ALTA.-B.C. PIPELINE APPROVED
Groups vow to fight it
“THE GOVERNMENT ACCEPTS THE ... RECOMMENDATION.”
GREG RICKFORD “THE NORTHERN
GATEWAY PIPELINE WILL NOT HAPPEN.”
JUSTIN TRUDEAU “WE’RE TALKING ABOUT A SEVERE
THREAT TO SOCIAL ORDER ...”
TOM MULCAIR
The political battle over the Northern Gateway oilsands pipeline is expected to accelerate sharply as First Nations, environmental groups and politicians of various stripes vow to fight the massive project following its approval Tuesday by the federal government.
The NDP and Liberal leaders insisted the pipeline won’t proceed if either wins the 2015 federal election.
The Conservative government OK’d the pipeline, but subject to 209 conditions imposed by the National Energy Board joint review panel, which green-lighted the proposal last December.
In granting its conditional support, Stephen Harper’s government said pipeline company Enbridge must demonstrate how it can meet all 209 points, and said the company “clearly has more work to do” to consult with aboriginals and communities worried about the project.
“After carefully reviewing the report, the government accepts the independent panel’s recommendation to impose 209 conditions” on the project, Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford said in a written statement.
It was the only official federal comment Tuesday.
“Moving forward, the proponent must demonstrate to the independent regulator, the NEB, how it will meet the 209 conditions,” Rickford’s statement said.
The 1,178-kilometre Northern Gateway pipeline is meant to transport up to 525,000 barrels of oil a day from Bruderheim, Alta., northeast of Edmonton, to the deepwater port of Kitimat in northwestern B.C., where the oilsands product would be loaded onto supertankers and shipped to new Pacific Rim markets.
A second, smaller eastbound pipeline would carry 193,000 barrels of condensate per day from Kitimat to Bruderheim. Condensate is used to thin oil for pipeline transport.
As part of its decision, the federal Conservative cabinet had to determine whether the project was likely “to cause significant adverse environmental effects” and, if so, whether those effects were “justified in the circumstances.”
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau assailed the Conservatives for approving a project that has been rejected by many British Columbians, and vowed that if either becomes prime minister in 2015, the pipeline won’t go forward.
“We’re talking about a severe threat to social order, social peace, not only in British Columbia but across Canada, if Mr. Harper continues to ignore science, continues to ignore First Nations, continues to ignore communities,” Mulcair said.
“None of this is going to be built before the 2015 election and we will set this decision aside,” he added. “It’s going to be a big ballot-box issue in British Columbia.”
Trudeau said the pipeline threatens the B.C. coastal economy and the jobs of thousands who live along the shore.
“If I win the honour of serving as prime minister, the Northern Gateway pipeline will not happen,” Trudeau said. “This current government has been nothing but a cheerleader for this pipeline from the very beginning, when Canadians needed a referee.”
The political stakes are enormous, especially for the federal Conservatives. The Tories hold 21 federal seats in British Columbia, the NDP 12 seats, the Liberals two and the Green party one seat — with redrawn ridings and six new seats in B.C. for the 2015 federal election.
The National Energy Board panel, in its December approval, said the project is in the public interest and that its “construction and routine operation … would cause no significant adverse environmental effects.”
With the government’s approval, the energy board now is required to issue the “certificates of public convenience and necessity” that are required for Enbridge to build and operate the pipeline.
But Enbridge must also seek approval from the energy board for the detailed pipeline route and final right of way. If objections are filed within 30 days, the board must hold public hearings on the route in the affected areas.
It’s expected construction of the twin pipeline could start by next year and that it would be in operation by late 2018 at the earliest, but more likely 2019.
Enbridge estimates the pipeline will cost $6.5 billion, while the NEB says the entire project — including the marine terminal — will cost $7.9 billion.
The project, more than a decade in the making, has become a magnet for criticism of the Alberta oilsands and the federal Conservative government’s resource development policies.
First Nations, environmental groups and concerned citizens are worried about the potential for oil spills fouling land and coastal waters, as well as the possibility the project could expand oilsands development and increase greenhouse gas emissions.
The Conservative government has argued it’s a national priority for Canada to boost pipeline capacity, including to the West Coast, to get landlocked oilsands crude to tidewater and expand the country’s energy export markets.
Shipping Canadian oil to new customers has become even more of a priority for the federal government given the Obama administration’s delays in making a decision on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oilsands crude from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
A number of potential legal challenges and other obstacles remain in the way of the Northern Gateway pipeline being built.
Kitimat residents recently voted against the pipeline in a non-binding plebiscite. Several aboriginal groups living near the pipeline route and shipping path are vowing to fight it in court or physically block its construction.