A Brief Comment by Niagara At Large publisher and environment writer Doug Draper
As much as some, if not many Canadians may be upset with this June 17th’s decision by the Harper government to approve Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline, the god news is this.
Stephen Harper throws the tar equivalent of a spit ball at our present and our children’s future.
It could very well be the last straw for a Harper government that has already shown more than its share of contempt for everyone from young to seniors across this country. It could be the last straw for a government that has run rough shod over this country’s Native peoples and for our democracy by proroguing shutdowns of parliament whenever it has not wanted to stand up to questions from duly elected members of Canada’s opposition.
And most certainly in this case, it will be the last straw for a Harper government of climate change deniers that will do anything to aid and abet the most filthy tar sands land stripping for petroleum crud than sensibly make a transition to less environmentally damaging and more renewable sources of energy for the 21st century. A few weeks ago this June, 2014, we were greeted with news that U.S. President Barack Obama is ordering tougher limits on climate change emissions of carbon fuels in his country. Canada’s Stephen Harper responded to that with a statement that no country should make that move if it, in his government’s view, it hurts the vested interests of an economy that chooses to depend on petroleum extraction.
Planned route of the Enbridge Nrothern Gateway pipe to a coast where tanker ships larger than the Exxon Valdez would load this un-refined crud for shipment to Far East.
But what about the interests of continued damage to our environment and the damages of more frequent severe weather that is causing catastrophic damage to property, making insurance costs soar, jacking up the price of our food and other necessities? Why won’t Harper and his minions, including the likes of Niagara Falls MP Rob Nicholson and St. Catharines MP Rick Dykstra , speak out about that?
They won’t speak out. They wouldn’t dare. Even on an issue of such importance as climate change and ever more frequent weather damaging conditions that may mean a future for younger generations that is pure hell. They would rather kiss the butt of Harper and his corporate tar sands friends.
Now, this Northern Gateway Pipe decision, made by the Harper government after it has gutted leading environmental legislation in this country and muzzled whatever Environment Canada scientists that haven’t been let go, will do Harper, Dykstra, Nicholson and company in.
It will do them in because most young people in Canada who care about their future, more than a hundred Native American communities, and a majority in the province of British Columbia, including the current B.C. government, will keep this an issue through the 2015 federal election.
It will be an issue as toxic for Harper as was the platter of public service job cuts and other nonsense that his Ontario friend Tim Hudak tried to settle in this June’s provincial election.
This is an issue that will be the last straw for a Harper government that so obviously places the interests of a petro-chemical industry above those of Canada’s future.
(Niagara At Large invites you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.)
Niagara At Large 
Who in hell voted for this guy?
He’s destroying EVERYTHING our nation ever stood for.
Is there not some way he can be removed from office by plebiscite or popular opposition? What kind of democracy allows an oligarchic demon like him to destroy an entire nation with a 40 per cent”majority”? What magic control does he have over his MPs? Are they all gutless?
Not a single PC now in power should EVER be re elected again. A list should be made & all their names fully publicized before any future elections. Their constituency offices and their HOMES should be picketed endlessly until this is reversed. They deserve to never have the public trust again. They care more about their position than representing their constituents or doing the right thing. The public woke up about Hudak & he barely won a majority for his own seat. Why not get rid of the federal PC’s -each and every single one.
WE are the people and WE should be the government. The majority did NOT vote for him! Those who did, if not smart enough to be remorseful, should be drawn and quartered. Well, maybe that’s a bit severe…but not much.
Wake up Canada.
LikeLike
It’s not enough to lay blame on the likes of local elected Cons for not having the integrity to stand up against the Harper Con. Generations to come will hold each individual con libel for this destruction.
One bonus of election signage is that we can boycott local malls that sported the con signs.
Lake and Lakeshore, St Kitts, blanketed their property with Con signs. Just saying.
LikeLike
Linda McKellar – you are right on with all you wrote – THANK YOU
LikeLike
Actually, I don’t think it will hurt Harper all that much. The government hasn’t actually “approved” the pipeline. There are more than 200 conditions that must be met.
The biggest is getting the First Nations in northern BC to agree. I don’t think there is enough money in the world to buy their approval.
The second biggest is getting the government of BC to agree. BC Premier Christy Clark (who is just as scary as Tim Hudak) knows that if she agrees to the pipeline she can kiss her political backside goodbye as well.
That still leaves more than 200 other “technical” hurdles to overcome.
In a nutshell, Harper has pulled off a bit of political “smoke and mirrors.”
To his oil industry and business buddies, it looks like he is on their side. But it doesn’t mean a rats ass because the conditions imposed are, for all intents and purposes, impossible to meet.
An almost brilliant political move.
BTW … don’t scream at me!!! I grew up in BC and I don’t want that pipeline leading to another potential Exxon Valdez disaster on the coast that I love!
LikeLike
Good points Will. The most important thing is to provide environmental Safety of production and transportation for our true north … Mining country.
If you don’t think Canada is a Mining country, look at how many of your Ontario neighbours have been laid off over the past year because Saudi Arabia’s low oil prices are killing the competing tar sands – the latest is the St Kitts company that has no more contracts to build oil tank cars. My wife & I personally know 12 people who commute to work out West and pay Ontario income & property taxes.
However, there will soon be jobs in BC building the Eagle Energy pipeline (which follows essentially the same route as Northern Gateway) and … has been approved by all First Nations along the route.
LikeLike
Jane Hanlon has a point. However,the plaza at Lakeshore and Lake, plastered with Con signs does not belong to the shops within. That particular plaza has a corporate owner, as anyone who has ever worked with municipal elections knows — one developer holds sway over that plaza and the Henley plaza as well — whether it is a Toronto a numbered company or just buddies with the local big pocketed developers.
In the last Municipal elections one candidate who wished his signs on the former plaza was given the OK by a shop owner, but his were torn down, and only councillor was allowed signs there. Why? Because one of the former owners of PDVC wanted this councillor and no others. The councillor in question also took mucho money from said developer. So he had any others taken down and only his signs remained. I have this on full authority from the players themselves.
So let’s not throw stones at great little cafes like Sweets, which only rents space. Instead, take the time to find out who owns the whole furshluginner plaza, as I had to do one time. It isn’t easy to do, unless you are a moneyedd developer. But the shops in the plazas are not to blame. They are small businesses renting space.
Good idea, Jane, wrong target.
LikeLike
Hi Gail, thanks, well reasoned as always.
I am aware that these store employees are not represented by the signage and am not throwing any stones – far from it, I feel for them. Even so, I leave it to them to pressure their owner to quit the Con game.
Sweets Cafe is at the Lakeport Ontario intersection.
LikeLike