Warrior Up: Thousands Protest Northern Gateway Pipeline in Victoria

Benefits to B.C.

Image courtesy of Defend Our Coast

As their website states, Enbridge’s reasons for the pipeline are to facilitate access to new markets for Canadian tar sands oil. Currently, the majority of tar sands oil is shipped south to U.S. markets. Enbridge explains 3,000 jobs will be created for B.C. during the construction phase as well as 60 long-term employment opportunities.

The project, according to Enbridge, will create a lasting legacy of local investment, tax revenue, and jobs for the North, over and above the tremendous benefits created by access to new and growing markets for Canadian natural resources.

Enbridge is also offering Aboriginal people a 10% share in a $5.5 billion dollar project. That is about $280 million in net income over the next 30 years. Enbridge maintains the $6 billion pipeline will bring in $81 billion in revenue over three decades.

But Enbridge has not been oblivious to the response of the public. In a recent Vancouver Sun article, Enbridge explained it plans to launch a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign in British Columbia in response to the stiff opposition.

“You are going to see a much higher visibility for Enbridge over the next few days. In newspapers, in television and online,” said Paul Stanway, manager of Northern Gateway communications for Enbridge. “It’s become quite apparent that the debate has become a province-wide issue.”

The ad campaign’s purpose is to direct people to the project’s website, www.northerngateway.ca, where the company has posted information and blogs on topics from economic benefits to environmental safeguards. The campaign is to begin this week with full-page ads in major B.C. daily newspapers and 30-second television ads with the slogan: “It’s more than a pipeline. It’s a path to our future.”