Opponents of the Northern Gateway pipeline are calling on Premier Christy Clark to clarify her connection to Enbridge in the wake of revelations that she used to work for a firm that once lobbied on behalf of the pipeline company.
"I know that she didn't work directly on Enbridge lobbying," ForestEthics Advocacy spokeswoman Nikki Skuce said. "But I think in terms of transparency and accountability she should have come clear that she was working for this firm that was lobbying for Enbridge."
According to a story first reported in the Vancouver Observer, Clark was briefly employed for Burrard Communications and that company lobbied on behalf of Enbridge in 2005 and 2006.
Clark's spokesman said her tenure at the company didn't coincide with the time Enbridge was a client of Burrard Communications, but he was unable to provide the specific dates she worked for the lobbying firm.
Clark's ex-husband Mark Marissen did work for Burrard on the Enbridge file, according to the federal registry for lobbyists, but he wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that Clark herself joined the firm in 2006 after Burrard's contract with Enbridge had concluded.
Despite the lack of a direct link, Skuce said that there are still "creepy connections" between Clark and Enbridge.
Skuce said she believes Clark's opposition to the pipeline as currently proposed and the public spat with former Alberta premier Alison Redford played a role in helping her secure a majority government for the Liberals in last spring's provincial election. She wants Clark to re-affirm her opposition to the project which would connect Alberta's oilsands with an export facility in Kitimat.
"I think that Christy Clark took a stand to protect our coast before the election and I think right now she needs to clarify this relationship publicly and re-affirm her opposition to Northern Gateway," Skuce said.
Lawyers representing the B.C. government told a federal Joint Review Panel last year that the project as designed didn't meet the province's requirements. In 2012 Clark announced five conditions that her government said the province must meet in order to receive its stamp of approval, to date neither Clark nor Environment Minister Mary Polak have said if any of those conditions have been achieved.
In December the Joint Review Panel issued a report recommending the federal government approve the pipeline, but a series of First Nations and environmental groups are challenging the findings in federal court.
Federal Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq and her cabinet colleagues are expected to issue their opinion on whether or not Northern Gateway should be allowed to proceed in the coming months.
