“We Haven’t Gone Anywhere”: Northern Gateway Opposition Mounts for National Day of Action

Last weekend, Kitimat, BC was abuzz with Let’s Talk Energy, a corporate-backed event to showcase Kitimat to oil and gas developers.

Some of the biggest oil companies and proponents of the Enbridge pipeline and the expansion of Alberta’s tar sands more generally sponsored the event: Enbridge, Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, Chevron, Shell, MEG Energy, Petroleum Services of Association of Canada, and TransCanada. Attendees could even catch a keynote from Peter Tertzakian, an energy economist with a $2.7 billion energy-focused private equity firm that invests in upstream oil and gas and infrastructure.

Prior to the event, some residents of Kitimat got creative. At the intersection before the trade fair, they hung a Pipe Up Against Enbridge sign announcing Defend our Climate, Defend our Communities National Day of Action on November 16.   

With a decision over the controversial project expected by next year, Murray Minchin, a mail carrier with Canada Post and one of the people behind the banner wanted to make sure Enbridge got the message loud and clear.

“We put the banner up at the intersection just before where the event was held because we wanted it in their face. We wanted to show that we haven't gone anywhere, we aren't going anywhere, we haven't forgotten what's at stake and we’re in this for the long haul,“ he said.

Kitimat is ground zero for the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project, and the issue of the pipeline has ignited opposition in the community and across the country.

The banner remains near the backdrop of the Kitimat River, which feeds into the Douglas Channel. If approved, the tar sands pipeline would carry 525,000 barrels a day of crude near family homes in the community onto more than 200 supertankers each year.

According to a new international study, these 200 supertankers could put the Douglas Channel’s recovering whale population at risk.

For Minchin, the pipeline and tanker issue is deeply personal. “I grew up in Kitimat. I’ve been hiking for years in this area. My wife and I sea kayaked this coast for 6 months. I’ve got an intimate understanding of what this environment is like. It’s powerful yet delicate. It’s important that we come together to stop any liquid oil product coming to the coast. It’s too dangerous for this area that is too important for this world.”

On Saturday November 16, the Defend Our Climate, Defend our Communities National Day of Action will see opposition events taking place in communities across Canada.