BC Greens do not support the Enbridge Pipeline under any conditions
The BC Liberals laid out conditions their government will impose before heavy oil pipelines are approved. The five conditions sounded like tacit approval for the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline. The BC Conservatives support the pipeline under similar conditions. The BC NDP is opposed to the pipeline and are consulting lawyers to see if the project can be stopped if approved by the Joint Review Panel.
“BC Greens oppose the Northern Gateway project,” says Leader Jane Sterk. “The pipeline and the accompanying tanker traffic along BC’s wild and fragile coast cannot be justified under any circumstance.
“Our position is grounded in the need to transition off fossil fuels, not enable unsustainable expansion. There is no condition under which we see a benefit to BC.
“Enbridge does not have the required social license to operate in BC. Their record of spills on existing pipelines, their inability to respond when spills occur and the inadequacy of clean up efforts should eliminate them from any consideration.
“Greens believe in decentralized decision-making whereby local rather than provincial or federal support would determine the approval of resource development. Approval would be grounded in cumulative impacts. The prime benefits of the projects need to accrue to local communities and the surrounding region.
“A BC Green government would say no to the Northern Gateway Pipeline. We stand with the overwhelming majority of presenters to the Joint Review Panel who are saying no at each of the community hearings. We stand with the majority of British Columbians who reject this project for precautionary reasons.
“As Terry Lake indicated, BC’s opportunity to say no comes with the need to issue permits for hundreds of land crossings. Most British Columbians believe BC and its citizens have a right to determine what happens in the province. The permitting process represents that right.
“BC Greens remain hopeful that the Joint Review Panel will reject the Northern Gateway Pipeline. But if it approves the project, or if the Harper Conservatives override a no by the National Energy Board, BC Greens would protect British Columbians right to say an unequivocal no,” concludes Sterk.
B.C., Alberta premiers clash over Gateway pipeline revenue
The fight between the premiers of B.C. and Alberta over how to divide the revenues from Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline is quickly heating even before the $5.5 billion project has approval to go ahead.
B.C. Premier Christy Clark told CBC Radio on Tuesday morning that the province will only approve the project if it gets its fair share of the revenue from the proposed crude oil pipeline, in order to compensate the province for taking on the majority of the environmental risk.
"Alberta's interests in this are pretty obvious. Alberta gets the large bulk of the benefits, takes very little of the risk. B.C. takes most of the risk and we get very few of the benefits. So I think it's pretty obvious that we have some talking to do here," said Clark.
But Alberta Premier Alison Redford said Clark is simply pitting one province against another, rather than doing what is best for Canada as a whole.
B.C. Premier Christy Clark says B.C. needs a greater share of the revenue from the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline. (CBC)
"We will not share royalties and I see nothing else proposed and would not be prepared to consider anything else at this time," Redford said in Edmonton on Tuesday morning.
"It's not how Canada has worked. It's not how Canada has succeeded, and I'm disappointed to hear the comments."
Redford said she was not interested in cutting a deal with B.C. and suggested the province would have to look to the federal government for a transfer payment if it wanted a larger share of the pipeline revenue.
Alberta Premier Alison Redford has dismissed B.C.'s demands for a greater share of revenue from the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline. (CBC)"We have in our provinces the right to income from resources. We have Confederation, which allows for people in each province to benefit from the resources they have to retain jurisdiction over those resources, and then to be part of federal system that allows for transfer payments," said Redford.
"Leadership is not about dividing Canadians and pitting one province against another. Leadership is about working together. That’s when our country benefits, that’s when Canada leads," Redford also said in statement issued on Monday.
'Troubling precedent,' says Saskatchewan premier.Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall echoed Redford's concerns, saying cutting B.C. a share of the royalties would set a "troubling precedent," especially for landlocked provinces that have no ports to get their exports to foreign markets.
"This is the thin edge of a very big wedge," Wall told CBC News Network's Power and Politics on Tuesday.
"You can't just say look we only want to do this in the case of bitumen. What about the rail transport of other minerals? Or perhaps ... potentially dangerous chemicals that are manufactured in other parts of Canada and shipped across?"
The three premiers are expected to meet in Halifax this week, but Alberta's strong reaction to B.C.'s proposal on Monday could lead to some tension in the room when the premiers begin their talks on Thursday.
Redford was hoping to use this week's meeting of the Council of the Federation in Halifax to garner widespread support for her proposed national energy strategy. She talked up the idea with other western premiers at their meeting in late May, but Clark did not attend that gathering.
Enbridge spokesman Todd Nogier called the debate over revenue an "opportunity," but said the existing deal would already give B.C. tangible benefits.
"The tax revenue that would flow to the B.C. government would be $1.2 billion over the course of 30 years. There will be about 560 to 600 full-time jobs, good-paying full-time permanent positions," said Nogier
Under the current terms, B.C. Environment Minister Terry Lake said Monday that British Columbia would get only eight per cent of the pipeline revenue while assuming 100 per cent of the marine risk for the port terminal and tanker traffic on the West Coast, and 58 per cent of the land-based risk for the pipeline.
HALIFAX British Columbia Premier Christy Clark said Friday that she couldn’t sign onto a national energy strategy before resolving a dispute over the Northern Gateway pipeline.
Clark stepped out of meetings at the Council of the Federation in Halifax to make the announcement as premiers worked to cobble together a pan-Canadian strategy on energy.
She said she wouldn’t endorse a deal before discussions take place with Ottawa and Alberta over how B.C. would be compensated for allowing the $5.5-billion pipeline to transit through the province.
“British Columbia will not be participating in any of those discussions until after we’ve seen some progress that our requirements for the shipment of heavy oil will be met,” she told a hastily called news conference.
It’s not a national energy strategy if B.C. hasn‘t signed
Clark said she and Alberta Premier Alison Redford had a “very frank discussion” about it Friday morning, but didn’t reveal details or if they planned on holding further talks on the matter.
Clark has said she decided to ask for an unspecified share of royalties and revenues after doing analysis on the pipeline, which will move bitumen from Alberta to the B.C. coast for shipment to Asia.
Her government has released five conditions she says need to be met before she can move forward with plans for the pipeline. In addition to the demand for a greater portion of the economic benefits, they include the completion of an environmental review now underway, assurances that the “best” responses will be available for potential spills on land and at sea and recognition of aboriginal rights on the land.
Clark repeated her claim that the province bears too much risk from oil spills at sea or on land, while receiving only eight per cent in tax benefits.
She added another wrinkle to the feud when she called on Ottawa on Wednesday to sit down with her and Redford to hash out the issue. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird weighed in on the dispute, questioning Clark’s stance and reiterating the federal government’s support for the project.
Redford has flatly dismissed Clark’s position as one that would “fundamentally change Confederation” because it would mean new negotiations for projects throughout the country.
According to research in an application filed by Enbridge (TSX:ENB), 8.2 per cent of the Northern Gateway’s projected $81 billion tax revenue would flow to B.C. over a 30-year period. That equates to $6.7 billion for B.C., while Ottawa is expected to receive $36 billion and Alberta would earn $32 billion.
Saskatchewan is expected to top the remainder of the provinces in terms of tax benefit, receiving about $4 billion. Enbridge’s proposed 1,177-kilometre twin line would carry heavy oil from Alberta across a vast swath of pristine B.C. wilderness and First Nations territory to a port at Kitimat, B.C., for shipment to Asia.
Last week, the company announced it will shore up another $500 million in safety improvements
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