Archives for October 2012

By Marty Klinkenberg, Edmonton Journal October 14, 2012

EDMONTON – Cattle producers with crowded feedlots are growing more anxious each day that XL Foods’ slaughterhouse in southern Alberta is shut down.

“It’s a tough time of year for this to happen,” Travis Toews, past-president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, said Sunday from his ranch west of Grande Prairie. “Cattle feeders are looking for bids for processing, and there is some backup.

“What we need more than anything is clarity or some expectation of hope, but with each and every day there is more uncertainty. It is a pretty significant issue for the industry right now.”

Cattle farmers who have been fattening up their animals were dealt another blow on Saturday when 2,000 plant workers were temporarily laid off by XL Foods. The company’s processing facility in Brooks has been idle since its licence was suspended by federal regulators on Sept. 27, but appeared to be on the verge of reopening.

On Sunday, the firm announced it is recalling approximately 800 workers to assist with a safety review being conducted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. There is still no timetable for reopening the facility, which handled 40 per cent of Canada’s beef before its closure due to E. coli contamination.

“The sooner we have clarity about what is going to happen at the plant, the sooner everyone in the supply chain can make some adjustments,” Toews said. “Farmers can only hold cattle back for so long. They need to go to market at a certain point.

“If they are held on a feedlot too long, the cost becomes prohibitive, there are overweight issues and their value goes down.”

More than 1,800 beef products sold by XL Foods have been pulled from store shelves since Sept. 16 in what has become the biggest recall of meat in Canadian history. In addition, the company has temporarily lost its privilege to export to the United States, and faces legal action from some of the 15 people with related cases of E. coli poisoning.

Toews said cattle farmers that previously sent their herd to the Brooks slaughterhouse are now sending them to Cargill’s plant in High River, as well as to processing facilities in the U.S. Cargill, which already handles more beef than any other company in Canada, is looking at ways to increase production, including adding another shift, Toews said.

“We are seeing more cattle heading south and are having discussions with U.S. processors to identify their willingness and readiness to take on more product, but there are some challenges,” Toews said. “Before some facilities commit to taking on too much new product, they want to make sure there will be a large enough supply for a long enough time.”

On Saturday, Nilsson Bros., the Edmonton firm that owns XL Foods, blamed the layoffs on the uncertainty of when its processing plant would reopen. In response, the CFIA complained that the process of assessing the facility had become bogged down because of a lack of co-operation from XL Foods.

“That’s not a positive signal,” Toews said. “We are working in the interim to find other opportunities in terms of processing, but in the long term we have a critical need for the Brooks plant to be up and running.”

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© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

Original source article: Alberta cattle producers anxious over XL Foods’ closure

By Bryan Weismiller, Calgary Herald October 14, 2012

BROOKS — Roughly 800 employees from the shuttered meat-packing plant in Brooks have been told to report to work on Tuesday.

The announcement comes one day after XL Foods Inc. officials temporarily laid off more than 80 per cent of the plant’s 2,400 employees and effectively aborted its bid to fully reopen the massive slaughterhouse.

Alberta Agriculture Minister Verlyn Olson told reporters in Brooks that “A shift” workers would be back at Lakeside Packers to finish processing the carcasses that federal inspectors had already cleared.

“The layoffs troubled us greatly because it could get in the way of the re-certification of the plant,” Olson said Sunday.

“XL tells us it’s a temporary layoff,” he said. “I’m taking them at their word.”

In a statement released Sunday, co-CEO Brian Nilsson said XL Foods looks “forward to actively working with the CFIA to bring this to a viable and timely resolution to allow the plant to recommence operations.”

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency had said Saturday that following the mass temporary layoff it was unable to finish reviewing the plant at the centre of an e. coli contamination scare that has sickened 15 and led to massive product recalls in Canada an the United States.

The agency had pulled XL’s operating on Sept. 27 after tainted beef was found at the U.S. border weeks earlier.

Meanwhile, Brooks Mayor Martin Sheilds said the town has been caught in a “private little feud” between XL Foods and federal food inspectors.

“We’ve been on the sidelines,” he said.

“Those guys out there— I would take them, put them all in a room, lock the door (and) say ‘get it sorted out.’ Because that’s how innocent bystanders are getting hurt.”

Since Sept. 16, more than 1,800 XL Foods products have been recalled across the country in what is now Canada’s largest beef recall.

