Premier’s push for pipeline demands too late: analyst
Posted July 31, 2012 4:56 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – At least one political watcher doesn’t think much of Premier Christy Clark’s push for you to support her five requirements on major oil projects like the Northern Gateway pipeline.
If you log onto bcliberals.com, under the banner “Putting BC First,” you can fill out an online show of support for Clark and her government’s five minimum requirements for heavy oil projects in BC. They include demanding top-notch environmental protection and, most controversially, a fair share of the proposed economic benefits, which Alberta Premier Alison Redford has balked at.
Sean Holman with Public Eye Online doesn’t think much of the Liberals’ call for support.
“I really can’t imagine them getting much public traction on this particular issue,” he says. “At the very least, the kind of traction that would turn around voters at this particular point in time and encourage them to support the BC Liberals.”
Holman argues Clark is trying to play the populist card to some degree.
“Certainly, that was the way she was characterized during the BC Liberal leadership race, but it’s a little bit too late now and it’s on a rather nuanced position, at least when it comes to this particular issue,” he explains.
In contrast, the BC NDP wants you to sign a petition opposing the pipeline outright at bcndp.ca/enbridge.
The party’s website claims almost 30,000 people have done so and they hope to collect 35,000 signatures.
