VICTORIA B.C. – Andrew Weaver, leader of the B.C. Green Party, issued the following statement on today’s federal energy announcements:
“Prime Minister Trudeau has betrayed the trust of British Columbians. The approval of this project is completely contradictory to this government’s rhetoric at the Paris climate talks, as well as their commitments to finally embrace a new era of reconciliation. This government was elected with guarantees that change would finally happen - instead we see yet another Federal government steamrolling their pipeline agenda over First Nations and over B.C. communities.
“I was an intervenor in the National Energy Board review. I have read through Kinder Morgan’s application, reviewed thousands of pages of documentation and asked Trans Mountain more than 600 questions about their spill response capacity.
“As a scientist, I can say unequivocally that we remain completely and utterly unprepared for a major oil spill.
“Instating a ban for part of the coast while increasing heavy oil tanker traffic by 580% in another is completely outrageous. It ignores basic ocean science. We need to protect the entire coast.The potential effects of a diluted bitumen spill in our waters would be catastrophic.
“It's now up to the Provincial government to finally tell British Columbians where it stands. Premier Clark has been hedging her bets for years, appearing ready to approve a pipeline as soon as it is politically expedient.
“The B.C. Green Party is the only party that has offered a consistent, principled position, based on evidence: heavy oil tankers have no place on our coast.
“It is becoming abundantly clear that the ways in which projects are receiving approval no longer meets the expectations of Canadians or First Nation communities. The next government elected in BC will have to confront this reality.”
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Media contact
Mat Wright, Press Secretary, Office of Andrew Weaver, MLA
+1 250-216-3382 | [email protected]
Background
Andrew Weaver sought intervention status in the Trans Mountain National Energy Board Hearing both as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and as a scientist with a doctorate in applied mathematics and with specialty in physical oceanography and atmospheric and climate science. As an MLA, he represents the constituency of Oak Bay-Gordon Head, which is located along the Trans Mountain Tanker Sailing Route on the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island. He was the only B.C. MLA with intervenor status in the hearing process.
As a scientist, Weaver served as Lansdowne Professor and Canada Research Chair in climate modeling and analysis in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria, where he worked for over 20 years. He was a lead author on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th scientific assessments and has authored and coauthored over 200 peer-reviewed, scientific papers. Weaver is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, the American Meteorological Society, the American Geophysical Union and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Throughout the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain NEB hearings, he applied his scientific expertise, particularly in physical oceanography and modelling.