Anonymous
It is a false assumption that we need the Northern Gateway piieplne in order to pay employees of the federal or provincial government. The money we will lose by not building this piieplne is nothing in comparison to the money and debt we will leave for our children by releasing more GHG emissions into the atmosphere and the cost associated with a spill (and please take one minute and think about the emotional cost as well). How would you feel if someone tells you they will run a piieplne through your land? How would you feel? Do you think the First Nations will feel better if you tell them but China needs the oil. Please sacrifice your land and water for us. They are Canadians like you and it is their damn right to say No, I do not want a piieplne running through my land so big oil companies can make more bucks and keep polluting our atmosphere. They simply seek to protect the fundamental nature of the wilderness of northern British Columbia, the ecological health of British Columbia coastal eco-systems. When will we give them the respect they deserve? We do not have another 20 years to finally break away from fossil fuels. We want job creation? Well, why don’t we send a letter to all Conservative MPs asking why they give $1.4 billion in subsidies to the oil and gas industry every year instead of investing into renewable energies? Canada has already lost so many jobs by not jumping on these opportunities of renewable energy technologies. This government has failed to present an energy strategy to Canada. We have no energy policy. We are still importing more than half of the oil we use. Furthermore, we have no plan to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels,Countries like Germany and China (largest investment into renewable energy last year) can do it and have long time ago discovered how important it is to make the switch. Look around, this country has so much renewable energy resources how much money Canada could make and is losing out on? Yes, we could be an energy super power. A green energy super power and a country which makes the switch for long-term and healthy jobs. There are other ways to diversify Canada’s energy markets. There are other projects, and most important other forms of energy.It is false that we cannot afford renewable energy yet! I wish people would finally start educating themselves about the real money behind fossil fuels. You think fossil fuels are affordable? Well, make the effort and look back in history how much subsidies have gone into fossil fuels and still do! Of course, renewable energy seems expensive. Let’s finally take away these subsidies and give them to the renewable energy sector. This government has no interest in your or your children’s future otherwise it would make smart and wise investments. Furthermore the piieplne project requires over-turning the current moratorium on oil tanker traffic on the British Columbia coastline.The federal-provincial oil tanker moratorium has been in place for decades and there is a reason for this, moving oil tankers through 300 km of perilous navigation in highly energetic tidal conditions is a bad choice. And just a bit over a year ago the government’s own Commissioner for the Environment, reported that Canada lacked the tools to respond to an oil spill. If you are not concerned enough yet, get yourself informed about the Exxon Valdez and how Exxon treated the community in Alaska and workers who cleaned up after. They couldn’t care less about people! It is legitimate for Canadians to ask their government to put the rights of people before the rights of big oil companies. The government is voted into power to represent the people of Canada not to defend the rights of huge corporations. Coming back to the job argument: Canada’s energy labour unions estimate it means exporting 40.000 jobs out of Canada by building the piieplne. They prefer refining the crude here in Canada same as for the Keystone XL piieplne. Furthermore, the Conservative government seems to care so much about jobs but they couldn’t care less about the people who lost their jobs due to their absurd budget cuts to Environment Canada, DFO and NGOs. (Just another indicator how little prepared they are to monitor the piieplne or any spills and how little they care about providing safe standards to piieplnes and tanker traffic)Please, I wish that Canadians make the effort and value this wonderful country and the right of peoples home more than the right of polluters.