WWF says no to Northern Gateway at public hearings in Vancouver

My statement is based on our comprehensive submission to the JRP that includes two expert reports we commissioned: one from UBC’s Fisheries Centre on ocean-based economic activities and the impacts of oil spills on the economy, ands the second from a bioacoustitician from Australia’s Curtin University on the deficiencies of the proponent’s assessment of ocean noise impacts from increased oil tanker traffic.
Here’s a summary of what I said to the Panel:
WWF’s work on the Great Bear Sea focuses on marine protected areas, sound management of working landscapes, and marine spatial planning. Over the past decade we have produced scientific reports on climate change and the Pacific Ocean; cumulative impacts; and the impact of anthropogenic ocean noise on marine species. For 11 years, we have worked on BC’s North Coast through our office in Prince Rupert.
Five years ago, WWF awarded its highest international accolade – the Gift to the Earth award – to the architects of the Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest agreement. The project now before this Panel threatens this Gift to the Earth.
A decision to recommend approval of this project requires the Panel to be satisfied that the project is in the public interest. The balance of economic, environmental and social interests in this case is against project approval.
The environmental costs are too great. Scientific evidence indicates that significant intensification of marine transportation and transport of heavy hydrocarbons through the Great Bear region poses severe ecological risks. The increase in oil tanker traffic along British Columbia’s northern coast would jeopardize marine health, and the pipeline construction and operation would jeopardize the region’s wild salmon‐producing rivers.
The economic case for approval has not been established. The proposed development would threaten human well‐being by putting at risk important food sources, jobs and the economy, cultural heritage, and spiritual values. The costs of an oil spill are long‐lasting, and negatively affect overall societal well‐being.
The social impacts are too great. Overwhelmingly, local communities, who would bear the brunt of any environmental and economic harm, have rejected the project. First Nations, whose traditional territory would be affected, oppose it. WWF‐Canada believes that recent legal changes have undermined the public’s confidence in this regulatory approval process, as the project was based on a regulatory regime that no longer exists. Changing the rules halfway through a process negatively affects society’s view of the project and the approval process.
The Great Bear region comprises globally significant marine, terrestrial and aquatic ecological values, and is one of the last functioning coastal temperate rainforest ecosystems left on Earth. Canada has a responsibility to the world to secure the future of this unique and spectacular place.
For all these reasons, WWF‐Canada urges the Panel to recommend against the project as it is not in the public interest.

(c) Jo Anne Walton/WWF-Canada