Voters in Kitimat have had their say on the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, but there is no consensus around the value of a similar vote in Prince George.
Last weekend, residents of the coastal community voted 58 per cent against the recommendations made by a Joint Review Panel regarding the plan to build dual oil and condensate pipelines from Alberta's oilsands to the north coast - however the results of the municipal plebiscite were not binding.
In December, the three-member Joint Review Panel recommended the federal government conditionally approve the $6.5 million pipeline, which would have its western terminus in Kitimat. The federal cabinet is currently reviewing the report and a decision is expected by mid-June.
Former Prince George-Mackenize provincial Green party candidate Karen McDowell said she would welcome a chance for Prince George residents to give their say on the pipeline project.
"It would be beneficial because I think people know in Prince George what the pros and cons are and aren't seeing past the deception that Enbridge is trying to bring to us," she said.
McDowell pointed to the overwhelming number of oral arguments presented to the Joint Review Panel that were against the project compared to only a few in favour and said she believes the result of a Prince George vote would be similar to the Kitimat tally.
"I expect it would be the same, if not more overwhelming," she said, adding she hopes the results will influence the government's decision.
Carrier Sekani Tribal Council chief Terry Teegee, also an opponent of the project, said the Kitimat vote came too late in the process and he doesn't see the value of holding one in Prince George or elsewhere in the central interior.
"I think it would be a fruitless exercise for more communities to do this exercise, especially in light of the forthcoming decision in mid-June from the government, who will probably approve the project," he said. "Perhaps we should use our collective energy to strategize on our next steps to stop the project, such as the legal avenues or peaceful indirect actions and building more coalitions."
Teegee described the outcome of the Kitimat vote as a "good result" but wishes the vote had taken place during the environmental assessment hearings rather than after the Joint Review Panel issued its final report in December.
Northern Gateway project leader Janet Holder said her company learned from the Kitimat vote and appreciated the chance to speak with supporters and opponents alike, but she said the company doesn't have an opinion on whether or not other votes would be a good idea.
"The plebiscite that happened in Kitimat provided us with an opportunity to talk to citizens in different ways to learn and understand what people were thinking in different ways than we had been up until the plebiscite," she said. "It added value to our process but I would leave that question on what matters to a community up to the communities."
Although less than 42 per cent of the nearly 3,000 people who cast a ballot voted in favour of the Northern Gateway pipeline, Holder said the company appreciated the chance to present its case directly to people.
"I think what I did learn was that their are people that are saying no, that if you have a chance to engage with them which we did in Kitimat, they may still have voted no but they truly were engaged in asking relevant questions and trying to better understand the project," she said.
While the federal cabinet deliberates on the panel report, a series of judicial review requests on the contents of the panel's findings are working their way through the federal court system.
If the federal government does give the project a green light, it must still go through the provincial permitting system. At present, the B.C. government said it can't support the project because it does not meet any of its five economic, environmental and social conditions.
