Survey shows divide between Albertans and British Columbians on Northern Gateway
Posted Jul 2, 2014 11:59 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A new survey is shedding some light on the differing attitudes in British Columbia and Alberta for Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline project.
Insights West data says while half of B.C. residents are opposed to the project, 38 per cent are for it and the rest are undecided.
It’s a much different story in Alberta, where two-thirds of residents want the project to happen.
The three issues B.C. residents are most skeptical of is increased tax revenue, better relationships with Asian countries and benefits to First Nations.
The group’s VP of Public Affairs, Mario Canseco, said an interesting finding was even though the federal government approved the project, that did little to move the needle in terms of B.C. support.
That’s also despite the Conservatives’ strong showing in the last federal election in the province.
“It didn’t happen,” he said. “That was interesting to us because there are areas where you have federal Conservative MPs who have been very silent on this issue, they really haven’t talked a lot about what this might mean for the country, what this might mean for the province.”
Along with the skepticism, those in the most western province were worried about an expected increase in oil tanker traffic, the risk of an oil spill and the impact of pipeline construction on the environment.
Despite the numbers, Canseco said there’s actually a glimmer of hope for Enbridge, because the numbers are slightly better than data from a year ago and they could always shift their focus among those who are moderately opposed.
He said they shouldn’t worry about those who are vehemently against it, which is about three in 10.
“They can have as many press conferences, as many have campaigned, as many discussions about how they will engage with First Nations and how everything is going to be handled in case there’s an oil spill,” he said. “But there’s a group of people whose belief that this should not go through are so ingrained, that they’re not going to change their mind.”
For a full link to the report, click here.
