By Roy L Hales
A symbolic fight for British Columbia’s future is underway. A little town, with less than 10,000 people, is being given the choice denied to the rest of us. A plebiscite in which there will be some, possibly many, Kitimat Residents saying No! to a pipeline.
Kitimat Residents saying No! to a Pipeline
On April 12 the town’s inhabitants will be asked to vote on the following question:
“Do you support the final report recommendations of the Joint Review Panel (JRP) of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and National Energy Board, that the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project be approved, subject to 209 conditions set out in Volume 2 of the JRP’s final report?”
The key phrase, for anyone who failed to decipher it, was “that the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project be approved.”
This is where the proposed 1,170 kilometre Northern Gateway Pipeline would end. It is actually two pipelines: one transporting 525,000 barrels of tar sands bitumen from Alberta to Kitamat every day; the other carry toxic condensate to the tar sands. The little town of Kitamat will be transformed into an oil terminal. As many as two hundred and twenty-five supertankers would sail up the Douglas Channel every year.
A local opposition group has taken the name the Douglas Channel Watch for that reason. They have 15 core members and an email list of 90.
Online Petition
“We are dedicated to protecting the coast from supertankers and oil spills so future generations can enjoy a sustainable economy with clean water and wild salmon,” it says on their website. “By signing our petition, you and many others will be sending a strong message to the Federal Government and Enbridge Northern Gateway that Kitimat and Canadian citizens do not want our pristine north coast put at risk of oil tankers and pipelines.”
I was signature 289.
“We just put it up a little while ago,” Murray Minchin said.
I found his phone number under the “contact us” tab.
Murray described the plebiscite as a product of the local counsel’s abdication. Many towns have taken a stance against the pipeline. In Kitimat, the council decided to hold a plebiscite and let people say what they want. It may end up being the only community in British Columbia that will actually get to vote on the pipeline.
A Vote Enbridge Does Not Want To Lose
It is also a vote that Enbridge does not want to lose. They started with a both in the mall. When the Douglas Channel Watch started knocking on doors, Enbridge brought in one of their managers, Ray Doering, and Colin Kinsley, former mayor of Prince George, as well as some out-of-town Enbridge employees. The Northern Gateway team proceeded to knock on doors and make phone telephone sweeps. They put up their own website, called “Vote Yes for Kitimat,” advertsied on the radio and run full page ads in Kitimat, Prince Rupert, Terrace, Smithers, Burns Lake and Fort St. James. Desmog Canada estimates that Enbridge has easily spent more than $10,000, three times the amount they would be allowed to spend if this were a Provincial election.
“There are no spending limits,” Murray explained.
Council also relaxed the voting requirements, so that anyone who has lived in Kitimat for 30 days can vote.
The No Vote Has A Serious Shot At Winning
Despite Enbridge’s spending, Murray does not think they are making much headway.
“We are devoting a huge amount of time to this and our sense, from knocking on doors, is that the “no” vote has a serious shot at wining,” he said.
I just checked, there are now 305 signatures.
Want to join them? http://dcw.nationbuilder.com/
(Photo at top of page courtesy of the Douglas Channel Watch)
Just an FYI, It is called Douglas Channel Watch. They do great work and their resolve has not waivered. I am also dead set against this bitumen pipeline proposal and did a presentation against it at the JRP hearings in Terrace. 209 recommendations? That says to me, “This project should not happen”.
I have no reason to trust Enbridge or the government that supports the Northern Gateway Project. I only have every reason to distrust them.
I do not trust my home and my clean drinking water to a company who wants to transport a toxic substance through it, and who denies an ever growing track record of destroying healthy environments by spilling said substance into them.
We are told that this project is so important because China will pay more money for the oil. Those of us who drive and enjoy the benefits of energy should consider, once the oil companies are able to establish a higher price, be sure that we will also be paying more. The tycoons get their winnings to offshore banks and will continue to live a long way from the toxic mud hole they are making in Alberta.
I live in Gibsons, but I pray I get a “no” vote in Kitimat for my best birthday present ever. It doesn’t mean it’s over, but it’s another nail in Enbridge’s pipeline coffin, I hope. I’ll be watching and hoping for a miracle.
“Council also relaxed the voting requirements, so that anyone who has lived in Kitimat for 30 days can vote.”
Almost sounds like council is in bed with Enbridge, doesn’t it?
I mean why relax the standard if they weren’t?
I grew up in Kitimat and so, it will always be an important place to me. The People of Kitimat are very smart…..don’t let Enbridge pull the wool over anyone’s eyes. My husband is a retired Tugboat Captain who worked the entire BC Coast and understands this coast better than most. He is devastated at the thought of Enbridge in Kitimat. We want a beautiful coast for our Children and Grandchildren to enjoy as we did
I grew up in kitimat my kids were born there the pipe line will destroy kitimat its a beautiful place
We are with you Kitimat. Thousands strong. Watching and waiting as the little town says “No” to the corporation that thinks it holds all the power. Our B.C. coastline should never have been put at risk by this scheme in the first place. But we WILL stop it!