Pipeline proposal is fraught with risks

The Times Colonist:

Stephen Harper is a prime minister in a hurry. He says that public hearings into economic developments, such as the Enbridge pipeline, that promise so much to the Canadian economy should "deliver decisions in a reasonable amount of time."

It sounds as if Harper and his hysterical resources minister, Joe Oliver, expect one person to express the concerns of all the First Nations bands living along the proposed route of this corroding, steel snake. It sounds as if they would, if they could, entitle only one tree-hugger, one fisherman, one representative of those engaged in super-natural tourism to speak for all others of their kind and inclination.

Harper sees no incongruity in decrying U.S. dollars funding environmental groups trying to defend Canadian forests and beaches against the collateral damage threatened by the activities of corporations partially owned by Americans or other foreigners.

For Enbridge's record shows that pipelines leak with depressing regularity. Huge ships, as we know, run aground in confined waters. Oil tankers, as we've seen, spill, and the kind of sludge that comes from the oilsands sinks and suffocates life on the sea bottom.

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