Re: "B.C. pipeline review needed to restore legal powers," Aug. 31.
The proposed Northern Gateway pipeline debate prompts increasing rhetoric.
Former law professor Murray Rankin is now an adviser to NDP leader Adrian Dix. Rankin's volunteer status will allow Dix to emphasize that Rankin's objective and reliable opinion has not been paid for. But Rankin's volunteer status will not negate the perception that Dix is merely seeking support to justify his alreadydetermined conclusion that the pipeline poses an unacceptable risk.
If elected next year, Dix has stated B.C. will withdraw from the current federal-provincial environmental equivalency review process as his aim is to ensure B.C. should "reassert its authority over the process." Rankin states: "The only responsible way that B.C. can now reassert control of our own economic and environmental destiny is to exit the equivalency agreement."
Rankin and Dix should review the expert opinion of Nigel Banks, chair of natural resources law at the University of Calgary. He notes that in opposing the pipeline, "British Columbia's legal position is weak," as the pipeline is an interprovincial project. As enabled by the long-standing Constitution Act (and the federal government's overarching authority), works for the general advantage of Canada or for two or more provinces can trump the wishes of a single province.
Rational resolution of the Northern Gateway pipeline issue may require more than one statesman (and fewer provincial opportunists) to minimize costs and optimize benefits for all Canadians.
Ron Johnson
Saanich
