“Community buy-in” is the key requirement for not only the Northern Gateway pipeline but all future infrastructure projects, the opposition said Wednesday, a day after the federal government gave the proposal a conditional green light.
The Harper government announced that the 1,177-kilometre pipeline can be built, but Enbridge Inc. must first meet all 209 conditions recommended by a federal joint review panel late last year.
The opposition immediately denounced the decision, and continued their criticism following their weekly caucus meetings.
A prime minister’s job is to get Canada’s resources to market, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau acknowledged Wednesday.
“But the way to do that is not simply to rubber stamp a project from Ottawa, but to get people to appreciate that this is a project that is going to be in the long-term best interest of Canadians and future generations.
“And that’s the work that’s not being done.”
Social licence needed
He, like NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, has vowed to reverse the government’s decision if his party forms a government after next fall’s federal election.
Both Trudeau and Mulcair were vague when asked what tools they would use to stop the project. Mulcair said because Parliament “makes the rules,” a new Parliament led by the NDP would set aside the decision and “start fresh,” including establishing a more stringent environmental review process.
“People tend to forget that this is about the economy,” Mulcair told reporters. “Mr. Harper thinks he’s helping his buddies in the oil patch by removing environmental legislation, by giving them their regulatory licence faster. It doesn’t get built if it also doesn’t have a social licence.”
Should the pipeline be built and supertankers enter the Douglas Channel to pick up oil in Kitimat, a spill could jeopardize tens of thousands of jobs in the province’s coastal communities, Mulcair warned later during question period. He repeated questions earlier in the day about why Conservative MPs from B.C. had not commented on the decision.
“If this reckless pipeline through British Columbia’s most pristine wilderness is actually in the interest of all British Columbians, why has every single one of his 21 British Columbia MPs entered the witness protection program?” Mulcair asked.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who has not spoken about his government’s decision on Northern Gateway, did not directly answer Mulcair’s question. Rather, he asked the NDP leader to explain his actions regarding his party’s mailings that were deemed to have broken Parliamentary rules.
While the issue will likely be a major talking point during the campaign ahead of the 2015 election, neither leader expects shovels to be in the ground by then, given the conditions.
“Because of Stephen Harper this is going to be tangled for a long time,” Mulcair told reporters. “So anybody who’s telling you that anything’s going to be built between now and October 2015 simply isn’t telling you the truth.”
'A very tough job'
While Conservative MPs have largely declined to speak on the matter since the announcement, a handful that have commented seem to be suggesting the same thing.
"British Columbians want jobs, they want growth, they want to show that we're protecting our environment and protecting our fisheries," said B.C. Conservative MP John Weston.
"Those are the things British Columbians are concerned about and the decision upholds those 209 conditions. It's a very tough job to complete any pipeline under those conditions."
Other Tory MPs from B.C. tried to dodge reporters and cameras on Parliament Hill Wednesday.
CTV News caught up with Richmond MP Alice Wong, who said she supports the “science-based” process that led to Northern Gateway’s approval.
Asked whether she supports the pipeline herself, Wong replied: “I believe in science,” before rushing off to a waiting car.
West Vancouver MP John Weston had a similar response, saying: “People understand it was a science-based process.”
As for future projects, Mulcair has come out against both the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which is awaiting approval from U.S. President Barack Obama, and Kinder Morgan’s proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which runs between Hinton, Alta. and Hargreaves, B.C.
Asked whether he still supports the Kinder Morgan project, Trudeau said the company will learn from Enbridge’s experience and come to understand that “community buy-in is at the centre of infrastructure projects.”
He would not say whether he would let the project go ahead if he were prime minister. But he said government must create “a level playing field” for companies seeking project approval to meet the necessary requirements.
With a report from CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife
