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PARENTING
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OPINION
KELOWNA ROCKETS blueliner Mackenzie Johnston has stepped up in his role as the most experienced WHL defenceman on the club.
THE JOY OF childbirth can devolve into the nightmare of postpartum depression.
NEW historical book rendition of the BC Dragoons was celebrated last weekend by Kelowna Museums.
JANE MUSKENS says aboriginal communities face dilemma over potential resource jobs.
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TUESDAY January 29, 2013 The Central Okanagan’s Best-Read Newspaper www.kelownacapnews.com
▼ PIPELINE HEARING
The Enbridge project finds opposition
Alistair Waters
ASSISTANT EDITOR
It was a resounding no to the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline in Kelowna Monday. Speaker after speaker who appeared before the National Energy Board’s three-member joint review panel expressed their opposition to the pipeline across Northern B.C. Concerns included a possible devastating leak from the pipeline itself and the threat of a catastrophic oil spill from the increased tanker ship traffic along B.C.’s northern coast carrying the diluted bitumen from the pipeline. The pipeline, between the oil sands in northern Alberta and Kitimat, would bring the diluted bitumen —a viscous form
of petroleum—west to be loaded onto tankers and shipped to Asian markets. After a year of public hearings, support for the project has fallen substansially in B.C., despite the federal government wanting to see the project go ahead based on economic reasons. “The Enbridge pipeline will not bring happiness. It will bring great environmental destruction,” said Golden resident Rachel Darvill who, along with her partner John Jenkins, were allowed to make her submission by teleconference. They had planned to make submissions at two earlier public hearings but the dates of those meetings were changed and the pair could not travel to them or to Kelowna to present in person.
ALISTAIR WATERS/CAPITAL NEWS
PROTESTERS were out in force Monday outside the Sandman Hotel in Kelowna, site of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline review panel hearings.
Another speaker, Okanagan resident Sheila Polito, said she considers herself an average British Columbia, who loves the coast and wants to protect it from the danger of an oil spill. Despite her great fear of public speaking, Polito said she felt compelled to present her voice to the panel. And she urged the
panel to consider the voices of the many others who have not made presentations but who, she said, are also opposed to the pipeline, particularly First Nations people whose communities lie in the path of the proposed pipeline. Karen Siemens, who described herself as a nurse, a grandmother and
ALISTAIR WATERS/CAPITAL NEWS
person with a great passion for the outdoors, told the panel many of her family members are currently making their living in the oil and natural gas industry in northern Alberta, and that she is not popular with them because of her opposition to the pipeline.
JENNIFER SMITH/CAPITAL NEWS
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Pipeline proposal called ‘short-term gain for long-term pain’
STAFF REPORTER
The National Day of Activism was a blustery and snowy affair in the Okanagan as 200 people met in front of the Sandman Hotel on Enterprise Way as a review panel for the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline staged hearings inside. For most of Canada, the day was
r Credit ‘Direct eCnagot ev aurus Truck-o-vsed’ appro
about the Idle No More movement, with a large gathering on Parliament Hill and several flashmob circle dances staged in communities from Winnipeg to Ottawa to attract attention to the degradation of First Nation’s rights. There was a flashmob dance at the Sandman Hotel in Kelowna as well, though Idle No More protesters were only one of many interest groups
gathered to try and stop the Enbridge pipeline project. “People were really enthusiastic about coming to this event today to show their opposition to the pipeline and their support for the Idle No More movement,” said David Reid, director of the West Kootenay Eco Society. The group booked a bus and brought 35 people from Nelson to Christina Lake to Trail out to the
event. Four members of the group were scheduled to present to the panel and Reid said he believes the Enbridge debate is about the future of the nation’s economy. “The questions is: What is the purpose of our economy? Is it to maximize profit or is it to create a longterm sustainable society that serves everyone and protects our environment,” said Reid.”This pipeline
doesn’t do that. It accomplishes shortterm gain for long-term pain.” Idle No More started in reaction to Bill 45, new legislation that the movement claims strips environmental responsibilities from government requirements for companies like Enbridge to protect the land and waterways it touches.
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