Canadian Gov. Dismisses All Possibility Of Oil Spills From Western Gateway: 'It Cannot Happen Here"

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In this instance, the infrastructure touted by the PM would be Keystone, the proposed pipeline from northern Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico – i.e., Canada’s north-south conduit to fossil fuel consumers. The Northern Gateway, set to run from the tar sands through inland BC to the pristine shoreline at Kitimat, would of course be its east-west, or rather its west-east, intended to provide ready access to insatiable Asian markets. The proposed $6.5 bn Northern Gateway would be Canada’s – Enbridge’s – route to China, to India, via supertankers launched into the Pacific from coastal BC.

In recent days, Canada’s natural resources minister told the Toronto Star that he unequivocally ruled out the possibility of a spill of the magnitude of the Exxon Valdez on the coast of British Columbia. Joe Oliver enumerated the factors that led to the disaster 24 years ago, and the improvements to policy and best practices that have been instituted since, stressing his “abiding faith in the double hull.” In short, he concluded, “This cannot happen here” – unwittingly deploying, in the name of the government’s pro-pipeline campaign, language to which the Coastal First Nations might also subscribe.

In a “Declaration” recently posted on its website, the aboriginal organisation states that “…in upholding our ancestral laws, rights and responsibilities, we declare that oil tankers carrying crude oil from the Alberta Tar Sands will not be allowed to transit our lands and waters.” The declaration reaffirms that “As Nations of the Central and North Pacific Coast and Haida Gwaii, it is our custom to share our wealth and live in harmony with the broader human community.” Neither Enbridge shareholders nor Conservative cabinet ministers appear to observe that custom.

According to a report by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council – a 20-year status report by the group of scientists and government trustees accountable for the recovery of Alaska’s devastated coast, “One of the most stunning revelations…is that Exxon Valdez oil persists in the environment and, in places, is nearly as toxic as it was in the first few weeks…. At this rate, the remaining oil will take decades and possibly centuries to disappear entirely.” Hence the prospect, in 2013, of many dark anniversaries to come.

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http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/03/201332911552936394.html