11-Jan-2012 - 'Radical' groups working against oilsands

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Environmental and other "radical groups" cheap NFL jerseys are trying to block trade and undermine Canada's economy, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said Monday in an open letter. Oliver's letter comes one day before federal regulatory hearings begin on whether to approve Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline, which would deliver crude from Alberta's oilsands to Kitimat, B.C., for shipment to Asia. More than 4,300 people have signed up to address the proposed pipeline over the next 18 months. "Unfortunately, there are environmental and other radical groups that would seek to block this opportunity to diversify our trade," Oliver said in the letter. "Their goal is to stop any major project no matter what the cost to Canadian families in lost jobs and economic growth. No forestry. No mining. No oil. No gas. No more hydro-electric dams." Oliver says the groups "threaten to hijack our regulatory system to achieve their radical ideological agenda," stack the hearings with people to delay or kill "good projects," attract "jet-setting" celebrities and use funding from "foreign special interest groups." If all else fails, he says, opponents will sue. "They do this because they know it can work. It works because it helps them to achieve their ultimate objective: delay a project to the point it becomes economically unviable."'Driven by an ideological imperative'In an interview on CBC News Network, Oliver said radicals are "a group of people who don't take into account the facts but are driven by an ideological imperative." Not all groups are radical, he says, but some are opposed to any use of hydrocarbons. While Oliver took MLB jerseys aim at foreign funding for environment groups, foreign investment is a major part of the oilsands. American, British, Chinese, French and Norwegian companies have all invested in the oilsands. The difference, Oliver says, is that Canada needs the foreign capital. "We don't have enough capital in Canada to finance it and that's why there's a lot of investment from the United States, the U.K., France, and Norway, and other countries, and so we welcome that because we need it," he said. "They're helping us build infrastructure to help us diversify our market. Other groups are trying to impede … the economic progress; they're trying to block development; they're trying to block projects which will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in government revenue and trillions of dollars in economic development. That's the fundamental difference."Review process should be shortened, minister saysOliver says he thinks the review process can be shorter and still protect Canada. "Of course it's a matter of judgment. We want to have enough time, but we don't want to permit people to hijack the process, and that's what's been happening," he said. The letter is the latest volley from the government over opposition to oil, gas and mining projects. Last month, Oliver criticized the environmental review process as he approved French oil giant Total's Joslyn North oilsands mine custom nfl jerseys project 65 kilometres northwest of Fort McMurray, Alta. The review process takes too long and should be streamlined so it doesn't last any longer than two years, he said Dec. 8. "I think the regulatory process should be completed within a reasonable amount of time and that time should be a couple of years," Oliver said. It took six years for Total to get environmental approval for the project, which faced opposition from environmental groups. Oliver said that was unacceptable, but didn't offer specific suggestions on how to shorten the process. Last Friday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told an Edmonton crowd that he's heard a "growing" concern about the use of foreign money to overload the public consultation phase of regulatory hearings. "We have to have processes in Canada that come to a decision in a reasonable amount of time and processes that cannot be hijacked," Harper said. "This is something that is not good for the Canadian economy and the Government of Canada will be taking a close look at how we can ensure that our regulatory processes are effective and deliver decisions in a reasonable amount of time." With files from The Canadian Press

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