Saturday’s anti-Kinder Morgan pipeline rally and march wasn’t the biggest of the past year or two, but it was important because it kicked off the unofficial protest season as the company prepares to begin construction of the 610-mile project that will ship 590,000 barrels per day (Mbbl/d) of Alberta oil sands crude from Edmonton to the West Coast. As the Canadian government reaffirms its support for Trans Mountain Expansion, massive political protest appears the only strategy left for opponents.

The gathering of eco-activists at the Vancouver Art Gallery attracted about 1,200 people, according to Thomas Davies, spokesperson for Climate Convergence Metro Vancouver, a network of indigenous groups and climate change activists. The group had expected between 3,000 and 5,000 based upon Facebook registrations.

“We had a lot of different people from a lot of different communities, really energetic, led by indigenous leaders from many of the communities opposing the pipeline,” he said in an interview. “Our message was very simple: Kinder Morgan we still say no.”

The problem for opponents is Kinder Morgan is saying “yes” and has indicated it fully intends to start construction this month, as scheduled.

“The Trans Mountain Expansion Project is in an ongoing process to meet the conditions required by the NEB to begin construction,” spokesperson Ali Hounsell said in an email. “This process will continue in-step with our activities into the future, keeping in mind that the construction of the Project is phased and condition compliance will be ongoing as construction is underway.”

Davies says opponents will apply lessons learned from last fall’s Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota. The Sioux tribe attracted over 5,000 activists—including Davis and many British Columbia First Nations leaders, who forged formal links with a network of Native American activists who pledged to help defeat Kinder Morgan—who formed a “protest camp” that was financed by $1.5 million a day crowdfunded from donors around the world.

“One of our main chants today was, ‘from Standing Rock to BC, keep the land pipeline-free,’” Davies said. “A lot of indigenous people are saying the Kinder Morgan fight is the same as Standing Rock. There’s a lot to learn from Standing Rock, but I think we can improve upon the legacy of Standing Rock.”

One of those strategy improvements is to have many smaller resistance operations rather than one large one. For instance, the Tiny House Warriors project is building 10 small homes directly in the path of the pipeline route near Kamloops in the interior of B.C. that will be occupied by indigenous activists. Kanahus Manuel, an activist from the Secwepemc peoples who also participated in Standing Rock, sees the home construction as a means of asserting indigenous title and jurisdiction. “We collectively hold title and governance regarding Secwepemcul’ecw and the collective consent of the Secwepemc is required for any access to our lands, waters and resources,” she told CBC.

Indigenous opposition could be a problem for Kinder Morgan on two fronts. First, almost all of B.C. is unceded, meaning First Nations never signed treaties with the Canadian government as they did in other provinces. Legal challenges over the past several decades have been slowly strengthening indigenous control over “traditional territories” (much of the Trans Mountain Expansion route passes over this type of land). And indigenous peoples have been leading the legal fight against the project.

Second, the Canadian government has recently reaffirmed its support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and indicated it will integrate those principles into future pipeline reviews by the National Energy Board. Running roughshod over First Nations opposed to Kinder Morgan could be a political embarrassment for the Justin Trudeau Liberals.

Davies says indigenous peoples will be front and center at the many protests planned in Metro Vancouver. For instance, banks financing the $7.4 billion Trans Mountain Expansion are being targeted by activists.

Quebec-based Desjardins Group, the largest network of credit unions in North America, which has lent Kinder Morgan $145 million, bowed to pressure in July and announced it would no longer fund Canadian pipeline projects. Climate Convergence hopes to persuade TD Bank, which led Trans Mountain Expansion’s $1.75 billion IPO in May, to do the same.

“On Sept. 29 we’re going to be at the TD Bank at the foot of Burnaby Mountain by Kinder Morgan’s tank farm. We’ve been demonstrating in front of TD banks once a month,” Davies said. “TD Bank needs to be held accountable.”

Davies expects that once Kinder Morgan puts shovels in the ground in a few weeks, opposition in B.C. will increase significantly. His group is urging people to sign the Coast Protectors’ Pledge, which promises non-violent civil disobedience to Trans Mountain Expansion.

But Canadian Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr was in Vancouver just last week emphasizing the safety of pipelines for moving oil to market; last year Carr caused controversy by saying he might call in the Canadian military if Kinder Morgan protesters break the law.

Thus far, the two sides in this controversy—Canada and Kinder Morgan vs. indigenous peoples, activists, the B.C. government, and local opponents—are not giving an inch.

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