Notley’s position on pipeline is arrogant

Re: “Who is the hostage in pipeline issue?” comment, May 18. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley’s view that B.C. has to accept what Alberta wants and has been agreed to by the federal government shows lack of recognition of the project’s problems by Alberta, as well as arrogance.

She is reported as being concerned about the B.C. coast and recognizing that it deserves protection, yet proposes that we accept the transport of bitumen by tanker when neither study nor experience has shown that bitumen can be recovered in a marine environment.

Alberta had the opportunity to protect the coast by requiring that any exports from the coast be upgraded from bitumen. It chose not to require this of the oil industry.

Our federal government tried to gain acceptance of Alberta’s wishes by allocating more money to spill recovery on the coast, a cynical move when it knows that bitumen cannot be recovered.

So B.C. is where it does not want to be, being pressured by Alberta to accept a proposal that makes no sense to anyone familiar with our marine environment, coupled with the threat of federal intervention to support Alberta. Is it surprising that so many are opposed to the proposal?

If this project had been approached in a realistic manner by Alberta and Kinder Morgan, there would have been a rethink after the lessons from the Enbridge bitumen spill into the Kalamazoo River had been recognized. Every party pushing the project is leaving B.C. to carry all the risk. It is little wonder that opposition is still active in B.C. Ken Farquharson Metchosin