An NDP review of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline could be credible, despite the party's opposition to the project, according to leader Adrian Dix.
The NDP have pledged to withdraw from the National Energy Board's Joint Review Panel within a week of forming government and would then start up their own provincial review of the $6.5 billion plan to pipe oil sands products from northern Alberta to Kitimat for export.
Dix said his party doesn't believe the pipeline is in the economic or environmental interest of the province, but that opposition won't cloud the bureaucracy's review of the file. He pointed to the federal government, which launched a review despite members of cabinet supporting the plan.
"With the greatest of respect to the federal government, which is currently engaged in a review although [Prime Minister Stephen Harper] and [Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver] and others, seem to have expressed their own views on the matter, I think one might suggest that it's possible," Dix said in an exclusive interview Monday with the Citizen.
The federal review is scheduled to wrap up this year, with a decision expected from cabinet in early 2014. Dix said the NDP's review would focus on different areas than what the Joint Review Panel has explored.
"Mr. Harper and Mr. Oliver have assigned that review and set the terms of reference for the review and we'd have our own review and have different terms of reference," Dix said. "We'd focus on provincial jurisdiction."
The NDP have also pledged to give the provincial environmental review process more teeth.
"Often in the past, in fairness, federal processes have been better than current provincial processes," Dix said, pointing to a provincial review which gave the proposed Prosperity mine a green light, while the federal review raised red flags. "It shows that historically the weakness has been on the provincial side."
The pipeline is expected to be an issue in next month's election. The NDP and Greens are against the project, while the Conservatives have come out in favour. The Liberals have set five environmental, consultative and economic conditions which need to be met before they will consider approving it.
By not exiting the federal process, Dix said the Liberals threat to withhold permits if their conditions aren't met is "not consistent."
Meanwhile, Dix remained non-committal on the plan to build a refinery in Kitimat to add value to the oil before its shipped to foreign markets. Newspaper mogul David Black is behind a plan that he says could lead to 3,000 permanent jobs.
"I think in the case of Mr. Black's project it's still reasonably theoretical, but he has every right to bring it forward. We have to review it when we see it," Dix said.
Known as Kitimat Clean, Black's plan calls for a pipeline similar to the one Northern Gateway is proposing. Dix said it's too early to say if his government would treat the pipeline plus refinery plan any differently from the pipeline-only plan.
"The biggest challenges to Mr. Black's project aren't the provincial government, they're financing and access to raw products," Dix said.
