The 26-year-old Prince George resident and graduate of the University of B.C.'s natural resource conservation program said she hopes people will join them-blindfolds are optional-for stretches of the two-day protest departing from the Kinder Morgan terminal May 4 and travelling through Vancouver while stopping at the offices of local candidates running in the May 14 provincial election.

 

Harrison said that while so far she has only heard back from Green Party candidates, she wants the responsible development of natural resources to become a campaign priority for all parties.

 

"Our message is that for resource development to be economically responsible, it must be done in accordance with a long-term energy plan that involves an eventual transition to clean energy," said Harrison. "We believe that an energy policy that does not transition away from fossil fuels endangers our economic future, especially in a world where our trading partners are competing for energy independence."

 

She said she was encouraged by NDP leader Adrian Dix's new position on the proposed expansion of Kinder Morgan's 1,150-kilometre Trans Mountain pipeline from Edmonton to Burnaby.

 

Dix announced during a recent campaign event in Kamloops that an NDP government wouldn't approve the expansion, which would double the pipeline's capacity of 300,000 barrels of crude a day, if it meant turning Metro Vancouver into a major oil exporter.

 

"I think it is a strong stance to come out with and it certainly did appease people who are voting according to their environmental conscience," said Harrison.

 

Dix had previously said that he wouldn't pre-judge the proposed $5.4-billion project on principle until the pipeline builder's plans had been filed as part of the federal environmental review. B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark wrote in an open letter to voters that "the risks are greatly offset by the number of jobs at our ports, tanker terminals and shipping yards." She wants the project to go ahead so long as it passes an environmental review, first-rate oil-spill prevention and response systems are implemented, aboriginal treaty rights are addressed and the province receives a healthy share of revenues.

 

Shane Simpson, the NDP MLA for Vancouver-Hastings, said the vast majority of his constituents have told him they are against increased tanker traffic in Burrard Inlet.

 

"I've been out knocking on doors at least a few hours every day and certainly the topic of oil and pipelines comes up quite a lot," said Simpson, whose riding is next door to Kinder Morgan's Westridge Terminal, which saw 234,000 litres of oil spilled in 2007 after a construction crew ruptured an underground pipeline. "Almost without exception, people have been very keen about the announcement that Adrian has made, that we are not going to allow Vancouver to become a major oil port [but] we still don't know what the application looks like and we'll see that eventually because presumably Kinder Morgan will file an application and we'll know what the specifics are."

 

Eoin Madden, the climate change campaign manager for the Wilderness Committee, pointed out that Dix's statement opposing an increase in tanker traffic isn't the same thing as vetoing the project entirely.

 

"He is adopting a stance that we don't want to make Metro Vancouver a centre for tankers," Madden told the Courier. "I wouldn't interpret it as an outright no on Kinder Morgan. I would say it is a positive step, but whether it becomes a policy or not, I would say that [if elected] he has still left the door open to a hefty environmental assessment review process put on the project."