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© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Original source article: 800 employees heading back to XL Foods plant

By Darcy Henton, Calgary Herald October 15, 2012 6:37 AM

EDMONTON — Residents of Calgary and Edmonton still pay among the highest prices for electricity in the country, according to the annual Hydro Quebec power pricing survey.

The good news for consumers is the price, calculated on April 1, is a few cents lower than it was last year at the same time.

The bad news is the electricity price in Calgary and Edmonton has climbed two to three cents since April.

Calgary, which recorded the highest price in the nation last year, dropped to third highest and Edmonton dropped from second to fifth highest, in Hydro Quebec’s assessment.

The survey of 12 Canadian cities pegged electricity in Calgary at 14.5 cents per kilowatt-hour for the average household, down from 18 cents in 2011. Edmonton came in at 13.6 cents, down from 17 cents in 2011.

The price includes rate riders and local access fees that add to the kilowatt-hour cost in Alberta’s deregulated electricity market.

Halifax and Charlottetown, P.E.I., had the highest-priced residential electricity in the country on April 1 at 15 cents per kWh, according to the survey.

By comparison, the cost in the three cities with the lowest-priced electricity — Montreal, Winnipeg and Vancouver — ranged from seven to eight cents per kWh for an average home. Those cities are served by relatively inexpensive hydro power while the bulk of Alberta electricity is generated from coal or more expensive natural-gas-fired plants.

The survey also included 10 U.S. cities, where the cost of electricity ranged from a low of 7.6 cents in Seattle to highs of more than 23 cents in San Francisco and New York. When the U.S. cities are included, Alberta cities placed in the middle of the pack, with Calgary having the seventh-highest prices and Edmonton the ninth highest of the 22 cities in North America.

Alberta is the only jurisdiction in Canada with a fully deregulated market that sets the price hourly. Electricity is supplied from power plants constructed and financed by private investors.

Electricity consultant Sheldon Fulton said electricity costs for residential consumers are high in Alberta because of market volatility that can rocket the megawatt-hour price of electricity to as high as $999 per mWh when plants shut down unexpectedly.

“It’s either $40 or $300 depending on whether the wind is blowing or not,” he added.

He said the regulated rate that consumers pay if they haven’t signed a fixed-price contract is affected by that volatility to such a degree that one regulated rate provider has applied to the Alberta Utilities Commission for a larger profit margin to offset the risk.

If approved, that could boost residential electricity prices even higher, he said.

Alberta Energy commissioned a task force to review the retail electricity market prior to most recent provincial election to stem public outcry over spiking prices but has yet to release the 390-page report or act on any of its 41 recommendations.

“My guess is the committee has made recommendations that may be contradictory to current government policy, so I think what they are trying to do is figure out how do they make some changes,” Fulton said. “Quebec Hydro’s comparisons are correct. We do have the highest rates in the country, but what is the underlying root cause and how do you fix it?”

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

By Kelly Cryderman, Calgary Herald October 13, 2012

The Alberta Court of Appeal has heard arguments on whether a $609-million power line deemed “critical” by the Alberta government should be put to a regulatory test of whether the project is in the public interest.

The legal arguments heard in a Calgary courtroom on Friday could have implications for the future approvals of billions of dollars in electricity transmission line projects the province says are crucial to Alberta’s continued economic growth.

However, critics say the projects are part of a massive overbuild and the costs will be borne in the years ahead by already-taxed Alberta residential and industrial electricity consumers.

Opponents to the Heartland Transmission Project – a line that will run to the industrial zone north of Edmonton – argued a provincial regulatory body erred because it only examined the 500-KV project route before green-lighting the project last year.

They say the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) also has the jurisdiction to look at whether the controversial project – which is in the early stages of construction – is good for the overall social and economic interests of the province.

“Everybody already is talking about their power bills, how they’ve increased. And it’s only just started,” Karen Shaw, whose family farm lies adjacent to the proposed Heartland line, said outside the courtroom.

However, the Heartland project proponents – AltaLink and Epcor – and the AUC itself also appeared before the Court of Appeal panel to say the commission was correct in its decision.

Epcor Distribution and Transmission Inc. lawyer Kim Wakefield said the Alberta legislature has crafted laws that reserve for itself the ability to determine the primary need and public interest of a project deemed “critical.”

