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[chris gadsden]

pipeline, tankers threaten rural way of life
  By Nikki Skuce, Vancouver Sun March 22, 2012   'This is who I am ... This is where our tradition is. This is our culture."

Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chief Frank Alec is holding up the pelts of a beautiful timber wolf and pine mar-ten. We are at the Joint Review Panel hearing for the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker project in Burns Lake and the room is captivated. He lifts a salmon and says, "we cannot live without this sacred animal, our fish, the salmon ... This is who we are."

For those of us who live in rural B.C., this visual demonstration was powerful, but not shocking. Wild salmon are what unites us in this northwest region. First nations and non-first nations alike hunt, trap and fish for sustenance and also commercially.

British Columbians, especially in the northwest, value some things more than money, like healthy freshwater ecosystems and wild salmon. By pro-posing a pipeline and tanker project that impacts those while offering very few benefits (pipelines are simply not job creators), Enbridge has united a broad cross-section of northern B.C.-rednecks and hippies, cowboys and

Indians, conservative and progressive voters. Together, we will defend our assets.

While the coastal first nations who live on B.C.'s north coast prepare for the herring fishery and to gather her-ring roe on kelp, the people of Prince William Sound will go without. The her-ring population collapsed 23 years ago when the Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef, gushing crude from a gash in the hull. Some 12.9 billion herring were wiped out when 40 million litres of crude spilled into Prince William Sound. They've never returned.

Risk is the product of probability and consequence. The consequences of an oil spill in our wild salmon watersheds or on our incredible coast would be long-lasting, devastating, and have the potential to literally wipe out cultures.

As Kyle Clifton, Councillor from the Gitga'at First Nation of Hartley Bay said to the Joint Review Panel regarding Enbridge's oil tankers: "For over 200 days a year we're going to wake up in the morning wondering if this is the day our community dies. Does any company have the right to make us live this way?".

When the BC Ferry Queen of the North sank off Gil Island, along Enbridge's proposed tanker route, it was the Gitga'at who arrived to res-cue the passengers first. And it's the Gitga'at who are still unable to harvest shellfish from the area as the sunken ferry continues to burp up diesel.

Those of us who live along the pro-posed Enbridge route are used to road closures, power outages, ferry and flight cancellations due to weather conditions and avalanches. You only have to travel from Smithers to Kiti-mat to know that no amount of engineering through valleys and rich wild salmon rivers, and tunnelling through two incredible coastal mountains can be done safely.

As Enbridge's CEO Pat Daniel has said: "Can we promise there will never be an accident? No. Nobody can." Colin Kinsley, who heads the Northern Gateway Alliance, an Enbridge backed organization championing the pipeline, said "Nobody can say it won't leak at some point. You know, things happen. Who would've thought a billion-dollar cruise ship would run into a rock in Italy in the middle of the day?"

We're not feeling so cavalier. The coastal fisheries and tourism economy of British Columbia employ 45,000 people. Why would British Columbians want to risk thousands of jobs for mere dozens promised by Enbridge?

It's unthinkable to imagine introducing oil supertankers to the Great Bear Rainforest's sea where spirit bears feast on salmon as orca, hump-back and fin whales swim by. Canadians should proudly protect the ecological integrity of the coast of the Great Bear Rainforest, just like Australians do with the Great Barrier Reef.

With all five species of wild salmon, we have much to appreciate and celebrate in British Columbia's northwest. The lessons from the pain and hard-ship in Alaska are that the stakes for introducing oil supertankers to B.C.'s north coast are simply too high.

Nikki Skuce of Smithers is a senior energy campaigner with Forestethics, a San Francisco-based environmental organization


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/pipeline+tankers+threaten+rural+life/6341541/story.html#ixzz1pwcCYIJ4

[chris gadsden]

http://thecanadian.org/item/1417-video-cancelled-enbridge-hearings-resume-bella-bella-youth-hunger-strike-damien-gillis

[Sandy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOKmeV-sBEU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gXaYZVGw44&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6hke_TE80Q&feature=related

got to wonder?

would BCers face the same type of treatment?

[chris gadsden]

Rafe here and he is very upset as we should be if we care about the environment.

http://thecanadian.org/item/1414-rafe-on-why-budgets-gutting-of-environmental-laws-is-a-good-thing

[chris gadsden]

By Erin Haluschak - Comox Valley Record
Published: April 03, 2012 2:00 PM
Updated: April 03, 2012 2:28 PM

Setting the tone of discontent against a proposed pipeline project, more than 2,200 protesters packed the parking lot of the Comox Recreation Centre Saturday afternoon.



