Mr. Godbout argues in his May 1 Editorial "If not here, than elsewhere" - but where is the elsewhere? He seems to accept a version of economic determinism whereby all social and political change is determined by so-called laws of supply and demand. But we know that the system boundaries determine the outcome of many resource development decisions. The terms of reference for the Northern Gateway Pipeline review process removed from consideration much of the upstream and downstream aspects of bitumen development. The boundaries were defined in narrower terms than the broad recommendation that was the outcome of the review.
The panel concluded that it was in the best interest of Canadian society that the project go ahead. Interveners were constrained by the removal from consideration of the greater cost of the project proceeding. Clearly, there needed to have been a congruence between the terms of reference and the recommendation that the panel made in their final decision. This did not happen.
Mr. Godbout's dismissal of the "not in my backyard" sentiment reminded me of the "straw man" that is seems too easy to tear down. If citizens don't engage resource developments locally, then where else? It is natural that people will engage on issues that most affect them. In fact, there are citizens working to improve resource development in all the other "elsewhere(s)" where development will supposedly continue "if not here".
In my mind, the opportunity the NGP and the New Prosperity Mine presents is that the local is made global. The fact is that if all the difficult oil is brought to the surface and burned the outcome will be a level of disruption to our lifestyles far greater than leaving some of the lowest quality fossil fuel resources undeveloped. Mr. Godbout's assertion "if not here, then elsewhere" hardly deals with the true costs of much development.
The recommendation to proceed with the project went way beyond the limited purview that was set at the start of the review process.
As is the case with many resource development projects, the greater cost of going ahead is frequently removed from consideration. If we as a society continue to act on the form of economic determinism Mr. Godbout presents in his editorial and let this philosophy override action that needs to happen on the climate front, the road ahead will be more difficult than we can now imagine.
Norm Jacob
Prince George
