To the editor;
Sierra Club BC released the following statement from Campaigns Director Caitlyn Vernon in response to the federal government’s decision to approve the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline and tankers project, with the Joint Review Panel’s 209 conditions:
This decision is a slap in the face to every British Columbian who cares about our food, our livelihoods and our future.
But ultimately, it changes nothing: the Enbridge pipeline will not get built.
The federal government has set itself on a collision course with the wall of opposition to the Enbridge pipeline and tankers project. British Columbians from all walks of life—including B.C.’s municipalities, First Nations, unions, businesses, and the provincial government—who care deeply about the communities and the province in which they live, have said no to Enbridge in no uncertain terms.
If the federal government did not have its head so firmly stuck in the tar sands, it would see the economic opportunities in green jobs and renewable energy—that’s the kind of future British Columbians want, not accelerated climate change and toxic jobs in oil spill response.
Perhaps if Prime Minister Harper lived in Hartley Bay or Terrace, and it was his home at risk, he would have made a different decision.
Perhaps if he made his living from fishing or from tourism here in B.C, he would understand what is at risk for British Columbians.
Today’s decision confirms the federal government is much more interested in representing the interests of oil corporations than the interests of ordinary British Columbians.
However long it takes for the federal government to understand that no means no, the people of British Columbia are not willing to accept any other outcome. There is no social license for Enbridge in this province.
Of the 10,559 written and spoken public comments to the Joint Review Panel, 97.7 per cent said no.
First Nations have formally banned pipelines and tankers from their territories. Ongoing legal challenges call into question the credibility and legitimacy of the federal review process.
Premier Clark has rejected the Enbridge pipeline, and has set five conditions for its approval that simply cannot be met.
Sierra Club BC is calling on Premier Clark to stand firm against the Enbridge proposal: to stand up for B.C. and use every means at her disposal to stop the Enbridge pipeline and tankers from proceeding.
Sierra Club BC