Northern British Columbia Communities Respond to Minister Oliver’s “Radical” Dismissal
New ads and blue scarves show pipeline opposition is a grassroots movement.
SMITHERS, BRITISH COLUMBIA (January 16, 2012) - As hearings into the proposed Enbridge Gateway pipeline move to Smithers this week, local community groups are buying ads and donning blue scarves to express their indignation at being dismissed as “radicals” by the Natural Resources Minister last week.
The groups want to reinforce that their opposition has nothing to do with so-called “foreign interference” and everything to do with protecting salmon watersheds and the pristine north coast, as well as associated, cultures, lifestyles and livelihoods.
“I would hardly call myself a ‘radical’,” said Dave Shannon, retired engineer from Alcan and member of Douglas Channel Watch. “Citizens are concerned about the overwhelming risk of this pipeline. Forces of nature and human error are capable of destroying even the best engineered designs.”
Friends of Morice Bulkley, Douglas Channel Watch and several other community-based groups are registered as interveners for the Joint Review Panel. The groups have been highlighting risks to wild salmon, such as landslides and avalanches, which have sheared and ruptured natural gas pipelines in the past.
“We’re a bunch of locals not typically involved. This pipeline would be a permanent risk to our salmon and our rivers,” says retired biologist Dawn Remington, of Friends of Morice-Bulkley in Smithers. “When we discovered the proposed pipeline would go through the headwaters of our river, it set off alarm bells".
The project would cross Canada’s two largest salmon producing rivers, risking multi-million dollar commercial and sport fisheries. Constitutionally-protected First Nations food fisheries would also be threatened.
See attached ad and photos of the scarves that are multiplying in the North.
Contact Information:
Dave Shannon, Douglas Channel Watch, 250-615-7639
Dawn Remington, Friends of Morice-Bulkley, (t) 250-847-3836 (c)778-210-0252