Premier Christy Clark has drawn a line in the sand in the increasingly contentious debate over the Northern Gateway pipeline. The demands she presented to Alberta, Enbridge and the federal government this week, which she says they must meet to win provincial approval of the project, are an improvement over her previous non-position, but they don't go far enough.
Some of Clark's terms are no-brainers: Completing the environmental review process and "addressing" Aboriginal and treaty rights are already required by law. Demanding a "fair share of the fiscal and economic benefits," is better, if somewhat vague and belated.
Where Clark's terms really fall down is in her language around environmental safeguards. Clark insists Enbridge has to deploy "world-leading" marine and land oil-spill response, prevention and recovery systems to get B.C.'s blessing. This would be relevant if we were only talking about crude oil, but we're not. The raw bitumen that would flow through the Northern Gateway is much harder to deal with than the usual black goo - especially when it hits water and quickly sinks, rendering the usual boats and booms useless.
Add to that Enbridge's disturbing record on spills, and the premier's requirements start to look wholly inadequate.
Christy Clark is right to take a stand on the proposed pipeline, but that stand should be harder if she's serious about protecting British Columbia's interests. Until Enbridge can demonstrate that the risk of a spill is virtually zero, and that any cleanup will be rapid and effective, she must simply tell them "no."
