Trudeau says rainforest no place for pipelines, as Enbridge eyes alternative endpoints for Gateway
OTTAWA – Justin Trudeau maintains the Great Bear Rainforest is no place for an oil pipeline — as Enbridge Inc. examines possible alternatives to Kitimat, B.C., as endpoints for Northern Gateway — but sources say the prime minister isn’t necessarily rejecting Prince Rupert as a possible marine oil port.
Trudeau’s comments Tuesday came as the National Energy Board said Enbridge might not have to go through another regulatory review if it wanted to change part of the pipeline route and endpoint, and could instead file for a variation to the project that potentially wouldn’t face as many hurdles as having to resubmit a whole project application.
The Ottawa Citizen reported Tuesday that Enbridge has been reviewing potential alternate endpoints for its $7-billion Northern Gateway oilsands pipeline, including Prince Rupert, which was initially the company’s second choice after Kitimat.
With his government promising a moratorium on crude oil tanker traffic on British Columbia’s north coast – and Trudeau having long opposed the Gateway project to Kitimat – the prime minister was asked Tuesday whether he would be open to the pipeline if it took another route, such as ending in Prince Rupert.
Trudeau voiced general support for pipelines, but reiterated his longstanding opposition to the Gateway project as currently proposed.
“I’m not going to speculate on hypothetical routes. What I will say is the Great Bear Rainforest is no place for a pipeline, for a crude pipeline,” Trudeau told reporters as the Liberal cabinet wrapped up a three-day retreat in Kananaskis, Alta.
“There is no changing on my thinking. My thinking has always been that we need to get our resources to market, but we need to do that in responsible, sustainable, thoughtful ways,” the prime minister said.
Trudeau has repeatedly said in recent months, when explaining his opposition to the Northern Gateway project and proposed endpoint of Kitimat, that the rainforest was no place for an oil pipeline.
Prince Rupert, which is already home to regular shipping traffic, is located within the broader rainforest zone, according to official maps from the British Columbia government. However, senior federal government officials said Trudeau’s comments are not meant to exclude Prince Rupert as a possible marine oil port.
The Great Bear Rainforest covers more than six million hectares along British Columbia’s Pacific Coast and stretches from B.C.’s border with Alaska and runs south well past the northern tip of Vancouver Island.
The Liberal government’s proposed ban on crude oil tanker traffic would potentially choke off a proposed Kitimat shipping terminal. Federal officials are still trying to determine exactly where the moratorium would apply, as well as whether any tankers or petroleum products might be exempt from it.