Federal Minister Shows Support for Northern Gateway Before Review Process Complete

The environmental assessment process for Enbridge's controversial Northern Gateway pipeline proposal has hardly begun and already Federal Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver has announced his support for the project.

The National Energy Board is conducting a Joint Review Panel of the Northern Gateway proposal with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. Community Hearings are set to begin in January, with more formal hearings scheduled for June 2012.

However, at a meeting of Energy Ministers yesterday that was partially funded by energy companies, Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver came out publicly in support of Northern Gateway.

"Most people have already made up their minds about Enbridge's project with strong opposition from British Columbians," said Jennifer Rice, Chair of Friends of Wild Salmon. "But is it ethical for the federal minister, who eventually signs off on the Board's recommendation, to publically support a project before the environmental review process is complete? Is the lengthy review process just a puppet show with a pre-determined ending?"

Industry's role in the process also raises questions about the inquiry's impartiality. The National Energy Board receives 90 per cent of its money from industry levies, with Enbridge, TransCanada, Spectra and Kinder Morgan accounting for most of the board's budget.

"How can the pipeline regulatory agency receive the majority of its funds from industry and remain neutral to it?" asks Nikki Skuce, Senior Energy Campaigner from ForestEthics. "It's hard not to doubt the integrity of a system funded by pipeline companies that casually approves 99 per cent of projects and now has essentially been signed-off by the federal government before the panel has even heard any evidence."

Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline proposal would transport tar sands oil nearly 1,200 kilometres to the coast at Kitimat. Alberta's Minister of Energy Ron Liepert has been publically advocating for this project development given Alberta's reliance on potentially waning U.S. markets.

"The federal government determined that protecting the Great Bear Rainforest was in the national interest. We believe that it's in the national interest to continue to keep it free of oil spills and tanker traffic," said Nikki Skuce, ForestEthics.

"Community members and First Nations across the watersheds of the proposed pipelines and tankers don't think this Enbridge project is in our national interest," Jennifer Rice, FOWS. "If the review process and federal government support the project, northerners have already said that they'll put their bodies on the line to protect our way of life."