Dear sir,
Let’s put to rest the various opinions that the Enbridge Pipeline will bring about an economic boom for BC.
In the long term there will be at most 75 jobs throughout British Columbia - that is hardly significant.
It is out of complete ignorance that people such as Arlene Pickel from Calgary (Northern Sentinel January 18) could suggest that the Canadian economy will tank without this pipeline.
If this pipeline were about Canadian jobs, there would be proposals to build oil refineries.
Kitimat, Terrace and Prince Rupert know exactly what it looks like when the economy tanks. Our local sawmills and pulp and paper mills have all been shut down.
Living in Kitimat, we know what happens when you remove 500+ jobs overnight.
However, in 2009 the current provincial and federal governments did not interfere with West Fraser’s decisions to eliminate Canadian jobs nor did they comment on the direct hit to BC’s economy.
There was talk that it was not feasible to transport trees and wood chips out this far. We are not blind; we see the over-logging of the BC’s North Coast temperate rainforest and our trees boarding ships to be processed in Asia.
This leads me to believe that our federal government is allowing and encouraging the sale of Canada’s natural resources to Asia and is securing employment for China.
The greatest links to foreign interest groups are between Enbridge, China, other Asian countries and the Harper Government’s commitment to make this happen.
Individuals who have been vocally against the Enbridge Gateway Project are being accused of being anti-Canadian, backed by foreign interest groups.
A government which condemns freedom of speech while dictating environmental destruction is not looking into the long term economic viability of Canada.
Let us take a minute to think about the great wild Canada that we have inherited and the degraded, resource-exhausted Canada that we are passing on to our children and grandchildren.
I would advise all supporters of the Enbridge Gateway pipeline to look over the Brundtland Commission report (1983) in which Brundtland argues, “the ‘environment’ is where we live and ‘development’ is what we all do in attempting to improve our lot within that abode. The two are inseparable.”
This situation is not about anti-development but about how we can develop our economy within the beautiful environment that we have been given to steward, a True North strong and free.
Environmental Steward,
Juliana Christiansen,
Kitimat.