Enbridge’s proposal to build the Northern Gateway pipeline from Alberta to Canada’s west coast, if built, will send oil tankers through the waters of the spirit bear’s last intact habitat.

This part of the coast is not only globally important and ecologically sensitive, but is also one of the most treacherous marine channels in North America. And though Enbridge vows to ensure that tanker traffic is done as safely as possible, even they admit they can’t rule out the possibility of an oil spill in an area that has seen two large vessels sink in the last ten years.

With public hearings on the fate of Northern Gateway underway, the debate of whether to build or not to build pipeline has become heated and divisive.

‘FOREIGN’ MONEY A RED HERRING IN DEBATE

In BC, almost every First Nation band is against the pipeline, along with environmental organizations and, depending on which poll you read, the majority of British Columbians. Even BC’s pro-development premier is sitting on the fence about the issue, as is the community of Kitimat, which is where the oil will be loaded onto tankers for shipment to China.

The Canadian government has come out strongly in favour of the pipeline and gone as far as labeling opponents as radicals and puppets of American funders who threaten Canadian sovereignty.

As Jeffery Simpson, Terry Glavin and many others have pointed out, while some environmental groups engaged in this debate are US based or US funded, that doesn’t mean they don’t have the right to an opinion on a global issue in a globalized world.

And it is a bit hypocritical of the Canadian government to get upset about foreign funded of lobby groups, when the pipeline itself is heavily financed by foreign capital, not to mention the fact the Canadian government, rightly, is seeking to open the country to more foreign investment.

It’s also a bizarre point of debate given the fact the Canadian government lobbied American citizens to support the building of the Keystone pipeline from Alberta to the US Gulf Coast: doing in America what the federal government essentially doesn’t agree should happen in Canada…unless it fits their vision.

SPIRIT BEAR YOUTH COALITION SMEARED, WRONGLY

Yet this debate is one of the many sideshows that have surfaced. Without question, the oddest issue raised in the media involved the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition.

In an article printed in the Calgary Herald and reprinted in the Vancouver Sun, a reporter called two individuals registered to speak at the public hearings on Northern Gateway. The article suggests they were signed up without their permission and that they were both members of the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition.

For starters, the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition has never and would never sign up anyone for anything. We challenge our network to take a stand based on their values and while we hope they share our opinion, we understand that they might not. But we always encourage debate and we always strive to be clear in our requests and always leave it open to our supporters to take action if they choose.

Secondly, signing people up to speak at a hearing when they don’t intend to do so flies in the face of what the Youth Coalition wants to see achieved: strong, healthy debate on a critical policy issue that affects the spirit bear. It has been suggested that the simple act of having people registered will slow the decision making process and kill the pipeline. And there is merit to this argument if the Youth Coalition wanted to see the pipeline project killed. We don’t. We support the pipeline, just not the route.

Now it has come out that the individual contacted in the news story did sign-up to be heard at the public hearing.

The reporter – through no fault of her own – didn’t communicate her questions in their native tongue (Portuguese) and between a combination of misunderstanding the question and considerable time passing since these two young leaders signed up to speak at the hearing gave the impression they didn’t know about the issue. But the story was rushed to print and was reprinted without any follow-up to check the facts that were used to insinuate a complete falsehood.

BALANCE NEEDED IN PIPELINE DEBATE

There was no conspiracy: it was likely a case of students who didn’t understand the context of the question in a foreign language and couldn’t recall everything they did six months prior when asked out of the blue and late at night.

And such is the state of the Northern Gateway debate today.

Rumormongering, veiled threats, and conspiracy theories from all sides have poisoned and turned off a citizenry who should be encouraged to participate in this conversation. After all, it will only be through a truly meaningful dialogue that varied opinions will be heard and afford the process the opportunity to see what should be the balanced solution: a shifted pipeline route away from spirit bear waters, but one that still allows for oil exports.

As the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition has long stated, we’re not using this issue as a proxy-fight to shut down the oil sands in Alberta. Nor is the Youth Coalition anti-Canadian, anti-development, anti-economy, anti-oil exports or pro-socialism (all accusations that have been made).

The Youth Coalition is a volunteer-run, non-profit that doesn’t have any large backers – including foreign interests of any kind – and operates on solution-orientated, balanced positions.

OUR POSITION, FOR THE RECORD

In this case moving the pipeline so that it ends in Vancouver, preferably, or Prince Rupert would protect the spirit bear from the threat of oil spills and provide safe passage for oil tankers to Asia. Moreover, this route would be constructed without the need to build a pipeline in an area that doesn’t have one (both routes to Vancouver and Prince Rupert currently have pipelines in the ground).

