By Lyonel Doherty
Oliver Chronicle
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley reminds us of a little girl who doesn’t get her way.
Instead of not sharing her Barbie, she’s using her authority to ban B.C. wine imports in protest over British Columbia’s stance on the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline project.
Our province has not said no to transporting bitumen from Alberta; it merely wants to review safety measures to ensure that a potential spill could be mitigated or dealt with effectively.
The $7.4 billion project would see a significant increase in bitumen transport to our coast every day, including more tanker traffic.
Does Alberta have a sensitive eco-system (coast) to worry about? Does it have to fret over a spill killing their birds and mammals? Has it offered to pay for a spill if it occurred as a result of the expansion project?
No, no and no.
Once again, money and greed are trumping environmental protection.
Yes, the pipeline will provide plenty of jobs and spin-off effects, but one spill could devastate miles of coastline, killing everything in its path.
To date, we don’t know what impacts this project will have on our environment or if/how a spill can be cleaned up properly.
Don’t say a spill will never happen because it has happened, and once it does we don’t see Albertans donning rubber waders to rescue our floundering wildlife.
Sorry, but having Prime Minister Justin Trudeau say the pipeline is not a danger to the B.C. coast does not alleviate our fears.
Alberta wants to get its oil to the world market, so it is not concerned with our environment.
We see nothing wrong with B.C. doing its homework to review the pipeline’s safety and impact on this province. Once that is satisfied, we can welcome the bitumen with open arms . . . and vessels.
Premier Notley doesn’t like this approach so she’s turning this into a trade war that is hurting both provinces and could escalate into something bigger.
Perhaps we should take her Barbies away as punishment.
