Ottawa close on pipeline conditions: Clark

British Columbia Premier Christy Clark has not taken a position on Kinder Morgan’s project, instead laying out five conditions for approval of any new oil pipeline through her province.

In reaching its decision on the Northern Gateway Pipelines Project, the government considered the Joint Review Panel Report, the views of Indigenous communities and those of other Canadians as represented to the Joint Review Panel, as well as the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal.

Asked which conditions have been met, she said more detail is needed from Ottawa on how its new Ocean Protection Plan will ensure world-class marine spill prevention and response, not just with regard to oil tankers but all marine vessel traffic.

“Those would be the two areas where there’s still some work to do”.

She said she was confident the conditions could be met before the May 9, 2017 provincial election. Successful receipt of all regulatory approvals is B.C.’s first condition. More than a dozen municipalities and First Nations have formally opposed the project and several hundred staged a rally against the pipeline soon after Trudeau’s green light.

And what I am saying today is, we are substantially met, or they are close to meeting the five conditions.

However, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says building the pipeline won’t actually increase greenhouse gas emissions from her province because the NDP government’s climate plan would cap oilsands emissions at 100 megatonnes a year, and that the product would find its way to market anyway.

There are numerous environmental and health concerns surrounding unreported pipe ruptures, tankers running aground, and the ability of spilled bitumen to elude a response crew’s booms.

“Trudeau should be ashamed today using middle class workers as cover to wreak havoc on our water, climate and property rights”, she said. Note that the approval is conditional, as Kinder Morgan still needs to obtain permits. “Whatever it is is happening behind closed doors”.

In making the announcement, the Prime Minister said he knew whatever decision the government made it would upset people, but he said, “it was the best decision for Canada and Canadians”.

The web page extols credible environmental policies and bashes the previous Conservative government.

“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us and we’re looking forward to getting from “yes” to starting to build”, he said on a media conference call.

Canada heavily relies on the United States market for the sale of its oil, and is in dire need to find new markets. The Harper government originally approved the pipeline in June 2014 with conditions, following a review into its environmental impact.

“We believe it will likely prove hard to successfully oppose what will effectively become law – and we believe the federal cabinet approval effectively does just that, make the decisions law”, Lever said.

An organizer of the so-called War in the Woods in BC’s Clayoquot Sound warns protests could be even larger than the 1993 action against clearcut logging.