VANCOUVER — Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson didn’t surprise anyone Sunday by repeating his opposition to the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, but he challenged the Non-Partisan Association and its mayoral hopeful, Kirk LaPointe, to address the issue.

“The proposal to add as much as 340 oil tankers a year to our waters is a direct threat to our environment and our economy,” Robertson said at a press conference that used Coal Harbour as a scenic backdrop to unveil Vision’s “green” platform.

Robertson said there is “far too great a risk” in Kinder Morgan’s plan to upgrade its pipeline in order to export more Alberta bitumen from the oilsands.

“Our opponents in the election don’t think it’s an issue,” said Robertson, who was directing his comments at the NPA. “They say it’s none of the city’s business.”

No matter how much the city’s tourism business and its reputation would be fouled by an oil spill, Robertson conceded the city doesn’t have any real control over what happens with the Kinder Morgan proposal.

“Ultimately, the decision is a federal decision,” he acknowledged.

“As a city, we need to take a clear stand and ensure that our citizens’ interests and the risks to our economy and environment are clearly represented.”

LaPointe issued a statement Sunday afternoon supporting the protection of Burrard Inlet and the B.C. coast, but he didn’t come out for or against the Kinder Morgan plan.

He explained that an NPA government would participate in the National Energy Board process through intervener status, which the current Vision council has been granted.

“The NEB process is in place to review projects such as Kinder Morgan’s,” said LaPointe.

“Gregor Robertson has rejected it out of hand, yet it has barely begun. That’s typical of his refusal to listen to viewpoints that differ from his own.

“Any approved activity must provide strong protection for Vancouver’s environment,” said LaPointe.

The Green Party of Vancouver and COPE both oppose the Kinder Morgan project.

Adriane Carr, who is trying to hang on to her council seat for the Greens, said she pushed for opposition to Kinder Morgan to be addressed at the council level rather than at the Vancouver park board — where it was first going to be broached.

“When I put a motion forward to have a plebiscite, because I think that’s the strongest way a local government can express through its citizens opposition to a project being pushed by the federal government, Vision said ‘No’,” said Carr. “I think that’s shocking.”

While the Kinder Morgan issue took centre stage at Robertson’s event Sunday, Vision’s entire green platform was unveiled.

Other items include the continued push for a subway under central Broadway and the need for better transit, such as more B-Line service for 41st Avenue and more night buses.

Also part of Vision’s goal of becoming the world’s greenest city is planting 150,000 new trees by 2020 and adding another 1,500 community garden plots by the end of 2018.

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