At a gathering of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce in Vancouver recently, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver declared that neither "radical environmental groups" nor "over-lengthy regulatory processes" are going to deter the Harper government from shipping crude oil to China.
He argues that Canada had better quickly line up China as a customer of Alberta oil, or some other competing country will. He just as well might have said "to hell with public consultation, and environmental risks be damned: we're going after the money.'
We might have expected a bit more cautiousness regarding the concerns of First Nations, but here too Oliver says the Conservative government will not let opposition from that quarter deter them either.
As he sees it, a requirement to consult does not mean an agreement must be the result.
So, one thing is clear. The Harper government wants the National Energy Board (NEB) to approve the Enbridge application to build the Northern Gateway pipeline, and it wants it sooner rather than later.
The question is: What will the federal Conservatives do if they cannot get their way? Is there a Plan B?
Well, there is second pipeline proposal that isn't getting as much attention as it should: the twinning of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline. It has been operating since the 1950s, and there doesn't seem to be a right-of-way issue, so NEB public hearings probably would not be lengthy.
The most attractive aspect is that twinning could increase carriage capacity up to 700,000 barrels a day, significantly more than the proposed northern pipeline.
During the past year Kinder Morgan has been testing corporate interest in the twinning idea through a so-called "open season" that now has been extended to mid-February 2012.
Given the body blow President Obama delivered to the American Keystone project, and the rising Canadian opposition to the Northern Gateway proposal, Harper and company might find the doubling of an already existing pipeline a compelling alternative to the Enbridge scheme.
The terminus of Trans Mountain, of course, is in Burnaby, the scene of a 2007 pipeline rupture in its Westridge residential area. The spill this week at Trans Mountain's Abbotsford tank farm was a stark reminder of the earlier accident.
Both incidents underscore the fact that there is a risk associated with oil pipelines.
And it seems reasonable to assume that doubling a pipeline doubles the risk of a spill. And what about tankers to take away the crude stuff? Won't more be needed, and won't that increase the chances of an accident in harbour or at sea?
These will be some of the legitimate questions Burnaby residents as well as their neighbours around Burrard Inlet and beyond will be asking should Kinder Morgan seek NEB approval to twin its Trans Mountain pipeline.
As likely as not, however, they may find themselves subjected to attack by an ideologically driven federal government that seems prepared to declare war on anyone who doesn't accept its dogma.
Bill Brassington is a Burnaby resident.