We might not love the volume of oil we consume and the impact it has on our world, but for the time being, oil consumption won’t end. And to shut down a pillar of Canada’s economy without a ready-made alternative is simply not happening.

By the same extension, building a pipeline to a port that would send tankers through treacherous and ecologically important waters makes even less sense. Yes it will cost more money to shift the route at this stage of the process, but looking at what happened in the US with the debate over the Keystone XL pipeline (rather than spend more money on a slightly safer, longer route, TransCanada opted to build a short cut across an aquifer that ultimately caused the project to be indefinitely delayed by the American government), one would think Canada’s policy makers would learn from recent history.

Shifting the route of Northern Gateway would almost certainly deflate the political opposition to the project and enhance its chances of success – and economic certainty for a multi-billion dollar project is almost always worth the few extra million for a more logical route.

As this debate moves forward, the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition will work hard to bring balance to this issue and advocate for a position that is beginning to gain steam.

We believe that everyone, everywhere who has an opinion should be heard and we believe that through listening to one another, a fair balance will come forward and allow for everyone to win: the Canadian economy and the spirit bear, most especially.

For more than 15 years, we have been working our butts off to save the spirit bear. While we’ve accomplished a lot, today I am asking for your help to assist us in taking the final steps to reach our goal.

Together, our efforts have resulted in the enactment of the largest land protection measure in the history of North America – a framework that permanently protects two-thirds of the spirit bear’s last intact ecosystem. I thank you for contributing to the largest youth environment network in the world and the most supported conservation initiative in Canadian history. The size and scope of our network have attracted international awareness through at least one mainstream or online media story everyday for more than a decade.

But there is still much, much more to be done, if we are to safeguard the gene pool of this fragile and globally important subspecies.

1. We must create meaningful sanctuary for the spirit bear, including: a) protection for the remainder of the spirit bear’s last intact global ecosystem and b) abolishing the coastal bear trophy hunt.

2. We must shift the route of the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline that will send oil tankers through spirit bear waters.

In the coming months, we are stepping up our efforts as the urgency to save this bear closes in. We need to make sure everyone is heard on this issue so, with your support, I personally commit to speaking to 500 schools and conducting 50 town halls. We want to engage hundreds of thousands of students globally by encouraging them to launch their own authentic and innovative social media campaigns to rally their peers on this issue. And we want to meet with every elected representative in British Columbia and Canada to ensure they know a balanced alternative is on the table that will save the bear without harming the economy.

But we can’t do it alone.

This holiday season, please consider making a donation of $50 to the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition. Each and every dollar makes a difference. You can make a donation online or by sending a cheque to PO Box 91933 W. Vancouver, BC V7V 4S4.

You have always responded generously and passionately to our pleas for help. The timing has never been more important. And we can’t accomplish the goals we’ve set without the support of each of you.

I thank you for your consideration, for your ongoing support, and for your compassion for the spirit bear.

All my best to you and your family this holiday season,

Simon
—
D. Simon Jackson
Founder and Chairman, Spirit Bear Youth Coalition
www.spiritbearyouth.org

A new report released today shines a light on the dangers associated with Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway project which would send massive oil tankers through spirit bear waters for the first time. The report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Pembina Institute and Living Oceans Society, has also been endorsed by nine British Columbia organizations.

Watch Spirit Bear Youth Coalition founder and chairman, Simon Jackson, discuss the state of the spirit bear and the power of one on Global Toronto’s Morning Show.

The white Kermode or spirit bear is one of the most endangered animals in the world, numbering fewer than four hundred and calling home an ecosystem that is as wild as it is globally important.

There are two major preventable threats to the spirit bear: an urgent need for a meaningful sanctuary in their last intact ecosystem and the long term concern of oil spills from proposed oil tanker traffic in the treacherous waters within this wilderness.

Thanks to millions of people from all walks of life, from all corners of the globe, we’ve made remarkable progress and created hope that we can save the spirit bear.

And with your continued support, we will save our spirit bear.

The Spirit Bear Youth Coalition has a fair and balanced plan to create sanctuary for the spirit bear without harming the economy. We need every concerned citizen from around the globe to help us make sure decision makers do their part to work with us to create a lasting solution that saves the Kermode and makes all citizens proud of our collective achievement.

