Only four people showed up to a poorly advertised meeting about the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, July 9, raising questions about the federal government’s commitment to engage the public in meaningful consultations.
Jill Seaton, chair of the Jasper Environmental Association (JEA), said she believed more people would have showed up if they knew about it.
“I was speaking to major environmental groups in Alberta and no one seemed to know this was happening,” said Seaton.
“I don’t understand why this wasn’t properly advertised.”
The meeting in Jasper was scheduled as three separate round-table discussions; the first for First Nations, the second for NGOs and the third for local businesses. However, except for the JEA, no one else showed up.
National Resources Minister Jim Carr, recently appointed a panel to travel across Alberta and British Columbia to engage local and Indigenous communities about the proposed pipeline, which was conditionally approved by the National Energy Board in May and already runs through Jasper National Park.
The panel is composed of former Yukon premier Tony Penikett, ex-Alberta deputy minister Annette Trimbee, and former Tsawwassen First Nation chief Kim Baird of B.C.
The panel said they extended invitations to locals, businesses and NGOs, but representatives from the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Jasper and Mayor Richard Ireland said they were unaware of the Saturday meeting. The Fitzhugh only became aware of the meeting after being contacted by the JEA. Several other regional papers were also unaware the meeting was taking place.
Baird admitted that the meetings were announced last minute. However, she said that a federal press release was sent out to various organizations and was posted on the federal government’s website almost a week before the first meeting, which was held in Calgary on July 7.
“We don’t work for the federal government so it’s not our responsibility for how information gets out, but we do appreciate the few of you who took the time to come out. We’re hopeful as we go further west that the meetings will be noticed more,” said Baird adding that if they need to come back because of the meeting’s short notice then the panel will consider backtracking.
“We want to hear from everyone and we’re trying to be as informal as possible to allow some free flowing discussion pertaining to this project.”
Baird noted that the panel is also accessible through an online questionnaire or by sending feedback by e-mail. The deadline to make submissions is Sept. 30.
“We’re hoping this will help with the short notice of the meetings,” Baird said.
A spokeswoman for Natural Resources Canada avoided answering why the meeting was called at such short notice or why it wasn’t publically advertised, but did acknowledge the panel would try to communicate better with the public.
“The panel is enhancing its communications efforts for future meetings,” wrote Tania Carreira Pereira, a communications officer for the department.
In her statement she pointed to the government’s press release on June 30, which listed the cities where meeting were going to be held and said information about the meetings were also disseminated through the department’s Twitter account.
The meeting was organized by the Major Projects Management Office and the panel is expected to submit a report to Minister Carr by Nov. 1.
On May 19, the National Energy Board conditionally approved the proposed pipeline expansion project, subject to 157 conditions, including 49 environmental requirements, before Kinder Morgan can twin the 1,150 km long pipeline from Strathcona County, near Edmonton, to Burnaby, B.C.
The Liberal government is expected to make a final decision on the $6.8-billion project on or before Dec. 19 this year. In 2014, Justin Trudeau, who wasn’t prime minister at the time, said that he was in favour of the Kinder Morgan expansion plan, provided it was done right.
The controversial project envisions tripling the amount of oil transported by pipeline running directly through Jasper National Park. The proposed expansion would include building approximately 987 km of new pipeline and reactivating 193 kms of existing pipeline–the majority of which already runs through JNP.
Once completed, the twinning would allow 890,000 barrels of oil to pass through the park a day, nearly three times the amount that travels through it today.
During the two and half hour meeting, Seaton and Dave Hatto, also of JEA, were the only ones to voice their concerns. They told the panel about the negative environmental and economic impacts the pipeline could have in JNP.
“There’s always an argument that the pipeline will create work and boost the economy, but that’s only in the short term,” Hatto said. “Once the project is completed it takes very few people to actually run a pipeline. And then after a few years it will completely drain our natural resources and we’ll be left with nothing.”
One of Seaton’s main concerns was about the condition of the pipeline and the possibility of a break. The existing pipeline running through JPN is more than 60 years old.
In 2008, Trans Mountain installed a second pipeline in Jasper National Park adjacent to its existing pipeline, known as the Anchor Loop project. The 158 km pipeline runs between Hinton and Hargreaves, B.C., just west of Mount Robson Provincial Park, and will connect with the new pipeline if approved.
“If there’s a break then there’s a break,” said Kinder Morgan operations director Dan Carter, who was in attendance at the July 9 meeting.
Carter added that Kinder Morgan has professional staff to monitor the pipeline.
“The faster you know how to shut down that pipeline the quicker you can mitigate the break,” Carter said about a hypothetical break.
Other feedback the panel heard since it commenced its tour included the importance of the pipeline for Alberta’s economy, concerns over the quick pace Kinder Morgan is trying to move the project, route disagreements and the pipeline’s impact on climate change.
“This is just a very broad stroke of what we’ve heard,” said panel member Penikett. “As we move towards the west coast it’s quite likely we will hear different perspectives than the ones we’ve heard in Alberta.”
Kayla Byrne
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