Important news! The joint review panel hearings for the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline are coming to Vancouver.

Hearings also took place last week in Victoria, where they caused a commotion with new rules that don’t allow members of the public to sit in on the proceedings. Instead, concerned citizens who want to watch the hearings in Vancouver or Victoria have been forced to go to separate “viewing venues” to watch live broadcasts—all because of concerns over possible disruptions. Not surprisingly, 100% of the 253 oral presentations given at the Victoria hearings were opposed to the project.

This latest attempt to shut out the public is just one more debacle in the ongoing controversy around the Northern Gateway pipeline. First Nations, environmentalists and people across British Columbia have stood up to say “No!” to this destructive project…and next week we’ll have another opportunity to make our voices heard.

The Wilderness Committee will be participating in the joint review panel hearings next week with an oral statement, and we’ll be out on the streets in Vancouver expressing our opposition along with hundreds of others dedicated to defending our coast. Concerned British Columbians will be gathering for a march and subsequent rally outside the hearings at the Sheraton Wall Centre (1088 Burrard Street) between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. on Monday, January 14. Earlier that afternoon, allies will be unveiling a 25-foot whale named “Hope”, to symbolize the growing movement to protect BC’s coast from an oil spill. Hope the whale will be making her debut appearance on Monday at 3:00 p.m. at Nelson Park (Nelson and Burrard Street). For more information, visit Hope’s Facebook event page.

At the end of the week of hearings on Friday, January 18 at 12 noon, you’ll have one more chance to participate in something really creative.There's going to be a cool photo op demonstration outside the hearings at the Sheraton Wall Centre, where 200 blue cardboard water drops will be held up and photographed from above to create a giant blue drop—an “Überdrop”—as a symbol to protect our land and water from oil pipelines and tankers. To learn more about the event and the blue drop movement, visit the Facebook page and check out bluedrops.ca.

If you’re in the Vancouver area next week, please consider joining us—and many others—to express our opposition to the Northern Gateway pipeline. We can’t let our salmon-bearing streams, our communities or our coast be exposed to the threat of an oil pipeline or tanker spill. Let’s send the folks at Enbridge a message they can’t ignore!

Cheers,

Gwen Barlee | Policy Director

Photo: Crowds at the Defend Our Coast anti-pipeline rally in Victoria, October 2012. (Utopiaphoto.ca)