Dear Minister Terry Lake,

I have never felt compelled to write to a politician before. Maybe it’s my age (62) but I cannot remain silent (and therefore complicit) on the Enbridge Pipeline issue. I couldn’t live with myself without doing whatever I can to try my best to urge you – and all the people in power in BC – to JUST SAY NO to Enbridge.

Honestly, I cannot fathom why this project is even being considered, given what everyone knows (unless they are choosing to be in massive denial) about the environmental risks that come with it. I watched the video ‘On The Line’ a while ago, and was stunned to see the narrow channels and fjords of the Great Bear rainforest that the oil tankers would have to navigate, and shocked to read that, according to the Polaris Institute, Enbridge was responsible, based on their own data, for over 800 oil spills between 1999 and 2010.

I do understand that there may be some short term economic benefits for some Albertans and maybe even a few British Columbians - but surely this cannot by any stretch of the imagination begin to balance the eventual and ultimate devastation of our coastline and the resulting massive economic loss that will result from the ruination of tourism in BC and the job loss for all those British Columbians whose livelihoods depend on the health of the coastal waters. To make matters even worse, the oil is not even going to stay in Canada – it’s unbelievable!

Please do not let your legacy as Ministry of the Environment for BC be “the one who let them destroy the BC coastline”. Please do not hand over to my daughter and grandchildren a BC where ninety per cent of the seabirds are dead from oil suffocation and marine mammal populations are devastated, and men and women who work in the fishery and tourism industries have lost their livelihoods. Please do not make BC an embarrassment around the world. Please listen to the majority of citizens who are scared and angry that you are even considering supporting this outrageous project. Please.