Let’s go back to October 15, 1953 when The Vancouver Sun proudly declared that Trans Mountain Brings Oil to B.C.

In contrast to the sometimes over-the-top comments of the current mayor of Burnaby, then-reeve William Beamish told the Sun that “with oil and the gas that’s likely to come soon, the future of Burnaby will be bright.” Beamish was correct.

It was a historic achievement. The new pipeline brought Alberta oil to the west coast for the first time. Previously, local refineries relied on oil carried by ship from California to produce the gasoline and diesel fuel that people needed to move cars, busses and trucks around the region. The pipeline meant British Columbians could rely on their neighbours in Alberta to keep them moving.

Politicians of the day were more or less in agreement that construction of Trans Mountain pipeline was good for Canada and so, political parties and private capital worked together to make it a reality. The CCF, forerunner of the NDP, wanted the pipeline to be owned by the government of Canada but concurred with their political rivals that a pipeline delivering oil to the west coast was in everyone’s best interest.

How has Trans Mountain performed? It carries at least 80 per cent of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel needed today on the south coast of B.C., as well as crude oil for refining and export.

In over 60 years of operation there has only been one significant incident, when a backhoe working on contract for the city of Burnaby punctured the line in 2007. That’s a safety performance record you would expect to bolster the public’s confidence that Trans Mountain has high standards for maintaining the integrity of its pipeline and its role in marine transport of oil to offshore markets.

In addition to the economic growth and additional private-sector investments that Trans Mountain has induced in sectors such as transportation, manufacturing, finance and engineering, municipal governments have reaped large benefits.

Trans Mountain paid property taxes of $320 million to municipalities along its right of way from 1998-2014. I assume these municipal governments, including Burnaby, suffered no pangs of conscience when cashing Trans Mountain’s cheques. Municipal governments say they are cash-strapped. They regularly lobby the provincial and federal governments for money for major infrastructure such as public transit. Yet they fail to perceive the contradiction between pressuring senior governments for money and vowing to stop expansion of a pipeline that has a proven safety track record and would pay increased property taxes to their respective municipalities.

The world has changed in 60 years. Society is much more conscious of environmental issues than at any time in history. But you can’t turn on a dime. We’ve seen the introduction of a carbon tax in B.C., and its positive impact in reducing carbon emissions. With a new NDP government in Alberta, discussions have started, led by the oil industry, to look at carbon taxes in that province. So as a society we are making progress, not fast enough for some, but progress nonetheless.

We all have a responsibility to consider these issues in a personal way. Why is it so many commuters in Metro Vancouver continue to avoid using transit and are happiest when gas prices are low, and yet seem to be adamantly opposed to the expansion of a pipeline with a proven safety record? Why are elected representatives unreservedly condemning a company that has through taxation to all levels of government contributed so much to creating Canada as one of the more civil societies in the world? Major resource projects are never easy to adjudicate; there is plenty at stake but surely it demands of all of us, and in particular political leaders, a more sober and less inflammatory discussion.