“The AUC does not have the power to look at the public interest,” he told the court.

Three Court of Appeal judges said Friday they would reserve their decision. But Wakefield said outside of court the outcome of the case “will give guidance to the AUC in the future on the parameters of the its role” in critical transmission infrastructure applications.

The Shaw family’s lawyer, Keith Wilson, also said the outcome of the appeal could have an influence on the fate of two other major north-south transmission lines now being considered by the AUC, and other transmission projects the Alberta government has said are necessary.

In February 2009, the government passed Bill 50 and declared several transmission projects, including Heartland and the two north-south lines, as critical infrastructure needed to upgrade the power grid to meet growing demand for electricity.

But earlier this year, the Redford government said it would introduce legislation so that responsibility for considering the need for future transmission projects will be assigned to the AUC.

On Friday, Alberta Energy spokeswoman Janice Schroeder said in an email she wouldn’t comment on any potential legislation, or the Court of Appeal case.

“We are not prepared to debate the issues from the sidelines,” Schroeder said.

Wildrose MLA Joe Anglin voiced his support for the Shaw family appeal Friday, and said it’s imperative that Alberta Energy Minister Ken Hughes release a 390-page report from an independent committee which reviewed problems with Alberta power prices.

Hughes received the report last month, but said he would review its contents before responding.

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© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Original source article: Court hears arguments on Heartland power line project

By Elise Stolte and Marty Klinkenberg, Edmonton Journal October 14, 2012 11:27 AM

EDMONTON – The president of the Alberta Federation of Labour lashed out at XL Foods’ owners after hearing that the company embroiled in the largest meat recall in Canadian history was laying off 2,000 employees at its packing house in Brooks.

On Saturday, XL Foods announced the temporary layoffs earlier in the day, citing the absence of a timeline for reopening its plant. The firm’s licence to operate was suspended by federal regulators on Sept. 27 after beef trimmings and ground meat from the processing facility tested positive for E. coli 0157: H7 multiple times.

The company had been working to implement safety improvements with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and appeared to be within a few days of resuming full operations when Brian Nilsson, the Edmonton-based company’s co-CEO, announced the sudden layoffs.

“I am surprised,” McGowan said by telephone from Quebec City. “It is hard not to see this as another ill-conceived decision by the owners of XL Foods.
“It is clear they were close to the point where the plant would reopen, so why would they take a risk that their employees would possibly leave town? There is a real risk that they might not have enough people to get the plant open even if they get a green light from the CFIA.

“It doesn’t make sense.”

The company’s problems began Sept. 3 when U.S. officials discovered E. coli 0157: H7 during a random inspection of beef trimmings at the Montana border. The following day, the CFIA came up with a positive test result for E. coli as well. Subsequently, 15 Canadians have become sick from the bacteria, and the company has lost its privileges to export to the U.S. as well.

More than 1,800 products have been pulled from store shelves across Canada and the U.S. since the first in a long list of recalls was made Sept. 16.

The CFIA had granted XL Foods a temporary licence to make safety improvements, but hasn’t provided a definitive timeline for reopening the plant.
“It is with deep regret we have announced the temporary layoff of 2,000 employees today,” Nilsson said in a news release, adding that workers had received full pay over the last three weeks. “It is this uncertainty that has forced the temporary layoffs.

“We look forward to actively working with the CFIA to bring this to a viable and timely resolution.”

The CFIA responded by issuing a statement of its own, blaming the company for the delay. The CFIA charged that it has been unable to complete a safety assessment because XL Foods stopped after cutting only about half as many carcasses as the agency needed to assess the plant’s E. coli monitoring capability.

“We have clearly outlined the steps and actions we require the company to take so that we can be sure that food safety controls in the plant are working effectively,” the CFIA said. “The speed at which XL Foods Inc. begins normal operations is solely dependent on their ability to demonstrate that they can produce safe food.

“At this time, we are unable to complete our assessment. We recognize the company wants to return to normal operations as soon as possible, but the CFIA has a responsibility to assure consumers that the plant can produce safe food.”

The agency said no products will be allowed on the market until it is confident that the plant’s food safety controls are working effectively. Beginning Monday, it has authorized some meat products currently under detention at the facility to be sent for rendering, a high-temperature disposal method. Shipments will be supervised, and none of the rendered material will be sold for food.

