Enbridge wants to build a $5.5-billion pipeline to carry an estimated 525,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Alberta to Kitimat, B.C., where it could then be shipped by ocean tankers to ports around the world.
But First Nations, environmental groups and communities across northern B.C. have lined up in opposition and now some are trying to spread the message to other parts of the country.
"We want to make sure that fellow Canadians in the rest of the country really understand, beyond all of the talking heads on the political shows, what the people who are actually from the region think about it, what are they saying, what their contribution to the national conversation is," said Josh Paterson, a staff lawyer at West Coast Environmental Law.
"People in B.C. want to bring this message to people in the rest of Canada because we've been hearing a lot of stuff out of the federal government and we want to really push that back and tell our side of the story and make sure that people know how we feel," he said.
Paterson's group is co-hosting Monday's event with Environmental Defence. The discussion will be held at St. Joseph's Parish (174 Wilbrod St.) starting at 7 p.m.
Joining the Vancouver-based activist is Chief Jackie Thomas of the Saik'uz First Nation (located near Prince George, B.C.), Arnie Nagy, representing commercial fishing interests, and Michael Uehara, the president of an exclusive coastal resort located near where ocean tankers would potentially travel.
Thomas also represents the Yinka Dene Alliance, a group of five First Nations whose combined territory makes up a quarter of the pipeline's proposed 1,117-kilometre route.
"I think it's really important for those voices to be heard," Paterson said.
He outlined two main concerns about the pipeline.
First, it would bring crude oil tankers to the rough and often unpredictable waters off B.C.'s North Coast, an idea Paterson said polls have shown as many as 80 per cent of B.C. residents oppose.
"No matter what technological measures might be put in place, there is no way to eliminate the risk of a tanker oil spill and that scares everybody," he said.
And second, the proposed route crosses many fish-bearing rivers and streams that could be threatened if the pipeline ever sprang a leak, as an Enbridge-owned pipeline did in July 2010 when 819,000 gallons of oil spilled into a creek that drained into Michigan's Kalamazoo River.
Enbridge says the pipeline's possible economic spinoffs are significant, and estimates total local, provincial and federal government tax revenues during 30 years of operation will surpass $2.5 billion.
The company says the pipeline will create lots of jobs in B.C. and Alberta during the construction phase and about 1,150 long-term jobs.
Paterson said the boost in jobs wouldn't offset the current jobs in the fisheries and tourism sectors that stand to be threatened if the pipeline, which is currently under regulatory review, is ever approved.
Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: Matthew Pearson
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