders from across Canada led the march up Burnaby Mountain.

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‘‘Our spiritual leaders today are going to claim back Burnaby Mountain,’’ Reuben George, of the North Shore’s Tsleil-Waututh Nation said before the crowd marched to the steady beat of drums and chants in opposition of the project, which is set to increase the flow of oil products to 890,000 barrels up from 300,000 barrels a day.

“It’s going to take gatherings such as this … (to) make sure the environment is not laid to waste and taken away from future generations. This is what we stand for today,” George said through a megaphone. “Our spiritual leaders today are going to claim back Burnaby Mountain.”