Provincial Agriculture Minister Verlyn Olson hosted a hastily assembled media conference on the steps of the legislature late Saturday afternoon. He’ll address reporters again Sunday afternoon in Brooks, where he’s meeting with Mayor Martin Shields and others affected by the XL layoffs.

“Our hope is this is a short-term setback,” Olson said Saturday, suggesting layoffs may have been triggered by a timeline spelled out in a collective agreement.

One out of every six people in Brooks works at the plant, and Olson said he spoke with both the Brooks mayor and federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz earlier in the day. Service Canada will be on-site Monday to help people apply for employment insurance.

Testing at the plant is going well, and results should be available Monday morning at the earliest, Olson said.

Other than that, the provincial government can only watch, since the CFIA is responsible for approving the reopening of the plant, he said.

“The ball is in XL’s court,” Olson said. “It’s not within our ability to step in and make CFIA do anything or make XL do anything. When I say we’re watching carefully, it means that we’re talking multiple times a day to the various players in their picture and encouraging them to do whatever is necessary.
“We are taking XL at its word that this is a temporary layoff.”

NDP Leader Brian Mason, who was also at the legislature, suggested things are worse than the government is letting on.

“It’s not a good move for XL Foods because they have many immigrants working in the plant who cannot afford to stay if they are not being paid. It’s always been a problem in that plant to find labour,” said Mason, who visited the facility during a 2005 strike and union organizing drive. “This layoff will mean people leave town and look for something else. That will create additional problems for XL.

“This is probably a more serious setback than the minister would have us believe. (The company) has some reason to believe this plant is going to be shut down for a while at least.”

“We are hopeful that the CFIA will bring this to a swift and viable resolution.”

Doug O’Halloran, president of the union that represents the plant’s workers, said they were informed of the layoffs Saturday afternoon during a meeting. They take effect immediately, he said, and it remains uncertain when workers will be back on the job.

“I’m as shocked as I’m sure the rest of the workers are,” O’Halloran said. “We’re just as caught off guard as everyone else. We’ll be helping people fill out for EI and trying to find jobs for them at some of the other plants and doing what we can to assist them.”

According to the union’s most recent contract, employees at the plant were due to receive wage increases on Nov. 1. Workers on the production line were to earn from $15.40 to $20.75 per hour, depending on experience, custodians would make between $10.35 and $17 per hour, maintenance workers would earn between $16.40 and $36.25 per hour, and employees working in rendering operations would make between $15.40 and $31.25 hourly.

McGowan, meanwhile, wondered if the layoffs were announced by XL Foods as a means of putting pressure on the CFIA to get the plant open more quickly.

“If they are playing chicken with the regulators, it’s a boneheaded move,” McGowan said. “I certainly hope the CFIA will only certify the plant once it is confident the company has completed all of the changes needed to assure public safety.

“I think we were literally days away from the plant reopening. This boggles the mind.”

A spokesperson for federal minister Ritz said the halt to operations was directly linked to the layoffs.

“Their decision to lay off workers results in them not being able to continue with the CFIA assessment,” Meagan Murdoch said in an email.

Ritz said his thoughts are with the workers and the community that are affected by the “private-sector business decision” by XL Foods. He said CFIA inspectors are working diligently to ensure all safety issues at the Brooks plant are corrected.

“Today’s news does not change our government’s commitment to ensuring safe food for Canadian consumers,” Ritz said in a statement.

With files from the Calgary Herald and The Canadian Press

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© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

The Canadian Press October 12, 2012 5:22 PM

Two new cases of E. coli connected to the massive beef recall at the XL Foods plant in Alberta have been confirmed in British Columbia.

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control says the same strain of the bacteria was found by lab tests, bringing to three the number of people who’ve been sickened in B.C.

Health officials say the new cases were both in adults and all three people who were ill have either recovered or are recovering.

One of those sickened was visiting Canada from outside the country and ate beef in both Alberta and B.C.

The second person was diagnosed in the Fraser Health Authority in Metro Vancouver.

A man from Nanaimo was the first B.C. resident to come down with the same strain of E. coli identified in the XL Food Inc. food safety investigation that has prompted a massive beef recall across Canada.

The head of XL Foods Inc. apologized unequivocally Thursday to those who were sickened by eating tainted meat and vowed to “making sure this doesn’t happen again.”

