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Clark needs to stand up for citizens

A response to Trail Times July 26 article: "Clark needs to walk the talk in pipeline position"

I would like to commend Guy Bertrand for his July 26th editorial on the Northern Gateway pipeline (“Clark needs to walk the talk in pipeline position,” Trail Times, July 26). It touched on many points that need to be addressed.

I would like to add to it but unfortunately I am not a journalist so I will do the best I can.

It has been many months of silence and finally our leader Ms Clark takes a stand on the pipeline.

I would be willing to bet if the election polls were different she wouldn’t have said a word.

It looks like she has a fight on her hands to get re-elected so now Northern Gateway is front and centre on Christy’s agenda.

Ms. Redford from Alberta thinks what is great for Alberta will be just fine for B.C. Judging from the media coverage of the Premiers’ conference so does the rest of Canada.

One comment that the media did pick up on was from Quebec Premier Jean Charest stating that the federal government owes the provinces $36 billion in medical transfer payments. Some of you may remember the last premier’s conference (in B.C.) federal finance minister Jim Flaherty stated he would be cutting medical transfer payments in 2015 or 16 to much protest.

Only one Premier agreed with him, you guessed it, Ms. Redford from Alberta and yet she expects to just bulldoze a pipeline through our province for just about free.

According to CTV news the tax revenue over 30 years from that pipeline would be $81 billion dollars. B.C. would get $6.7 billion, Alberta $32 billion and Ottawa $36 billion.

Sounds like a great deal for everybody else but B.C. We get the mess and the spills in B.C. and everyone else gets the financial rewards.

What some of you know already is that Chinese oil company CNOOC with much encouragement from Ottawa has bid $15.1 billion for Nexen Inc. an Alberta oil company. If this purchase goes through, this will bring the Chinese investment in the oil sands to $29 billion.

There is just one small problem with all this, right now they can’t get the oil out of Alberta. Any oil coming out of Alberta right now is going to US refineries and not Chinese refineries.

Hence the Northern Gateway Pipeline. Mr. Harper knows all this. He will bully BC into the pipeline, don’t think for a minute he will let a BC premier embarrass him in front of the Chinese.

So whoever the next premier of B.C. is be it Adrian Dix or Ms. Clark, they have a war on their hands.

At minimum we deserve fair share, it is up to our leaders to do what they are elected to do.

Look after the best interests of ALL British Columbians.

Bryan DeFerro

Trail