Premier says no to propaganda war

While premier Gordon Campbell sees Kitimat as a future energy hub, he says the provincial government won’t be dragged into a propaganda war with environmentalists.

The subject of environmentalists and their opposition to tankers on the North Coast was raised by Ron Burnett during Campbell’s recent meeting with the Chamber of Commerce board.

Burnett, who has lived in the community from its earliest days, pointed out that tankers had used the Douglas Channel even earlier than that, back in the 1940s.

He explained they brought in fuel for Kitamaat Village’s diesel generators in the days before it was electrified.

And at one time Kitimat had five bulk plants which served the entire Northwest.

Pointing out that at that time the ships were not equipped with the sophisticated navigational aids of today, Burnett added, “There have been no difficulties.”

He told the premier the Living Oceans environmental group had recently mailed out a brochure across the Northwest opposing tanker traffic and he recalled last year seeing a “huge billboard” in Schwarz Bay calling for a ban on tankers.

“We know that is going to get even more vicious...as these projects advance,” Burnett said.

His question to the premier, therefore, was when that happened would the provincial government be passive or active in countering the environmentalists campaign?

“There has to be an organization out there that is at least as big or bigger than them that can say there is another side to this,” Burnett maintained.

“There has to be a campaign that neutralizes it.”

Campbell responded that while the government was glad to be part of the positive things happening, it could do government propaganda to counter someone else’s propaganda.

“As soon as government starts to take on all of the different interests out there, I can tell you we have no credibility.”

He said there would also be an outcry over tax dollars being used for such a campaign.

“That’s why these things have to start with you,” he told the chamber, adding it was also why it was important to build relationships with First Nations.

“That’s a critical component of this,” Campbell emphasized.

Campbell later told the Sentinel that the proposed Energy Corridor from the Alberta oil sands to the BC coast was “a great idea and in fact I think Steve Wilson has done a great job of bringing together First nations along the corridor.

The premier said Aboriginal Relations minister Mike de Jong was working closely with Wilson and there was an inter-ministry planning committee working on how government could help move the corridor forward.

“It’s a huge opportunity, a multi-billion dollar opportunity,” Campbell said, adding, “It will find its terminal, I think, right here in Kitimat.”

He was also asked about a suggestion that, if a pipeline is coming here, Kitimat could be the site for an oil refinery.

“There’s a lot of potential for that,” Campbell agreed, adding no new refineries had been built in North America in recent years “and there is a real need for them.”

He said the government was always willing to look at those kinds of proposals and to let major industry know that BC is open for business.

“We’ll treat them fairly, we’ll treat them honestly, we’ll tell them what we can do, we’ll tell them what we can’t do, we’ll tell them what our environmental regulations are and we’ll tell them how to work with First Nations,” he added.

While in the future Campbell sees reducing our dependency on oil and fossil fuels, he said, “we have to recognize they are still going to be part of our energy and future for some time.”