He spoke just as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced the company was able to resume limited operations at its Brooks, Alta. facility. The CFIA suspended the plant’s licence on Sept. 27.

More to come…

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Original source article: Two more E. coli cases in B.C. linked to XL Foods beef recall

By Jamie Komarnicki, Calgary Herald October 11, 2012

CALGARY — Premier Alison Redford shot down calls from opposition parties and the union representing workers at the XL Foods plant for a public inquiry to get to the bottom of the huge beef recall stemming from E. coli tainted product at the Brooks facility.

“Every single time that something doesn’t go well, we don’t need to have a public inquiry,” Redford told reporters in Calgary Thursday.

“We have to learn, we have to take the time to sort out what has happened, where we can improve systems, where the CFIA can improve systems, where commercial enterprises may be able to improve systems,” she said.

“Every single time does not require a public inquiry and I certainly won’t be supporting a public inquiry.”

The premier’s comments come the day after the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401 called for the public probe, claiming better training and work conditions are required to ensure meat is safe.

But a statement from XL Foods late Wednesday said the company has an “open door policy” for workers and welcomes input on plant operations.

“I am saddened that the UFCW has chosen to attack the workmanship of its many members,” co-CEO Brian Nilsson said in the statement.

“We have extensive training programs for new workers and hold our workers in the highest regard for their abilities,” he said.

According to Nilsson, XL’s line speeds are “less than industry average” for a plant the size of the Brook facility, which processes about 4,000 cattle a day.

Meanwhile, two weeks after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency temporarily pulled the XL Foods plant’s operating licence, workers are now back on the line today.

The federal agency is allowing workers to process more than 5,000 carcasses from cattle slaughtered in the days before the plant was temporarily shuttered.

The processing, which will take place under close CFIA watch, will also allow the federal agency to scrutinize whether the plant has improved its food safety controls, said Dr. Harpreet Kochhar, the CFIA’s executive director of western operations.

“This will allow the CFIA to review in a controlled manner the company’s improvements made to all previously addressed deficiencies,” he said.

The processed meat won’t be allowed to leave the plant at this point, said Kochhar.

The plant won’t be allowed to get completely back to work slaughtering and processing new cattle until the CFIA confirms in writing that it’s safe to do so, he added.

Redford called Thursday’s development good progress.

It’s “very good news to see that we’re going to be able to see activity that’s going to generate economic support for beef produces in Alberta very soon,” she said.

The premier said while Alberta’s cattle producers may face some difficulties in the wake of the beef recall crisis, the province has an insurance fund in place that will support the industry.

The Brooks plant is at the heart of a massive beef recall, that’s seen hundreds of products yanked off shelves in Canada, the United States and as far away as Hong Kong.

Its operating licence was suspended Sept. 27.

According to public health officials, 12 cases of E. coli poisoning, including seven in Alberta, have been genetically linked to the specific strain of E. coli 157: H7 found during investigation of contaminated meat at the XL plant.

At the request of XL Foods, CFIA inspectors began an in-depth review of the plant this week to see if it was ready to get back to work.

That review determined the plant has been sanitized, and condensation, ice build up and drainage issues have been fixed, Kochhar said.

The plant will be subject to “enhanced inspection,” including two inspectors — in addition to the 40 inspectors and six veterinarians already working full time at the plant — who will “focus on oversight of E. coli controls, sanitation, general food hygiene,” Kochhar told reporters Thursday.

The meat being processed starting Thursday comes from the roughly 5,100 cattle slaughtered in the day’s leading up to the plant being shuttered, said Kochhar.

According to Kochhar, 99 per cent of that beef tested negatively for E. coli. The carcasses with E. coli contamination — and the carcasses that came before and after it on the line — have been destroyed, he added.

NDP Leader Brian Mason said Thursday the province must account for a grant it gave XL to speed up production, and whether proper steps were taken to ensure federal inspection kept pace with increased speed.

In 2011, XL Foods was given a $1.6-million grant for upgrading its facility and to double its per-day capacity for ground beef.

“The government did not take into account the impact the grants would have on food safety, nor was there an understanding or appreciation for the capacity of inspection and how it needed to be increased,” he said.

But Redford said the Tory government’s job is to spur economic development in the province.

“I think that Mr. Mason needs to better understand a commercial project such as this before he makes those comments,” she said.

“XL is a commercial entity. They make the decisions they make. Our job is to create an environment in this province where we have strong economic conditions.”

