The B.C. NDP would let "neutral civil servants" examine the merits and risks of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline if they form they next provincial government, but will reserve the right to overrule any recommendation given to them.
During a visit to Prince George on Thursday, NDP environment critic Rob Fleming wouldn't point to a specific circumstance where his party would approve the controversial plan to link Alberta's oilsands with Kitimat using twin crude oil and condensate pipelines. However he said the provincial environmental assessment his party plans to initiate if elected wouldn't be prejudiced politically.
"I think the review will be a real review, it will be done by neutral civil servants and it will hear from British Columbians and First Nations, many of whom have felt their voices have not been adequately heard in this process," Fleming said during a break in National Energy Board hearings. "We'll go where the science goes."
At the same time Fleming didn't eliminate the possibility an NDP government could overrule the provincial environmental assessment if it still felt the risks outweighed the benefits.
"The NDP would have a political say [in the final decision]," Fleming said. "We would take the advice of the B.C. civil service, which has been ordered to sit on its hands for the last two years, we'd see what they come back with."
The NDP have stated if elected, they would cut ties with the current National Energy Board Joint Review Panel currently underway and conduct their own "made-in-B.C." examination of the $6.5 billion project. Fleming said it's important for the government to do its homework because it might have to back up its opposition to the project in court if its decision is at odds with the federal review.
"Should we find ourselves arguing in the Supreme Court against the federal government, we're going to need to see that we did our own due diligence and come to our own determination, otherwise we're going to lose in court," Fleming said.
Inter-provincial pipelines, like Northern Gateway, fall under federal jurisdiction but both the NDP and governing Liberals believe there are mechanisms in place which could allow the province to block the project.
Northern Gateway spokesman Ivan Giesbrecht said his company has faith in the joint review process and aren't making any contingency plans for a new environmental assessment, should the NDP win a spring election.
"We have confidence in this process, the Canadian government has confidence in this process as Canadians should have confidence in this process," Giesbrecht said. "We're focused on this one right and to speculate on future environmental reviews, we're just not going to be able to do that right now."
Fleming also criticized the Liberal government's handling of its role as intervener in the joint review process. The government chose not to file any evidence in the proceedings, but has cross-examined some Northern Gateway witness panels. Provincial lawyers didn't have any questions for the environmental effects panel which wrapped up its testimony Thursday and did not have any lawyers in the room at the Columbus Community Centre.
"I think it was a stark reminder not to see the provincial government and their legal team here [Thursday] when there's evidence that's directly B.C.'s jurisdictional responsibility at stake here, for example wildlife management," Fleming said.
Later Thursday, Fleming attended an NDP-sponsored panel discussion on Northern Gateway at UNBC. He said the aim of the evening was to hear from citizens and have a discussion about the risks of the project.
