Enbridge put a challenge to the Calgary business community Tuesday to fight back against critics of the proposed $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline.
In a speech to a Calgary Economic Development luncheon Wednesday, which was disseminated via e-mail and social media, Enbridge senior executive Stephen Wuori said opposition to business and development is itself a big business, with professional protesters plying their trade and raising hundreds of millions of dollars.
A Prince George-based environmental group opposing the project took issue with Wuori's notion.
Sea-to-Sands Conservation Alliance representative Mary MacDonald said their Prince George-based group is certainly not receiving outside money. She characterized the alliance as group of concerned citizens working with a few local donations and volunteer effort.
She added it was ridiculous for a big oil company to criticize the financial resources of opponents of the pipeline. Enbridge has said it will have spent about $250 million on the project once the regulatory process is complete.
"Enbridge could out-money the opposition easily," said MacDonald.
Enbridge reiterated its position that it is critically important for Canada to get a stronghold in other oil markets, such as Asia.
"First, Canada desperately needs to diversify its crude oil customer base. Northern Gateway does exactly that and will deliver tremendous economic benefit to all of Canada," said Wuori, president of liquid pipelines for Enbridge, in the text of the speech.
Wuori asked the business luncheon audience in Calgary to help balance the discussion about the pipeline, saying he expected that what they have heard of the project was alarmist, inaccurate and didn't tell the whole story.
He called on the audience to challenge information they viewed as not factual.
Wuori's list of one-sided stories included that oil sands can't be safely transported in pipelines. Enbridge has pointed to its 2010 record of transporting 99.99 per cent of its 750 million barrels of oil safely.
Wuori argued Northern Gateway is a game changer for Canada, needed to turn it into a world energy super power.
"We need to do a better job of telling that story and connecting the dots in the public discussion," he said. "And finally, as leaders we need to stand up, answer the tough questions, challenge misinformation and proudly defend the work we do."
Opponents say that any economic benefits are not worth the environmental risks from a pipeline or tanker spill.
MacDonald took exception to Enbridge's efforts top claim ownership of economic development in northern B.C., arguing the pipeline could have negative impacts on the existing tourism and fishing sectors.
The Northern Gateway project, which will pass just north of Prince George, is meant to open up new markets in Asia for crude from the Alberta oilsands. Virtually all of Canada's oil is exported to the U.S.
The controversial 1,149-kilometre pipeline has attracted increasing opposition from First Nations, environmental groups, some communities in northern B.C., as well as some tourism and fisheries groups.
First Nations from north-central B.C. who oppose the pipeline staged a protest in downtown Calgary last week to coincide with Enbridge's annual general meeting. The protests generated national headlines.
Another protest was staged in Prince Rupert the same week during the North Central Local Government Association's annual convention.