FIVE WAYS TO SAVE THE SPIRIT BEAR:

1) Email, write and/or phone Canadian Prime Minister Harper and BC Premier Clark
2) Sign the petition to stop this hunt
3) Adopt-a-Spirit Bear
4) Donate to the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition volunteer-run campaign
5) Spread the word by forwarding this message

FIVE WAYS TO STAY UP-TO-DATE:

1) Follow us on Twitter @SpiritBearYouth
2) Join our Facebook group
3) Visit www.spiritbearyouth.org and www.adoptaspiritbear.org
4) Become a member
5) Sign-up for our new education program

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

The Case to Save the Spirit Bear
The Case to Stop the Coastal Bear Trophy Hunt
The Case for an Alternative Pipeline Route
Global TV Spirit Bear Series

Globe and Mail article discusses why the proposed Enbridge pipeline that would send oil tankers through the last intact home of the spirit bear shouldn’t happen.

With only a few days notice from the Canadian government, we asked you to sign-up to be heard at the upcoming federal government review panel on the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline that would send oil tankers through the last intact habitat of the spirit bear.

And what a resounding response of support.

More than 4000 people – of all ages and from all corners of the globe – registered within 48 hours to give the spirit bear a voice at the decision making table. That’s a record-shattering seven times the number of people who have ever registered to be heard at previous review panels, making this outpouring of support the largest in Canadian history.

THANK YOU!

(Read more about the difference you’ve already made for the spirit bear.)

What’s next?

1. For those who registered to be heard, we will be in contact to help ensure your voice is indeed heard by the Canadian government at the upcoming review panel meetings that will go a long way toward deciding the fate of the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline.

2. For those who were unable to register – and for those who did register – we are urging you to make your voice heard in a more traditional sense: Write BC Premier Clark and Canadian Prime Minister Harper and tell them why this pipeline route needs to be altered to save the spirit bear.

A Balanced Alternative

With the proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta’s oil sands to the USA having been at least temporarily shelved, increased pressure will be placed on decision makers to fast-track plans to build the Northern Gateway pipeline to the BC coast in order to find consumers for Alberta’s oil.

The Keystone pipeline was heralded as a “no-brainer”, but failed to receive approval for one critical reason: the proposed route was ecologically dangerous and the public made sure decision makers knew that the plan was simply unacceptable.

Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline proposal is fraught with considerably more risk to the environment than Keystone given plans to send oil tankers through treacherous waters in and around the highly endangered spirit bear’s last intact habitat. It will also likely garner considerably more opposition than Keystone considering already most British Columbians and almost every First Nation band along the proposed route oppose the pipeline.

However, like Keystone, a viable and reasonable alternative is available to Enbridge and decision makers.

A different route for Northern Gateway – in this case utilizing existing infrastructure and the polluted, less dangerous Port of Vancouver – would allow for oil exports, job creation, economic certainty without threatening the globally important spirit bear and the future of an area labelled by National Geographic as the last wild place in North America.

If the builders of the Keystone pipeline had simply heeded the public’s concern for their planned route, it is almost a certainty that the majority of the opposition would have melted away and the project would have been allowed to move forward.

Our challenge is to make sure Canadian decision makers and Enbridge executives are clear: the current plan for Northern Gateway won’t work and the reasonable alternative on the table must become the focus to ensure a repeat of the Keystone affair doesn’t occur in BC, for the sake of the economy and the future of the spirit bear.

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD TODAY.

Read the Vancouver Sun article that breaks down why the US decision to make no decision on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta’s oil sands to America creates new pressure to build the proposed Enbridge pipeline to the BC coast – and oil tanker traffic through the spirit bear’s last intact habitat.

Read the Vancouver Sun article that looks into the role of First Nations in BC’s land-use planning process.

Spirit Bear Youth Coalition founder Simon Jackson will be speaking to high school students from across Fort McMurray – the heart of Alberta’s oil sands and the starting point of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline that would send crude oil to the BC coast and, ultimately, on tankers through spirit bear waters.

Jackson will be speaking at the annual youth empowerment conference put on by the Justin Slade Youth Foundation. His message of the power of one will aim to encourage students to take ownership of their community and world by taking a stand for the issues they care about – such as saving the spirit bear and altering the route of the proposed pipeline that threatens its future.

While in Fort McMurray, Jackson will also meet with local leaders to discuss the pipeline and advocate for the Youth Coalition’s balanced vision: environmental innovation for the oil sands, an alternative route for the proposed pipeline using existing infrastructure that still allows for critical exports, and a sanctuary for the spirit bear that does not burden any community or the Canadian economy.