Important news for those concerned about tanker traffic around Victoria! On Friday, an emergency resolution by the City of Victoria was passed by a clear majority at the UBCM. I was honoured to be part of a team that advised on that resolution, through which BC’s municipalities have called on the provincial government to withdraw from a 2010 agreement accepting the Conservative government’s deeply flawed process for conducting environment assessments for pipelines. In 2012, I worked on a similar proposal for the provincial Opposition with respect to the Enbridge Northern Gateway proposal. Since then, dissatisfaction has only grown with the National Energy Boards hearing process, which neither affords intervenors the chance to conduct proper oral cross-examination, nor compels the pipeline proponent to give adequate responses to our information requests. This latest move by the UBCM is an important vote of ‘no confidence’ in the federal governments broken system of environmental assessments, a system the Conservatives have gutted. This vote was an important signal, and Im proud to be have played a small part in it. But to protect our coast and build a sustainable economy we need to do more. We need to restore to lakes and rivers all across Canada the protections torn up by the Conservatives. We need to restore to scientists the respect and resources that have been denied under the Harper government. And we need to build a tough and transparent system of environmental assessments at the federal level––a system every province, every community and every Canadian can trust again. Learn more about the Citys work: victoria.ca/EN/main/community/events/events-calendar/185044/public-meeting-proposed-increase-in-marine-shipping.html
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 22:16:41 +0000
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