16 LEXPERT
|
2017
|
WWW.LEXPERT.CA
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK
Although a spate of opinion polls conducted in 2016 found that a
majority of Canadians support the country's major pipeline projects
— Forum Research, as one example, reported numbers varying from
51- to 55-per-cent approval, depending on the pipeline — the results
also revealed a significant level of concern among a large portion of the
population. An EKOS poll on energy and the environment, commis-
sioned by the CBC, perhaps best summed up the mood in the coun-
try: "Canadians appear torn between a rising environmental ethic and
deep anxieties about the economy."
Pipeline projects tend to polarize public opinion, eliciting fear in
some stakeholders that they have the potential to cause catastrophic
environmental damage if a significant leak or other breakdown oc-
curs. Although he understands that response, Gordon Nettleton, the
co-head of the national environmental, regulatory & Aboriginal group
in the Calgary office of McCarthy Tétrault LLP, says it's borne out of a
misunderstanding of the importance of pipelines to the economy and
their safety record.
"Pipelines are a necessary part of Canada's energy infrastructure,"
says Nettleton. "e energy sector is the second largest in Canada's
economy, next to auto manufacturing. When people talk about doing
PIPELINE APPROVAL
Pipelines are
essential to the oil
and gas industry,
and thus a quarter
of Canada's economy,
but continued
societal concerns
demand a nuanced
approach from
project proponents
By Paul McLaughlin
A Winding
Path for
Pipelines