With files from Kelly Cryderman, Calgary Herald

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© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Original source article: Redford rejects calls for public inquiry into tainted beef

By Sarah Schmidt, Postmedia News October 12, 2012 8:54 AM

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

By Darcy Henton, CALGARY HERALD October 10, 2012

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Original source article: Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith calls for “full and complete” investigation into XL Foods

By Peter O’Neil, Vancouver Sun October 9, 2012

One of Canada’s most outspoken champions of the oil and gas industry has doubts whether Enbridge will ever build a pipeline to the B.C. coast – even if the $6-billion project gets federal approval.

Former B.C. energy minister Richard Neufeld, now a Conservative senator, said he strongly supports the construction of pipelines to the B.C. coast so Canada can ship Alberta’s diluted bitumen crude to booming Asian markets.

But he said Enbridge has so badly mismanaged the $6-billion project that he questions whether the Calgary company has the public credibility to proceed with the megaproject even if the National Energy Board approves the application next year.

“I don’t know whether Enbridge has actually screwed up bad enough that even if it was OK’d, whether let’s say the NEB says, ‘Hey, this plan looks good, we can go ahead,’ that Enbridge would be able to actually build that pipeline,” he told The Vancouver Sun.

“I just think Enbridge has left such a sour taste in most peoples’ mouths.”

Neufeld also said he supports B.C. Premier Christy Clark’s demand to get a bigger share of cash for B.C. from the project before approving it.

He supports Premier Alison Redford’s position that B.C. has no right to claim a share of Alberta’s royalties, but said Victoria should have no trouble using its taxing authority to raise money from the project.

He questioned, however, Clark’s apparent hard line against the Alberta government and the oilpatch, in particular her veiled threat in Calgary last week to withhold electric power needed to operate the pipeline and Kitimat terminal in B.C.

“Those kind of things shouldn’t be said. You just don’t do that,” he said, adding that former premier Gordon Campbell spent years trying to build a close relationship between Alberta and B.C.

“This is kind of tearing it apart and I don’t think it’s good … I don’t know the reasoning behind that but if I’d been there (in the B.C. cabinet) it’s something I would have talked against.”

An Enbridge spokesman rejected Neufeld’s assertion that the company failed to adequately consult British Columbians and especially First Nations.

“Our work on Northern Gateway has included the most extensive consultation process ever undertaken for a Canadian pipeline project: over 2,500 meetings, 123 open houses, 150 presentations, and 64 workshops,” Todd Nogier said in an email interview.

“That far exceeds anything required by the regulator.”

Neufeld, 67, was former B.C. premier Gordon Campbell’s energy minister from 2001 until shortly after his appointment to the Senate in December 2008.

He has long called for a robust Canadian energy industry and for years promoted oil and gas exploration off the B.C. coast – an option Neufeld acknowledges isn’t viable due to political opposition combined with vast shale gas reserves that are now being exploited in B.C.

And he’ll go to the barricades to defend the Alberta and federal government position that the oilsands industry needs access to B.C.’s ports to diversify its markets away from the U.S., which is growing increasingly self-sufficient in oil and gas.

But Neufeld said Enbridge didn’t adequately recognize that B.C. is far different from Alberta when it began consultations on its proposed 1,177-kilometre twin pipelines from the Edmonton area to Kitimat.

He said the company, which on its website under “Benefits for British Columbians” promises 3,000 construction jobs and 560 long-term jobs, isn’t being straight with the public.

“I’ve had briefings (with Enbridge), they talk about all the jobs and the economic activity in B.C. And I said, ‘Look, I’ve been in the oilpatch and the world long enough to know that that pipeline will be built in a hurry, and that means people come from all over the place. Don’t tell me all of those jobs will involves British Columbians. It just won’t happen.

“So let’s be honest with those numbers. Let’s tell the people what is truthful.”

He also said the company didn’t do enough to win support from British Columbians in remote regions along the route, and especially First Nations.

Enbridge’s Nogier said the company has already proven it is listening to British Columbians, and said the commitment of up to $500 million in new safety measures should be viewed more positively.

“We felt we already had an industry-leading project in terms of safety and these enhancements were intended to make the project even safer,” he wrote.

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© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Original source article: Energy advocate Richard Neufeld doubts Enbridge will build pipeline to coast