Maude Barlow to visit Atlantic Canada to raise alarm about Energy East pipeline

Energy East: Our Risk – Their Reward

Ottawa— What happens when you put a rancher, a fisherman, a journalist and Maude Barlow into a room?

It might be the beginning of a joke, but it’s nothing but. It is a sampling of some of the speakers who will tour Atlantic Canada to discuss the disastrous consequences of the Energy East pipeline. They will tour Halifax, Cornwallis, Saint John, Fredericton and Edmundston from October 26^th to November 6^th.

TransCanada’s Energy East export pipeline project would ship 1.1 million barrels of oil every day, including tar sands crude, from Alberta to ports in Cacouna, Quebec and Saint John, New Brunswick. It would be the largest tar sands pipeline in North America.

Atlantic Canadians are concerned about how a spill would damage waterways including several major New Brunswick rivers and the Bay of Fundy. Boasting the highest tides in the world, the Bay of Fundy is both a playground for the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale and a source of livelihood for fishers and tourism outfits on both the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia sides of the Bay.

The Council of Canadians and local partners will visit communities in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to hear about local concerns and talk about why TransCanada’s proposed Energy East pipeline is all risk and little reward for Atlantic Canada.

“Atlantic Canada is at the precipice of a major decision: do they put their safety and environment, tourism and fishery industries in peril to help the Alberta tar sands expand? And the oil is not even for our own domestic use, but for export. Or are there other options?” said Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, “As they have shown with fracking in the past, Atlantic Canadians know when a few jobs aren’t worth the risk. They can and should give TransCanada the boot.”

Council of Canadians Chairperson Maude Barlow, journalist and Gulf of Mexico BP oil spill speaker Cherri Foytlin, Energy Director of Bold Nebraska Ben Gotschall, and others will speak about, the overall project and the risks of a pipeline and tanker spill, and the protection of our waterways and possible alternatives.

Dates:

Speakers:

Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, on protecting our water
Cherri Foytlin, journalist and speaker, on the health and ecosystem of Gulf Coast communities after the BP oil spill
Ben Gotschall, Energy Director for Bold Nebraska, on ranchers’ opposition to Keystone XL
Catherine Abreu, Energy Coordinator, Ecology Action Centre
Maria Recchia, Executive Director, Fundy North Fishermen’s Association
Matthew Abbott, Fundy Baykeeper for the Conservation Council of New Brunswick
Hubert Saulnier, local fisherman and President of Local 9 Maritime Fishermen’s Union