Liberal leader Christy Clark took a swipe at the NDP's Adrian Dix over the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion Wednesday, shortly after casting her ballot at an advanced polling station in Burnaby.
"(Dix is) the same guy who will obscure, who will conceal his positions on things, even really important issues like this one," Clark said. "On the one hand, he says he doesn't want Vancouver to be a major (oil) exporting port, but he refuses to say whether or not he supports the expansion of the pipeline. . To me, it's just this constant concealment, hiding his real positions on things. I just think it proves Adrian Dix absolutely has not changed from the last time he was in the premier's office in the 1990s."
While Dix has publicly opposed the Enbridge pipeline project, he was reserving judgment on the Kinder Morgan expansion because the plan has not yet gone before the National Energy Board, which is expected to happen later this year. Then on Earth Day, Dix made an announcement stating he does not want Vancouver to become a major oil exporting port, and he wants a "made in B.C." approach to environmental assessments, but he came short of stating he's actually opposed to the expansion plan. (It's not clear if he is taking this stance to allow for flexibility in the future or to avoid accusations of flip-flopping.) Kinder Morgan wants to twin the existing pipeline, which runs oil from Alberta to the West Coast, and nearly triple the volume of oil to 890,000 barrels per day, bringing approximately 408 tankers per year to the Burrard Inlet. The line's terminal storage tanks and dock, where tankers fill up with crude, are both in the Burnaby-Lougheed riding.
Clark couldn't speculate on the fate of the expansion if Dix were to form government.
"I don't think anyone knows, because Adrian Dix has taken so many positions on it," Clark said. "He has said that they would allow the expansion if it was through Deltaport, his candidates have said they wouldn't allow any expansion at all, his candidates have said they would review the existing job in Burnaby with the existing pipeline, so it's impossible to know what they would do. I just don't think you can trust anything the NDP says on this because they change their position so frequently."
The NOW made several attempts to contact Dix, who was unavailable to comment, but according to several media stories, he rejected the idea of moving the terminal to Deltaport.
Clark has set out five conditions that must be met for any heavy oil pipeline project, Kinder Morgan and Enbridge included. The conditions are that the environmental review process is met, that there are "world-class" oil spill prevention and cleanup measures in place for spills on land and water, legal requirements over aboriginal and treaty rights must be addressed, and B.C. must receive a fair share of the economic benefits to reflect the risk the province faces.
Even if Kinder Morgan met all five conditions, it wouldn't necessarily mean that the expansion could go forward, according to Clark.
"If the five conditions are met, for any project, then we would consider a project to go ahead, it doesn't necessarily mean that it would go ahead," she said. "But the difference between my position on this and Adrian Dix is that I set out five very clear conditions that must be met, and it applies to Kinder Morgan, it applies to Northern Gateway, it applies to any heavy oil that would go to a possible refinery in Kitimat, and I'm not changing my position on it."
Clark said she didn't know if Kinder Morgan could meet the five conditions, and that none of them had been met yet.
"It's up to the company to determine whether they meet the five conditions," she said. "I'm going to leave it to them to figure it out."
Nearly three-quarters of Burnaby residents are opposed to the Kinder Morgan expansion, according to a January 2012 survey commissioned by Burnaby MP Kennedy Stewart, and the City of Burnaby has also publicly opposed the expansion.
Dix was busy on the campaign trail, but Burnaby-Deer Lake candidate Kathy Corrigan contacted the NOW on his behalf.
She reiterated the point about B.C. conducting its own environmental assessments, rather than relying on the federal government's review.
"The federal government has diluted the standards," Corrigan said. "And that's not acceptable, and that's why we need to bring it back."
When asked outright if Dix opposed the pipeline expansion, Corrigan responded by stating that when Kinder Morgan applies to the National Energy Board, "we will know exactly what it is we are dealing with."
"What Adrian has said is he doesn't think the people of Metro Vancouver want the port, as busy as it is, to become a major oil export facility. Part of the environmental assessment process, that we'll bring back to B.C. - which, by the way we're going to do immediately when we get into government - part of that process will be consultation, and seeking input from the people of B.C. . His belief and my belief is that the people of Metro Vancouver will not want the port to become a major oil export facility, . and that has to be taken into account when you're making a decision."
But the NDP will still wait for a formal application, Corrigan reiterated.
"Our belief is most people won't want it," she said. "Where does that leave us? We're in agreement with what the majority of people in the Lower Mainland feel. . We will find out whether or not that is the case, and we think that will be the case, and we will also see what the proposal is, but we believe that's how it will play out."
