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Critics of oil pipeline plan upset by speaking ban

Greater Victorians granted intervener status in the National Energy Board review of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project are dismayed they will not get a chance to ask face-to-face questions.
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Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands.

Greater Victorians granted intervener status in the National Energy Board review of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project are dismayed they will not get a chance to ask face-to-face questions.

“I’m disappointed we don’t have the opportunity for oral cross-examinations, to challenge things or to be challenged,” said Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin.

The $5.4-billion project would twin an existing pipeline between Edmonton and Burnaby, increasing capacity from 300,000 barrels of oil per day to nearly 900,000. Tanker traffic around Vancouver and the South Island would increase from five tankers a month to about 34, also increasing risk of oil spills.

The City of Victoria is among 400 interveners who will be permitted to submit evidence and written questions, but cannot raise followup questions in person during the hearings.

Even the provincial government will not have a chance to cross-examine.

Oral cross-examinations are crucial to the process, said Chris Tollefson from the University of Victoria Environmental Law Centre and Nature Canada.

“It’s the most important part of the process,” said Tollefson, who participated in the Northern Gateway pipeline hearings. “It’s the only opportunity to get at heart of the matter.”

Tollefson cited an example from the Northern Gateway hearings when the question about whether diluted bitumen floats or sinks arose. Enbridge experts initially argued that it floats, but it became clear during the public hearing that that might not be the case, Tollefson said.

A report later confirmed that the substance sinks.

“There has to be a way to get the panel to revisit this decision,” he said.

At a town hall meeting in Sidney on Tuesday night, Green party leader and Saanich-Gulf Islands MP Elizabeth May said she thinks excluding oral cross-examinations from the review process is actionable in federal court.

“They said we have no right to cross-examine. … I hope to prove it illegal,” she said, adding she has approached noted civil rights lawyer Clayton Ruby for help.

The meeting brought together First Nations leaders, artist Robert Bateman, conservationists, politicians, business owners and citizens concerned about the proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

“We feel pretty strongly about this, as our business, like many others in B.C., hinges on a pristine coast,” said Maureen Gordon, co-owner of Maple Leaf Adventures. The company, founded in 1986, offers all-inclusive eco-tours around the B.C. coast.

“If you go to a place like Australia and put out a brochure with a grizzly bear on the front, it will be the first to get picked up every time. Healthy wildlife is critical for our industry.”

Tseycum Chief Vern Jacks said he was pleased First Nations were being approached to help in conservation efforts.

“We’ve been here for thousands of years, and just recently people have been involving us. We can help.”

This was echoed by Eric Pelkey from the Tsawout First Nation, who said his people have enlisted their own experts to test Kinder Morgan’s research.

While those speaking at the event might have been preaching to the converted, anti-tanker canvasser Alexis White said the word on the street is pretty much the same.

“There’s been the odd person who supports it but the majority of people we speak to don’t want a pipeline or tankers in B.C. They don’t see a benefit but they see all the risks,” she said.

spetrescu@timescolonist.com