If the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project is allowed to proceed, it could set Canadian travel methods back, according to one intervener.
Okanangan resident Terry Vulcano wrote in his final argument to the National Energy Board's Joint Review Panel that Canada is jeopardizing its future if it allows the export pipeline from Alberta's oilsands to the port of Kitimat to proceed.
"If we ship out non-renewable resource overseas, in another few decades, maybe we will all be using horse and dog sled," Vulcano wrote as a means of introduction in his seven-page written statement.
The deadline to submit written final arguments is still over a week away, but Vulcano and a handful of other intervener groups have already made their case to the panel.
In the written statements, parties can reference any evidence which is on the public record as well as any relevant legislation or past rulings by the National Energy Board.
Northern Gateway and the interveners have until May 31 to submit their written arguments. The final oral arguments will begin in Terrace on June 17. In order to qualify for the oral arguments, individuals or groups must first make their case in writing.
In his final argument, Vulcano outlined reasons why he thinks the panel should consider denying approval for the pipeline, ranging from the volatile weather conditions off B.C.'s north coast to the process used to consult First Nations and other communities along the proposed route.
"It seems the proposal before the [Joint Review Panel] is to force development where it is not wanted," he wrote. "The process would have made more sense if at first consent had been achieved for transportation then seek a permit, rather than trying to justify installation of a pipeline to make up for overproducing."
Among the conditions Vulcano would like to see put on the company, should the panel offer a positive recommendation are inspections for every 100 kilometres of construction and a rule mandating Northern Gateway hire workers from British Columbia and Alberta.
The Kitasoo/Xai'xais First Nation, located on the coastal fjords, also expressed their concerns about the project in their final argument submission - although it appears to be a draft document. Notations throughout the document posted on the public registry indicate the Kitasoo/Xai'xais still plan to flesh out some of their arguments around things like the perception of the threat the pipeline could pose and mitigation efforts proposed by Northern Gateway.
The proposed Enbridge pipeline that we hear often about is going to be a great, great
impact to my people," Kitasoo hereditary chief Archie Robinson wrote in the submission. "Great impact because it's not going to only affect us. It's going to affect the people that we trade with.
So it's going to be a great impact on my people all through the people in the mainland who we trade with."
Finally, Alberta Lands Ltd., said in its final argument that the entire process was flawed because it was not allowed to give oral evidence at a hearing last year in Grande Prairie. The company, which owns land along the proposed route, has been a vocal critic of the project through the questioning phase of the hearings.
Once the final oral arguments are completed next month, the panel will hold one day of hearings into any constitutional issues surrounding the project.
The panel will then have about six months to produce its final report and recommendations, which are due by the end of the year. The federal cabinet will have the final say on whether the pipeline can proceed to the next phase and that decision is expected in early 2014.
