Speaking in Ottawa on June 17, 2014, Canada’s newly elected prime minister Justin Trudeau said if he “won the honour of serving as prime minister, the Northern Gateway Pipeline would not happen.”
“The Northern Gateway Pipeline threatens not only the B.C. coastal economy but the jobs of thousands of people who live on the ocean,” Trudeau said during his announcement. “I’ve met with many British Columbians who make their living out of the pristine coastal waters; it is not a place for a pipeline.”
Trudeau’s announcement was made shortly after the federal government had approved the $7-billion project and imposed 209 conditions recommended by the National Energy Board. Enbridge Inc. proposes the construction of a 1200-km twin pipeline that would carry diluted bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands to B.C.’s coast, passing directly through Burns Lake.
In a statement released shortly after the approval of the project, the liberals criticized the conservatives’ decision to approve the project.
“The prime minister and his conservative government have spent years trying to ram through the Northern Gateway Project at any cost, while demonizing Canadians who are concerned for the coastal economy and environmental protections.”
During his election campaign, Trudeau reiterated his party’s opposition to Northern Gateway. So could this be the end for Enbridge’s controversial project?
Not according to Northern Gateway’s communications manager Ivan Giesbrecht. He said the pipeline proponent “looks forward to the opportunity to sit down with Trudeau and his government” to provide an update on the progress of the project and their partnerships with First Nations and Métis people in Alberta and B.C.
“We share the vision of the Trudeau government that energy projects must incorporate world-leading environmental standards and First Nations and Métis ownership,” said Giesbrecht. “We remain confident in the rigor and thoroughness of the joint review panel process; its careful examination of the Northern Gateway project was one of the most exhaustive of its kind in our country’s history.”
“When we received our approval from the government of Canada in 2014, we stated that we understood we have more work to do with First Nations and Métis communities along the pipeline corridor and with coastal British Columbia First Nations,” he added.
Enbridge’s controversial project has faced opposition from several First Nations groups across the province, including the Yinka Dene Alliance – an alliance of First Nations groups in Northern B.C.
First Nations chiefs in the Burns Lake area - Wet’suwet’en First Nation chief Karen Ogen, Lake Babine Nation chief Wilf Adam and Burns Lake Band chief Dan George - have also stood against the project.
Earlier this month, eighteen lawsuits against Northern Gateway - launched by a collection of First Nations, environmental groups and a labour union - were presented in the federal court of appeal in Vancouver. The litigation hearing concluded Oct. 8 with judges reserving their decision on whether to sustain or quash the government’s approval of the project.