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Harper and Clark Playing Dangerous Games with Enbridge

Mar 3rd, 2012 by

The Premier and the Prime Minister are playing very dangerous games indeed.

Prime Minister Harper is acting as though the Enbridge pipeline is a done deal – indeed he’s telling anyone he meets that very thing.

The PM, never much for public opinion at the best of times, cannot see any possible way the general public and First Nations could stand in the way of this ghastly project.

He’s relying on the National Energy Board’s Joint Review Panel hearings to allow him to say that the people have had their say so – on with the pipelines! That they will approve of the double pipeline is all but a forgone conclusion and already The PM and his Resources Minister are complaining that the Commission is tiresome and wasting time; however, the time isn’t wasted as far as I’m concerned, for every moment the Commission sits will make more people aware of the egregious environmental insult this project is. Continue Reading »

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Is Enbridge’s CEO Really Retiring to Build His Grandson a Hockey Rink?

Feb 29th, 2012 by

This is the simple story – from the Canadian Press:

CALGARY – The outgoing CEO of pipeline giant Enbridge Inc. said Monday he has no qualms about leaving the company while its controversial West Coast pipeline project remains in limbo.

The Calgary-based crude shipper (TSX:ENB) said Monday that Pat Daniel, 65, will leave his post by the end of the year and Al Monaco, the head of the company’s gas pipeline, green energy and international businesses, will take the reins.

To me there’s something fishy going on – rather like the story “when a husband sends his wife flowers for no reason, there’s a reason.”

Why is Mr. Daniel giving 10 months notice of his departure, elevating Mr. Monaco to the president, who it would seem, is taking over the company reins so Daniel can build an outdoor skating rink for his grandson? Continue Reading »

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Video: Rafe Mair – One on One with BC NDP Leader Adrian Dix (Part 1)

Feb 27th, 2012 by

In the first of a two-part interview, Rafe Mair grills BC NDP Leader Adrian Dix on private power, Site C Dam and BC’s flawed environmental assessment process. What will the NDP do with existing and future private river power projects (a.k.a. IPPs) if they form the next government – and where do they stand on Site C Dam? Watch and find out…and stay tuned for part 2 Thursday, dealing with Enbridge, LNG and salmon farms.

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Transport Canada’s Clearing of Enbridge Ignores the Facts

Feb 26th, 2012 by

What an interesting pair of stories – on the one hand Transport Canada has said that tanker traffic is safe on our pristine west coast while another tells of Enbridge repairing its faulty pipeline that resulted in yet another spill for the company this past May in the Northwest Territories.

Now sisters and brothers, repeat after me: LEAKS AND SPILLS FROM THE TAR SANDS TO THE COAST AND THEREAFTER, DOWN THE COAST ARE INEVITABLE AND THE CONSEQUENCES WILL BE CATASTROPHES.

We are being subjected to an Orwellian barrage of bullshit.

What I’m saying re the pipelines and tankers is true – the dangers of this horrific Northern Gateway are absolute. They are mathematically inevitable. Continue Reading »

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Here Comes the Bribe

Feb 20th, 2012 by

As opposition mounts to Northern Gateway, backers will promise big bucks for BC.

Alberta Premier Alison Redford stated in a recent speech that her government is looking to “clear a path for the oil sands through British Columbia by upping the economic benefits for its western neighbour — including the option of paying to modernize and expand West Coast ports.”

Premiers don’t just throw that sort of stuff around and I believe that this speech foretells an ever increasing policy of the federal government and Alberta to bribe First Nations and the rest of B.C. citizens alike.

Here is why we must not take the bribe.

Ruptures of the pipelines. Carrying condensate mixed with the bitumen (gunk) from the tar sands, the pipeline is bound to rupture at some point. This is not a risk but an absolute certainty. Enbridge has admitted there will be ruptures. Enbridge’s pipelines have recorded 811 ruptures since 1998. Continue Reading »

Posted in The Tyee | 1 Comment »

Cutting Enbridge Deal with Alberta is Bad Advice for Christy Clark

Feb 17th, 2012 by

Bob Plecas has an op-ed piece in the Vancouver Sun – they whose recent papers are celebrating their 100th birthday have carried the art of media masturbation to new heights once thought unreachable.

