Titanic clash looms over proposed Northern Gateway pipeline

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
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Only if you are not paying attention to what is going on in the country. For the right price all the native bands along the route will fall in line as well This protesting is just a negotiating ploy like a union going on strike.
Money talks. Bull$hit walks. Or in the case of the ecoterrorists takes a carbon fuel burning jet.

Jesus christ, tone down the ideological rhetoric man.
 

mentalfloss

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Enbridge CEO to retire

The company proposing to build the Northern Gateway oil pipeline to the West Coast from Alberta has announced its CEO will retire by the end of the year.

The company is expected to face a long and intense process of scrutiny during the public review leading to the decision on whether to approve its plans to build Northern Gateway, which would ship oilsands crude to a proposed tanker terminal in British Columbia.

Under Daniel's leadership since 2001, "Enbridge's share price has grown by 250 per cent and the average annual total shareholder return has been 15.8 per cent," chairman David Arledge said in a release.

"The market capitalization of the company has grown from $6.8 billion in January 2001 to $30.1 billion today. In 2011, Enbridge was the single largest point contributor on the Toronto Stock Exchange, delivering a total return to shareholders of nearly 40 per cent," Arledge said.

During the summer of 2010, Daniel spent months in southern Michigan following a pipeline rupture that spilled an estimated three million litres of crude oil into the Talmadge Creek and Kalamazoo River.

Friess called Enbridge's response to the spill a "stark contrast" to BP PLC's handling of the Macondo well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico a few months earlier, which was marked by a series of public relations blunders under the leadership of former CEO Tony Hayward.

"Although negative, it was really very well handled, I would say. I had never seen anything so transparently handled," said Friess. "He and [liquids pipeline president] Steve Wuori were in Michigan just doing public relations and making sure that everything was taken care of right on the ground. It was definitely not a hands-off exercise for them."

Northern Gateway is opposed by aboriginal groups, environmentalists and others concerned over what a spill on the pipeline, or from a tanker on the West Coast, could have on northern B.C. ecosystems.

Community hearings into the proposal are underway, with thousands of people registered to speak.

The Joint Review Panel had been expected make a recommendation to the federal cabinet on the pipeline by the end of 2012, but a decision is now expected a year later due to the sheer volume of comments it must hear.

"They've gotten the business behind them — which is kind of easy — but they've also gotten the government behind them, and I think ultimately that's what's going to allow this project to go forward," said Friess.

Enbridge CEO to retire
 

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
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Didn't the Feds indicate that a decision would be made on an expedited manner due to the unethical behaviour of the eco-lobbies?

I'm pretty sure that is what Harper stated.

I'm pretty sure that it's a little more complex than your assumptions on the matter.
 

captain morgan

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The feds make the rules as far as I know... But what what we do know as fact and are not assumptions is that the federal gvt believes that foreign-backed lobby groups are attempting to influence the proceedings.

I don't think that this hearing process will be the 'Titanic Clash' that you are hoping for.
 

mentalfloss

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The feds make the rules as far as I know... But what what we do know as fact and are not assumptions is that the federal gvt believes that foreign-backed lobby groups are attempting to influence the proceedings.

Why are you telling me things I already know? (and which you've stated in this thread already?)
 

captain morgan

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Because it's news.


Really?

 

B00Mer

Make Canada Great Again
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BC has been upgrading the old hwy #1 from Prince George so trucks can run from that northern port to Vancouver with container loads..

This is good for Canada, great for Alberta and BC..



Now if they could just get rolling on the Keystone Pipeline too.. Jobs for Texas.. Ya'll.

 

taxslave

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BC has been upgrading the old hwy #1 from Prince George so trucks can run from that northern port to Vancouver with container loads..

This is good for Canada, great for Alberta and BC..



Now if they could just get rolling on the Keystone Pipeline too.. Jobs for Texas.. Ya'll.


Hate to burst your bubble but Pr.George is kind of far from anything other than a large creek to be considered a port. Are you thinking of Pr. Rupert? or as your ma shows Kitamat?
All of which roads could stand some upgrading.
 

