LETTERS
Feb. 10: Environmentalists seeking unemployment. Plus other letters to the editor, The Globe and Mail newspaper
PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 10, 2018 UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
..................................................................................................................................
Happy environmentalists

As a member of a group that spent four years fighting the now-defunct Energy East pipeline, I can confidently say to Gary Mason that environmentalists are not at all "disappointed" when a corporation "pulls the plug" on an ill-conceived project (Where's The Limit For Protesters, Politicians In B.C.'s Pipeline War? Feb. 9).

The end of an effort to prioritize a bitumen-filled pipeline over the health of water, fish, people, land and climate fills us with joy. Also, we have no regret for unused "battle plans." Our hard-working and creative group doesn't need any "reason for being" other than enjoying this gorgeous planet.

Donna Sinclair, North Bay
.................................
Mr. Mason notes, "There have been environmental groups gearing up for this fight for years. It's given them a reason for being." He has it exactly wrong. Environmental groups in general would much prefer to have a reason for not being.

Alban Goddard Hill, Belleville, Ont.

.................................
Pipeline politics

While many of us seek the right to a healthy environment, the Alberta government – aided and abetted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – proudly proclaims its right to pollute the environment and harm health, not only in Alberta but also in British Columbia and around the world, by ramming its pipeline through British Columbia (Trudeau Backs Alberta On B.C.'s Trans Mountain Freeze, Feb. 3).

Mr. Trudeau's defence of his actions is wrong on all counts. Not all resources must be mined, used and exported; asbestos proves that point. Not all jobs are good; we need 21st-century clean energy jobs, not 20th-century dirty energy jobs.

And this hardly protects the environment or humans. On the contrary, it expands the local harm done in Alberta, threatens British Columbia's land, waters and coast, and adds to global greenhouse gas emissions while making it more challenging to reduce Canada's overall emissions.

Trevor Hancock, professor, school of public health and social policy, University of Victoria, Victoria

.................................
While the world should be making every effort to wean itself off fossil fuels, particularly in the form of bitumen, the very least Alberta can do is process its bitumen in province before exporting it via pipeline and tanker. That should provide jobs aplenty, plus rendering the bitumen less harmful.

And should an oil spill occur, Alberta should pay for cleaning it up. That means it better have fool-proof technology, which at this point in time is not the case.
Mary Andrews, Victoria

.................................
Pleasures of walking

Life is too short to wait for the TTC to fix its subway signal problems, let alone build a new subway line in downtown Toronto (Forget The TTC Vision: Just Make The Subways Run, Feb. 8).

I have already discovered the joys of walking rather than waiting for streetcars to take me anywhere in the downtown core. The only real solution to getting to work without a car in Toronto is to actually live within walking or bicycling distance from your workplace.

Walking is a possible alternative within three kilometres and bicycling is possible up to, say, 10 kilometres. That covers a large part of downtown Toronto where condo development should continue to be intensified.

Widening of sidewalks to accommodate the new pedestrian hordes, along with a wholesale mega-expansion of bicycle road capacity, needs to take place to put Toronto on a par with, say, 1970s Beijing. This could be combined with a new ParticipAction media campaign extolling the virtues of urban walking and bicycling. Never mind the subways. It is now time for Torontonians to use their own two feet.

Larry Bukta, Toronto

*****************************
*****************************

Where’s the limit for protesters, politicians in B.C’s pipeline war?

Gary Mason

Published 2 days agoUpdated February 8, 2018

New Democrat MP Kennedy Stewart recently sent out a letter to supporters, updating them on the results of a massive telephone town hall he'd arranged about stopping the Trans Mountain pipeline.

Marshalling opposition to the project has become an all-consuming passion of Mr. Stewart, who represents suburban Burnaby, B.C., where the pipeline would conclude and massive ocean-going tankers would fill up with Alberta crude.

During the town hall, participants could use their telephone key pads to indicate which of three political actions – writing a letter to their MP, attending a public protest or engaging in acts of civil disobedience – they would support. Forty-three per cent said they would be prepared to be arrested in the name of disrupting the pipeline – a result that seemed to delight the Burnaby South MP.

"I think it is encouraging so many are so opposed to this project that they are willing to take action – especially when it comes to risking arrest to stop this horrible project," Mr. Stewart wrote in his letter.

To me, that sounds like a member of Parliament countenancing, if not downright inviting, people to break the law in the name of halting this pipeline. While civil disobedience has become a form of protest tolerated in our society, most Canadians likely wouldn't be okay with elected politicians condoning this behaviour.

When I spoke to Mr. Stewart by phone this week, the enthusiasm he expressed in his letter toward unlawful protests was nowhere to be found. Rather, he said the letter was intended merely to demonstrate just how serious people are about stopping Trans Mountain.

"I'm not running out and saying, 'Go get arrested,'" Mr. Stewart said. "What I'm saying is let's stop the pipeline, figure out what you're comfortable with, and here's some info about the different options available."

Again, that is not the impression one is left with after reading his letter. Nonetheless, what he has to say about the potential for conflict – if and when construction of this pipeline begins in earnest – is worth hearing.

Right now, the professional protesters who oppose it have mostly kept their powder dry. (There were skirmishes with police in 2014 that led to more than 100 arrests but that was a mere prelude to what's coming).

The war is being fought at a political level now. Kinder Morgan isn't likely to start building until outstanding court cases are resolved and interprovincial disputes ironed out. No one knows for sure how long that will take. But if construction does go ahead, things could get ugly, fast.

"I think people have to know this could be violent," Mr. Stewart says. "I have talked to First Nations whose nine reserves the pipeline will go through. They've told me
that without consent, there is nine Okas right there."

Of course, we all remember the 1990, 78-day standoff between Mohawks and the people of Oka, Que., which resulted in one fatality. Imagining that the protests around Trans Mountain will result in similar anger and frustration is not difficult.

Federal officials have already raised the spectre of the army coming in to enforce the law if protesters get out of hand. Mr. Stewart, a former public policy professor, says the government could only do that through the Emergencies Act, which is effectively a newer version of the War Measures Act.

"When you trigger that, what happens is the federal government turns control over to the army, to the generals," Mr. Stewart said. "When people say they want [Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau to act, well, they'd better be careful what they wish for. This is where this is going, I can tell you right now."

Dismissing Mr. Stewart's warnings as hyperbole would be easy, but that would be a mistake. There have been environmental groups gearing up for this fight for years. It's given them a reason for being.

One gets the impression they'll be disappointed if Kinder Morgan pulls the plug on the project before they get a chance to live out their battle plans.

One day, in the not too distant future, Mr. Trudeau might be asked how far he'll go to stop the demonstrations surrounding the Trans Mountain pipeline. And like his father before him, he may invite us all to just watch him.

Enter supporting content here

Eastern Lake Ontario Environmental Research Group