Minister takes on 'radical' environmentalists over Northern Gateway pipeline

OTTAWA — The federal Conservative government, accused last week of attempting to interfere in the work of the independent National Energy Board, issued a statement Monday on the eve of the NEB's hearings on the Northern Gateway pipeline damning "radical" environmentalists opposed to Canadian resource development.

Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver also said in an interview Sunday the government is considering measures to speed up Canada's regulatory process for major natural resource initiatives.

While he insisted the statement wasn't linked specifically to Enbridge's $5.5-billion pipeline proposal from the Alberta oilsands to the B.C. coast, Oliver's declaration in a news release said it's imperative that Canada open access to Asian markets for Canadian oil.

"Canada is on the edge of a historic choice: To diversify our energy markets away from our traditional trading partner in the United States or to continue with the status quo," he said.

"Virtually all our energy exports go to the U.S. As a country, we must seek new markets for our products and services, and the booming Asia-Pacific economies have shown great interest in our oil, gas, metals and minerals."

Echoing comments Friday from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, he said "radical" environmentalists and "jet-setting celebrities" are trying to block that effort.

"These groups threaten to hijack our regulatory system to achieve their radical ideological agenda. They seek to exploit any loophole they can find, stacking public hearings with bodies to ensure that delays kill good projects. They use funding from foreign special interest groups to undermine Canada's national economic interest."

More than 4,000 individuals and groups have registered to participate in the NEB hearings that start Tuesday in Kitimat, B.C. The three-person panel recently announced it will delay issuing its findings until late 2013.

Last week, New Democratic Party MP Nathan Cullen said comments by Harper and Oliver in favour of pipelines to the West Coast are interfering with the NEB's independence.

Harper and Oliver have "made the job for the NEB impossible," said the MP for the Skeena-Bulkley Valley riding, which includes Kitimat.

"How do they render a decision without being seen to be influenced?"

But Oliver insisted in an interview the government is only making broad comments about the importance of the oilsands industry and pipelines to the West Coast.

The government has noted the company Kinder Morgan has already said publicly it is interested in doubling the capacity of its pipeline system from Alberta to Burnaby, B.C.

"It's in the national interest to diversify our markets. And that is a strategic objective," he said in the interview. "But we're not saying that this particular project should or should not be projected. We're not talking about this particular regulatory review."

He said the government is considering legislation or regulations to speed up the regulatory approvals process, moves that would be "urgent" and "in the national interest." But he said these measures won't interfere with the Northern Gateway hearings.

"We respect the regulatory process. We're not trying to undermine the regulatory integrity" of the NEB, he said, adding no steps that might be taken will "undermine that process."

Oliver, asked by CTV if the government would consider overruling the NEB if the panel rejected Northern Gateway, refused to speculate.

"There have been very few pipelines indeed that have ever been rejected by the National Energy Board. I think there have only been two out of tens of thousands," he said.

"And so we expect a positive decision ultimately, but you know there may be conditions attached and so on. So I don't think there's a need to deal with that sort of theoretical prospect at this time."