B00Mer

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Hate to burst your bubble but Pr.George is kind of far from anything other than a large creek to be considered a port. Are you thinking of Pr. Rupert? or as your ma shows Kitamat?
All of which roads could stand some upgrading.

They already have a good highway from Prince George to Prince Rupert hwy 16, they are updating the one from Prince George to Vancouver hwy 97 so it's good all the way and 4 lane..

Remember, I'm a trucker.. I ran up there twice a week. Hwy 97, then you would take hwy 16 into Prince Rupert.. do you know of another way from Vancouver to Prince Rupert via the mainland.??

...and actually the new port will be built in Kitimat, BC
 

mentalfloss

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Feds warned of possible legal problems for Northern Gateway pipeline

OTTAWA — Senior bureaucrats from multiple federal departments have been warned that the review process for a proposed pipeline linking Alberta's oilsands to the northwest coast of British Columbia could be overturned by the courts because of "unreasonable" consultation with aboriginal communities, newly released internal records reveal.

The warnings, delivered by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, noted that the federal government faces "adverse legal consequences" if it fails to offer adequate funding to help First Nations communities fully participate in consultations with the necessary resources to review evidence, material and proposals made by Alberta-based Enbridge regarding the Northern Gateway Pipeline project.

"Lack of funding may limit the ability of aboriginal groups to reasonably and meaningfully participate in the consultation and environmental assessment process," said the agency in a presentation that was released by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans through access to information legislation. "If aboriginal groups cannot consult meaningfully due to a lack of resources and capacities, and if the Crown fails to provide adequate funding, (there is a) moderate to high risk that the courts would find the consultation process to be unreasonable."

The agency, responsible for evaluating potential environmental impacts and damage from proposed development projects, prepared the presentation in November of 2010 to advise a committee of deputy ministers about "risks related to underfunding Aboriginal consultation in relation to Northern Gateway," which would cut through the Great Bear Rainforest, one of the largest intact temperate rainforests remaining in the world.

"Aboriginal groups continue to express frustration and concern over lack of funding to enable meaningful and reasonable participation and consultation," the agency told the bureaucrats in the presentation.

It estimated that dozens of different groups requested about $19 million in funding, but that only about $2.8 million was awarded in the first few phases of the "consultation" process.

"Funding was awarded to 38 (aboriginal) recipients, but at significantly reduced funding levels to fit within the available budget," said the presentation.

The agency, which is facing dramatic cuts from the federal government to its own budget, also indicated it would work with all federal departments involved "to develop options for funding post 2012," to address gaps.

Members of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet have recognized the government has a "moral and constitutional obligation" to consult with First Nations on the assessment of major projects such as Northern Gateway.

But environmental law experts and First Nations groups say they are still waiting for the government to boost resources that would help them engage with experts and study and respond to thousands of pages of information included in Enbridge's proposal.

Josh Patterson, a staff lawyer from Vancouver-based Westcoast Environmental Law, said he wasn't surprised to hear the warnings coming out of the agency.

"I think we're going to see a multiplication of legal challenges and risks if this (Northern Gateway) project is approved," Patterson said. "I think it's going to be tied up for a long time, and this statement from within the government only confirms what First Nations have been saying all along, which is that the federal government is not doing an adequate job of involving them in the decision-making in this process."

Jackie Thomas, the chief of the Saik'uz First Nation from British Columbia, will be travelling to Ottawa next week and is hoping some federal representatives will agree to talk to her community directly and respect its rights.

"I think they're totally missing their mark here in British Columbia, especially in terms of this project," said Thomas. Dozens of First Nations communities have signed a declaration that would ban the Enbridge project and other proposed pipelines from crossing their land in order to protect the Fraser River watershed.

The federal government has promoted expansion of pipeline capacity to the west coast to help diversify export markets for the oilsands. It has recently announced a new monitoring program to address concerns about environmental damage from the oilsands, but was warned by senior bureaucrats that some damage from the industry could be permanent and pose a "financial risk" to the province of Alberta.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has also warned that the resulting tanker traffic from the proposed shipping terminal in Kitimat, B.C., could threaten critical habitat of the humpback whale and other marine species at risk.