I assume that the editor in charge of its op-ed page, being a Fellow of the far right Fraser Institute, chooses his op-ed writers with care and, if part of that mandate is to push the government’s agenda, Fazil Milhar has done well indeed with Mr. Plecas.

Mr. Plecas was a deputy minister when I was in government and has written a biography of former premier, Bill Bennett.

I always thought he was a bright lad but clearly he is captive of the right as his article clearly demonstrates. Continue Reading »

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Redford Signals Alberta’s Intent to “Clear a Path” for Tar Sands Through BC

Feb 9th, 2012 by

BC Premier Christy Clark and Alberta Premier Alison Redford (Ted Rhodes/Postmedia photo)

I wasn’t surprised at what Alberta Premier Alison Redford recently said, namely:

The Alberta government is looking to clear a path for the oil sands through British Columbia by upping the economic benefits for its western neighbour – including the option of paying to modernize and expand West Coast ports.

Premier Redford’s government stressed Tuesday there were no formal discussions, much less a formal proposal, but some in the Alberta government acknowledge that British Columbians need to see a tangible benefit if they are to bear the risks of an oil pipeline and associated West Coast tanker traffic headed to Asia.

I was only surprised that it took so long for this vague testing of British Columbia opinion – and we must understand that this is all part of proposing bribes to BC to overcome its fast-growing aversion to the Enbridge pipeline. Continue Reading »

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Harper, Enbridge Jet to China on Heels of Massive Prince Rupert Protest

Feb 8th, 2012 by

This from the CBC:

Canadian oil and business executives are well-represented in the delegation travelling to China with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, with oil exports expected to be high on the government’s agenda.

A delegation assigned to Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver includes eight mining or oil and gas companies.

That list of companies includes none other than Enbridge, Inc.

The prime minister and his government are asking for a show down and my experience this past weekend in Prince Rupert indicates that the Enbridge deal, about which more in a moment, is going to spawn a First Nations and supporters v. industry and government fight compared to which all other showdowns will seem like minor incidents. Continue Reading »

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Would You Buy a Used Car from These Libs?

Feb 7th, 2012 by

Cartoon by Ingrid Rice

Eight old dents in believability Clark’s polish hasn’t fixed.

So, Adrian Dix is higher in the polls than Christy Clark.

It comes as no surprise to me, who has said from the beginning that Christy Clark did not have what it takes to lead a party, much less a province. If she were not premier, I would call her an airhead.

It’s interesting to note that only one person in her caucus supported her leadership bid, and he had to be shuffled into cabinet obscurity after screwing up his first minister’s post. This is an important point because under the British system, when a prime minister goes, the caucus declares who the successor will be until the next party convention. A party-wide vote, democratic though it may be, is a popularity contest, while the caucus votes the most competent successor which they are best qualified to determine. At the very least, before a leadership convention, the caucus ought to be polled and the poll made public. As expected, Premier Clark refuses to face issues by changing the subject when she is asked tough questions to her amazing plan to make B.C. the most this or that, blah, blah, blah. Continue Reading »

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Time for Dix to Take a Stand on Pipelines and Tankers

Jan 27th, 2012 by

This is an open letter to NDP leader Adrian Dix and his Energy Critic, John Horgan.

It’s time, gentlemen, to pee or get off the pot.

The issues of the proposed Enbridge pipelines and tanker traffic on our coast demand your immediate statement of policy.

In order that there be no misunderstandings, here are the facts, gentlemen – not assertions or opinions but plain simple to understand facts:

  1. A spill from both pipelines and tankers is a dead certainty.
  2. There is no way these spills can be cleaned up.
  3. The record of Enbridge is appalling.
  4. First Nations, be they on the coast or along the proposed pipeline right of way are opposed – 131 of them.
  5. Neither the federal government nor Enbridge have considered the real possibility of terrorism or vandalism.

The pipelines, one to take the bitumen to Kitimat and the other to take gas condensate back, traverse arguably the last untouched rain forest on earth. It’s certainly as rugged and remote from civilization as anywhere else. Continue Reading »

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