Mel Hurtig
The Vancouver Sun reports, “Mel Hurtig, the Canadian publisher, author and founder of the Council of Canadians, came out Monday in opposition of Kinder Morgan’s plan to twin its oil pipeline from Edmonton. Hurtig, an ardent nationalist who moved from Edmonton to Vancouver five years ago, strongly criticized the transmission company’s plan to increase by five times the number of oil tankers using Vancouver harbour.”
“‘An oil spill in Burrard Inlet would spell disaster for the environment and all the municipalities in the region,’ he said. ‘Vancouver is widely viewed as one of the most beautiful cities in the world and we’ve learned from past oil spills such as the Exxon-Valdez, that it is not a question of if but when, and the cleanup would last decades and be much more difficult than other spills because of the heavy nature of the bitumen that will be transported through Burrard Inlet.'”
“Hurtig, who ran federally in Edmonton first as a Liberal and later under his own short-lived National Party, said he applauded the effort of Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and other regional mayors in opposing the Kinder Morgan plan. But he took a broad swipe at B.C. Premier Christy Clark and New Democratic Party leader Adrian Dix for ‘failing to speak out and condemn Kinder Morgan’s plans’.”
“Hurtig (has) started an online petition opposing the plan which he intends to deliver to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. As of Monday afternoon it had already garnered more than 1,200 names. …Hurtig’s petition is at http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/No_Oil_Tankers_in_Burrard_Inlet//?sbc.”
For more on Council of Canadians opposition to the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline, please go to http://canadians.org/blog/?p=14632 and http://canadians.org/pipelines.
