Christy vs Allison

I listened to Christy Clark on the news this morning, she was talking about her stance on the proposed pipeline from Alberta's oil sands to our coast.  I think it is great she is taking a stand.  It does seem a brave move, as Alberta's Premier, Allison Redford, seems a whole lot tougher than our Christy Clark.  If Christy can pull this off to BC's benefit, then she will have earned some respect, Finally!
 
I am not against the pipeline, but I am against an oil spill.   I want gas for my car, I am not willing to walk everywhere, (I do walk a lot but let's be realistic).  I want progress without the risk, but we all know how unrealistic that is!

Christy's demand to negotiate with Alberta & the Federal Government is not out of line.  The list of demands are a good start, but I think they need to go further than "developing policies"

B.C. wants Ottawa to establish a working group to develop policies around increased tanker traffic and handling hazardous materials, to eliminate federal red tape that, at present, blocks cooperation between the Coast Guard and province during spill cleanup efforts. B.C. is also calling for better maps of the B.C. coastline and an examination of why Canada's rules for oil tanker travel are more lax than those of the U.S.

"Those are questions outside of the environmental assessment process that are in play at the moment but they are still important questions that need to be answered before we would consider support," Lake said.

"It is impossible to eliminate all risk entirely. So we need to know that, even after we have absolutely minimized the chances, if there was spill, [we would] have the systems and capacity in place to ensure an effective response and remediation."

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/sets+conditions+pipeline+support/6977866/story.html#ixzz21kI4oyNv

• I would like to see BC residents offered jobs as a highly trained clean up team.  
• Alberta's profits should pay for the training of the clean up team, and for all costs to maintain and deploy the team when needed.  (Not like the search and rescue teams we have that are well trained but can't get the money to actually travel to disasters and help out)                                                                        

Alberta should pay for this team because it is their Oil, and if they want to put the Oil Spill Risk on our coastline, they should assume the costs of any disaster along with the oil companies.  Yes, the companies like Enbridge should have good insurance and be liable for costs of their pipeline spills, but should BC rely on Enbridge to have the trained team?  BC needs funding for more coast guards, and our own highly trained, clean up team for disasters.  (Disasters that we hope will never happen of course!)