Braving chilly weather, people from across Vancouver Island gathered to voice their opinions with signs, chants, songs, dance and speeches outside, while inside the centre, a review panel continued to listen to oral hearings from residents on the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project.



"This turnout here is very exciting for us, because we're all supporting the same cause," said Andy Everson of the K'ómoks First Nation who addressed the large crowd.



"I know me and my brothers and sisters and aunties, we're all here to support our northern brothers for what they're going through and the way they're being treated by the government, by these big corporations. We really need to stand together, shoulder to shoulder and speak up, and want to send our message, our song, our words to the people in Ottawa, to the people in those big corporations, who really want to take over our territory that we've never given up."



The Enbridge Northern Gateway Project is a proposed two-pipeline system 1,170 km long, stretching from Bruderheim, AB (north of Edmonton) to a marine terminal in Kitimat, B.C.



A strong police presence surrounded both inside and outside the centre, as the the two-day session which began Friday of the joint review panel  — an independent body that will assess the environmental effects of the project — listened to more than 40 oral statements.



"I feel very fortunate to be able to live so close to the ocean and see the beauty of it everyday. I don't want to wake up one morning and look out my window that all of that beautiful blue water and everything in it has been drenched in thick, black oil," said 11-year-old Brooklyn Elementary School student Jack Mingue Saturday afternoon, the youngest presenter at the hearing.



"Enbridge has had 804 spills in the past 11 years. Can they guarantee us that one of those supertankers are not going to make 805? I just know that this is not the right thing to do, and there has got to be a better way to make Canada more economically developed," he added to a reception of applause from the standing-room only crowd inside.



Jack Rosen, an adventure company owner and experienced kayak tour guide from Salt Spring Island who represented the Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of British Columbia, explained to the panel the pipeline would be severely detrimental to not only the tourism industry, but the health of the marine ecosystem.



"I've led kayak expeditions from Salt Spring to Alaska twice. I know these waters of the Great Bear Rainforest well. They are extreme, they are pristine, and they exude wildlife. These waters are the essence of British Columbia and its cultural heritage," he explained.



"A bitumen spill would cause massive repercussions to the coast, which in effect, would affect the livelihood of so many who depend on these waters. As a person who evaluates risk everyday in my job, I want to stress from my viewpoint and those 800 sea kayakers who I represent, the inherent risk of this pipeline is not worth the devastating consequences of one spill," added Rosen.



Enbridge president John Carruthers told media Friday the hearings provide an opportunity for the public to better understand the project and have the chance for their concerns to be heard.



"This is another forum for them to learn about the project and have their key issues addressed. We find the more people know about the project, the more those key questions are addressed, and people can be more supportive of it, the more they know about it," he said.



"They do have very valid concerns that we have to address, and part of that is through education. Explaining what's different then what's happened historically, what we're doing, what we're doing over and above regulation, and what's been done in the past. Generally everything that's been done in the past has been done very well and very safely. There is just better information which reduces the anxiety people have," he added.



Carruthers explained there have been cases where Enbridge has changed routing in regards to public concern or have addressed them specially. He added he understands people are concerned about the marine environment.



"I think people need to understand this is an opportunity for people to provide their information to the board so they can consider it in terms of making their final decision about the project," he said.



Outside the hearing, Fanny Bay residents Don and Jaye Casteden said it was important to participate in the rally and were pleased with the amount of people who showed solidarity against the project.



"This pipeline is going to cross thousands of rivers and streams, and through weather that is going to be very very hot to temperatures that are going to be in the minus 40s. This company has had oil spills, many, many hundreds of oil spills," said Jaye. "They say there isn't going to be any risk, but there is no reason for us to believe that, because they've already had spills, and why won't they have another at some point?"



She added although there will be a fair number of jobs in the first three years of building the pipeline, they will certainly be reduced following construction.



"My concern there is that there could be many jobs that could be destroyed by an oil tanker spill. These jobs are only sporadic ... I think jobs are a concern to Canadians; we need green projects to make jobs available to Canadians."



Don explained he felt government and corporations need to explore innovative ways to create jobs through technology, not oil.



"When you think about jobs, they've got no imagination. They could be creating all kinds of new technologies, alternative energy. Other places such as Germany, even China are way ahead of us. We're just sitting around plucking the easy money from oil and resources