Editor:
Re: Engineers see oil pipeline to Roberts Bank, Nov. 26
We see the usual denial from officials of Port Metro Vancouver. How much is it worth, given their previous record?
They said they wouldn't need the South Fraser Perimeter Road unless they got cleared for Terminal 2, then they supported it publicly.
They removed any mention of Terminal 2 from their application for the third berth at Deltaport, thus eliminating it from
inclusion in the cumulative effects study. Cumulative effects studies are supposed to consider past and future projects. Of course, Terminal 2 has now been resurrected.
Another favourite statement of port officials is that a rigorous environmental assessment will be carried out. However, this is post-Bill C 38, a bill that MP Elizabeth May of the Green Party has called the Environmental Destruction Act.
At the time [April 2012] Andrew Coyne of The National Post noted, "...
It amends some 60 different acts, repeals half a dozen and adds three more, including a completely rewritten Canadian Assessment Act."
The new act gives cabinet broader power to override decisions of the National Energy Board, shorten the list of protected species and protect habitat only for fish of commercial, aboriginal and recreational value.
It would be impossible to detail all ways in which this act will fail us. Suffice it to say, we cannot rely on the environmental assessment.
Wilma Haig
