Hearings into massive pipeline project set to begin
Posted Jan 9, 2012 6:50 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Opponents and proponents of the $5.5-billion Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline development will soon be given their chance to speak.
More than four thousand groups and individuals have registered for National Energy Board hearings that get underway Tuesday in Kitimat, B.C.
The Federal and Alberta governments are hoping the project will be green-lighted, because it would boost Canadian energy exports to lucrative Asian markets.
In a recent interview with 660News, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver stated it is imperative Canada find more customers for its oil and gas outside the U.S.
Late last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper blasted what he called radical environmentalists and jet-setting celebrities for trying to block those efforts.
The Executive Director of Sierra Club Canada predicts Ottawa is going to have a battle on its hands trying to get the pipeline approved.
John Bennett says aboriginal groups who will be impacted by the development have added their anti-pipeline voice to the growing environmental movement.
A final decision on the pipeline is expected in late 2013.
It is estimated oil companies could lose billions of dollars a year if the project does not come to fruition.
