MP takes aim at Gateway

Photo: Contributed

NDP MP Nathan Cullen brings his fight to stop the Northern Gateway oil pipeline to the Okanagan this weekend.

The Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP will host two town hall meetings Saturday, in Penticton and Vernon, to discuss his private member's bill aimed at "settling uncertainty and avoiding conflict around the future of the North Coast and the threat posed by Enbridge Northern Gateway."

“We need to change the work of the National Energy Board toward a process that respects communities and First Nations and puts Canadian energy security first,” said Cullen. “Time and again, they are neglecting the input of British Columbians on a project that directly affects them.”

“We want to fully and finally stop the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline in its tracks,” he said. 

The two town halls are set for 10 a.m. at the Shatford Centre in Penticton, and 7 p.m. at Schubert Centre in Vernon.

Cullen’s bill, An Act to Defend the Pacific Northwest, would legislate a ban on supertankers on the North Coast while addressing concerns raised by the approval process for the pipeline.

“The Harper government has taken away the voice of the people who will be most impacted by pipeline projects in Canada,” added Cullen. “We need to ensure adequate consultation occurs between the federal government and First Nations, provincial and municipal governments, and local communities impacted by a proposed project. We need to ensure the concerns raised by Canadians are reflected in the board’s final decisions.” 

“Conservatives have shut out communities and First Nations from the conversation,” added Cullen. “They have failed to look at the long-term economic and environmental impacts of runaway 'rip-and-ship' development.”

The MP said the region is one of the most environmentally, culturally and historically important areas in our country – and some of the most difficult waters in the world. 

Review panels assessing pipeline proposals are not currently required to consider the impacts of projects on jobs and energy security in Canada. Cullen says "Exporting raw bitumen, as is the case under the Northern Gateway proposal, does not only mean shipping our raw resources to foreign jurisdictions with weaker environmental standards. It also means shipping out potential tax revenues, as well as Canadian jobs and energy security. Bill C-628 would give the National Energy Board a mandate to assess the impacts of proposed pipelines on employment in Canada’s upgrading and refining sectors, and ask it to consider whether a pipeline project will add value to natural resources in Canada as part of its public interest criteria."

Find out more at www.takebackourcoast.ca.