Parties carefully carve out pipeline positions in B.C.
Candidates navigating tricky ground amid deep divisions among voters
Proposed oil pipelines from the Alberta oilsands — and the hundreds of yearly tanker trips they would generate on the coast — have been a hot-button issue in British Columbia for years.
Even though Enbridge’s $7.9-billion Northern Gateway project was given conditional approval by Stephen Harper’s Conservative government 14 months ago, it has not proceeded because of opposition from First Nations, environmentalists and some northern B.C. municipalities including Kitimat, the pipeline’s terminus.
Kinder Morgan’s $5.4-billion Trans Mountain expansion has faced similar opposition, including from the cities of Vancouver and Burnaby, and the Tsleil-Waututh Nation.
A review led by the National Energy Board of the project has been delayed because a consultant who prepared evidence in favour of the pipeline has since been appointed to work for the regulator.
Dozens of groups — including the Wilderness Committee and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society — have dropped out of the Kinder Morgan review, charging the process is “biased” and “unfair.”
Both projects face several lawsuits.
It is no surprise then that federal political parties are carving out positions on the contentious developments.
They are navigating tricky ground, as voters will be thinking about both jobs and the environment as they decide how to cast their vote Oct. 19.
Years of polling data shows B.C. residents about equally split in their support or disapproval of such projects.
A Mainstreet-Postmedia poll released Sept. 17 echoes this: 46 per cent approved of the Kinder Morgan project, while 43 per cent disapproved.
There were similar results for Northern Gateway — 45 per cent for and 45 per cent against.
B.C. NDP leader Adrian Dix’s experience in the 2013 B.C. election also provides ample reason for the federal parties to consider a cautious approach.
Dix’s flip-flop during the campaign — where he came out against the Kinder Morgan project after saying he would wait for a review to be completed — is considered a key turning point in his loss. He was leading in the polls at the time, but was drummed by Christy Clark and her jobs-and-the-economy platform, which included a promise of a new natural gas export industry with terminals on the coast and pipelines from northeast B.C.
The federal NDP and Liberals have said no to Northern Gateway, and both have said they would create a reinvigorated federal review process, to turn back changes the Conservatives made to restrict access to public hearings, expedite those hearings and weaken environmental laws.
The Liberals have also promised to enact a moratorium on tanker traffic in northern B.C. waters.
But neither the NDP nor the Liberals have said they oppose the Kinder Morgan project.
“We cannot say no to everything. But we have to have a process that can give people comfort ... that the things they are concerned about — spills and increased shipping traffic — are effectively addressed,” says North Vancouver Liberal candidate Jonathan Wilkinson, who leads polls in his riding.
That will mean a revamped review process if the Liberals are elected, which Kinder Morgan will be subjected to, he said.
The Conservatives make no secret of their support for oil development and pipelines to the coast to access new markets in energy-hungry Asia. They argue they have strengthened the country’s marine spill response system with increased inspections, an incident command system used globally, and increased liability limits for spills.
But is the concern over pipelines and tanker traffic big enough to have an impact at the ballot box?
Pollster Mario Canseco believes it may be a key issue in swing ridings where the pipeline traverses a community such as Burnaby or in coastal communities where the possibility of an oil spill is a risk.
“On the coast ... when we ask people open ended, ‘ What is your No. 1 concern or No. 1 issue in this election,’ there’s a significant number of residents who are mentioning pipelines and tanker traffic,” said Canseco, vice-president of public affairs for Insights West.
In northern B. C., Enbridge’s pipeline has been a big concern, but it might not be enough to topple the parties that hold those seats.
That’s because in the past decade, the Cariboo-Prince George and Prince George-Peace RiverNorthern Rockies ridings have been dominated by the Tories, while the riding of Skeena-Bulkley Valley, which includes the northwest coast, has been won handily by the NDP under Nathan Cullen. University of Northern B.C. political scientist Gary Wilson said he sees little likelihood of a party change for the northern ridings.
“You have the people who come out and protest (about the pipelines), and that’s in the media and the news. And you think, ‘Oh wow, the North is up in arms about this,’ but there is this kind of silent majority,” he observed.
That is also born out by the Mainstreet-Postmedia poll, which shows greater approval outside Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island for Northern Gateway (52 per cent, to 39 per cent disapproval) and Kinder Morgan (53 per cent, to 36 per cent).
The poll also showed greater support outside of southern B.C. for the Conservatives.
Wilson said pipelines would likely be a big issue for First Nations. The national Assembly of First Nations is spearheading a push to get aboriginal people to vote in 51 ridings across Canada with high native populations where they believe their vote can make a difference.