Two Near Misses in Two Days

Two shipping near misses off Kitimat in two days.   Thursday the deep sea freighter, Tern Arrow, lost engine power and wound up drifting for three hours in Laredo Sound south of Kitimat.   You won't see this in any Enbridge ads but the ship was adrift in 40 knot winds and heavy seas, very far from the worst conditions that often prevail in that area.

On Tuesday night, a loaded German container ship had to alter course to dodge a fishing boat and ran aground on a sand bar south of Prince Rupert.   Fortunately it was only sand, the hull wasn't holed and the ship was able to be pulled off the sand bar by tugs.

What's important is to keep in mind that it will only take one supertanker sinking on the north coast to create truly unimaginable ecological disaster and that nobody - not Ottawa, not Alberta, not Enbridge, not our Chinese bosses - has any idea of what to do about; a spill of bitumen blanketing the rocky bottom 600 feet down.

The north coast seas are fierce.   120-knot winds can occur.   30-metre waves have been recorded.   The Hecate Strait is rated the 6th most dangerous to navigation on the planet.

Harper. Time to Push Back.

Make hay while the sun shines.   So goes the old adage to never let a precious opportunity slip through your fingers because you never know when another will come along.

That pretty much sums up the spot Harper's majority has opened up for Enbridge and it's proposal to build a pipeline connecting the Athabasca Tar Sands to a supertanker oil port in Kitimat, B.C.   This is Big Oil's big chance and they know only the guy now in office can be counted on to pave their way.  It's no coincidence that, just one day after he won his majority, Harper went public dismissing the West Coast supertanker/pipeline opposition as something of an annoyance that would not be allowed to, "damage Western Canada."

If Harper understands one thing, it's not to squander an opportunity.  He also has the gift of shrewdness, the cunning to grasp the vulnerability of others.  All of these factors suggest but one conclusion:  that Enbridge, with Harper clearing the path of disorganized opposition, will be moving quickly to make the pipeline/oil port a fait accompli.

It seems that Harper may test his new majority muscle on this venture.  He has never had this political license and he probably will be eager to explore his imperial power on something so cherished by his benefactors.  It will also be something of a learning experience for Harper's opponents both within and beyond Parliament.   Can the environmental, progressive left and centre mobilize and effectively organize in order to push back?   Have we really been relegated to meaningless bickerers as I'm sure Harper believes?

There are some of us now seeking ways to rally and unite like-minded but sometimes disparate groups - environmental, First Nations, labour and political - to stand together against Harper, Big Oil and the governments of Alberta and British Columbia (to the extent they fall into Harper's camp).

The goal must be to inform and energize public opinion.   Anecdotal evidence suggests the public is woefully uninformed on this venture.   Most seem to think this is about shipping oil, not corrosive bitumen sludge alive with acids, toxins and heavy metals.   Few have any idea of what the loss of a tanker load of this vile product would mean for coastal British Columbia.   Few have a working knowledge of the treacherous waterways of Kitimat that pose a near constant hazard to navigation - strong currents, big tides, high winds, limited visibility - compounded by the standard shipping hazards of engine failures, loss of steering, fires and basic human error.

It may not be possible to stop the Harper/Enbridge juggernaut.  Big Oil is well positioned to make its supertanker port a reality.  But that doesn't render opposition moot or pointless.  There are several meaningful benefits to be had.  It is important to show the public that, having to choose between the security of the B.C. West Coast and Big Oil profits, Harper is solidly and entirely on the side of Enbridge.

It must also be recalled what this pipeline/tanker port project is really about.  It is intended to open a bitumen market to Asia that will allow Big Oil to jack the Americans on price.  The U.S. is already prepared to buy every drop of bitumen Alberta can send them.  Harper/Alberta/Big Oil are are happy to put British Columbia in real peril to ensure they get every last cent out of their sludge.

The Deepwater Horizon fiasco and tanker disasters like the Exxon Valdez stand as an object lesson on what can go wrong and what precautions are necessary for when it does.   There must be pre-positioned equipment; ready, highly trained crews; and even purpose-built ships on standby to be called into action immediately they're needed.   That is enormously expensive.  This pipeline/oil port venture is about one thing - profit.  That means Big Oil and its minion, Harper, will have every incentive to cut corners.   Public awareness of the hazards of bitumen and the pipeline/oil port is about the only way we'll have to force the TarHeads and their Petro-Pol pals on Parliament Hill to act responsibly.

One Problem Harper Can't Sweep Aside

Steve Harper has a real problem.   It's a bunch of little people in little boats.  They call themselves the Gitga'at Nation and their ancestral home is in Hartley Bay.

The Gitga'at live and earn their living just around the corner from the site Harper's patrons, Enbridge, have chosen for their supertanker port to ship Athabasca bitumen to Asian markets.

If you're not familiar with that territory, here's a quick rundown.  Big tides, strong currents, high winds, narrow and twisty channels, rugged coastline, rocky islands and submerged outcroppings and very, very deep water.  In short it's probably the worst possible location for a supertanker oil port.

Tankers, like any other ship, have mishaps.   Engines breakdown, instruments go wonky, steering fails, fires break out, ships collide, humans err.   You can't anchor in 600 feet of water while you tend to repairs.   You can't even beach a ship up there.  It's the rocks and the bottom.

You don't have to tell the Gitga'at any of this.   They know their home waters better than anyone and that's why they have vowed to fight Harper's sludge-driven madness.  We're quite experienced dealing with unruly natives.  Sometimes we lock them up.   Sometimes we even shoot them.  Only not this time, not the Gitga'at.

The Gitga'at are heroes in this province.   When the BC ferry Queen of the North hit a rock and began sinking, this small band of native fishermen took to their small boats in the dark of night to rescue the passengers and crew.  They took them to safety and put them up in their homes.   They saved a lot of lives that night.  And there's Steve Harper's problem, one he won't be able to sweep aside.

If the people of British Columbia have to choose between the Gitga'at and an Alberta pipeline company, that won't go Harper's way. 

Steve has already made some unfortunate remarks that may come back to haunt him:

“There were a lot of policies being quoted by the other parties, whether it’s on West Coast transportation or the energy sector, that simply did not reflect the needs and concerns of this part of the country,” Mr. Harper declared in Calgary Tuesday morning, after clinching victory the night before.


“I actually argued during the campaign that the policies of our opponents were actually quite dangerous to the country as a whole, but obviously some specific policies seemed to be almost targeted to do damage to Western Canada,” he said. 

Steve, like the autocrat that he is, is used to being obeyed.  He hasn't had to deal with serious confrontation, civil disobedience like what's brewing up north.  On behalf of Alberta oil giants he's preparing to steamroller the people of coastal British Columbia.   Steve doesn't like dissent over piddly things like West Coast supertanker catastrophe and I don't see him backing down on this.