XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, van.general   
   XPost: vic.general   
   From: gregcarrsober@gmail.com   
      
   On 15/06/2014 10:56 AM, " (=_=)Раиса" wrote:   
   > It's a tool that we have in British Columbia that other provinces don't   
   > have. It was used to defeat the HST from Harper's government.   
   > Now it's likely to be used against the Enbridge pipeline - and perhaps   
   > even the Kinder Morgan pipeline.   
   >   
   > Stay alert. Be ready to volunteer. They'll need financial support as well.   
   > We can do this.   
   > ______________________________________________________________________   
   > The Canadian Press Posted: Jun 15, 2014   
   >   
   > Northern Gateway opponents prepare for provincial referendum   
   > Pipeline opponents developing strategies to delay, halt project   
   >   
   >   
   > Resigned, perhaps, that federal government approval of the Northern   
   > Gateway pipeline is inevitable, opponents of the project are formulating   
   > a plan to make sure British Columbia's politicians remain opposed to the   
   > project.   
   >   
   > For months now, members of the Dogwood Initiative have been preparing   
   > for a provincial referendum akin to the vote that forced the Liberal   
   > government to repeal the harmonized sales tax in British Columbia.   
   >   
   > northern gateway map   
   >   
   > A group of 40 prominent Canadian business and political leaders signed   
   > an open letter urging the federal cabinet to approve the controversial   
   > Northern Gateway pipeline project.   
   >   
   > Should Ottawa give the pipeline the go-ahead by this Tuesday's deadline   
   > and the province issues the necessary permits and authorizations,   
   > spokesman Kai Nagata said his group will be ready.   
   >   
   > "In a perfect world, politicians would do what they say they're going to   
   > do and the province of British Columbia's clear rejection of Northern   
   > Gateway would stand," Nagata said.   
   >   
   > "But life doesn't always work that way. So the initiative build is a   
   > strategy to basically hold our provincial politicians to their word on   
   > this project."   
   >   
   > The B.C. government officially declared its opposition to Northern   
   > Gateway and told the federal panel reviewing the project that it   
   > shouldn't go ahead as planned.   
   >   
   > When Premier Christy Clark pressed for a greater share of government   
   > revenues for the project she said repeatedly that while the final   
   > decision is in the federal purview there are about 60 permits the   
   > province will have to issue for construction to begin.   
   >   
   >   
   > Northern Gateway Vote   
   >   
   > Enbridge's Northern Gateway Project would bring diluted bitumen from   
   > Alberta to the deepwater port in Kitimat, B.C., where it would be loaded   
   > on supertankers and shipped to Asia.   
   >   
   > "So the province could hold construction in limbo indefinitely," Nagata   
   > said.   
   >   
   > Under provincial legislation, for $50 any registered voter can apply to   
   > Elections BC for a petition on their own proposed legislation. If   
   > approved, they have 90 days to collect the signatures of 10 per cent of   
   > the registered voters in each of the province's 85 ridings.   
   >   
   > The petitions are non-binding.   
   >   
   > If the chief electoral officer verifies that threshold has been met, a   
   > copy of the petition and draft bill are sent to a legislative committee.   
   >   
   > The Select Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives can either   
   > table a report recommending introduction of the draft bill or put it to   
   > a public vote. If more than half of registered voters cast ballots in   
   > support, the government must introduce the bill in the legislature.   
   >   
   > But even that is no guarantee of success. The bill proceeds as any other   
   > legislation, with MLAs free to vote as they wish.   
   >   
   > Petitions have poor track record   
   >   
   > Since 1995, nine initiative applications have been approved but only one   
   > petition gathered the required number of signatures to pass. That   
   > campaign resulted in a province-wide vote in favour of repealing the   
   > harmonized sales tax.   
   >   
   > Bill Tieleman, one of the founders of the Fight HST campaign, wishes the   
   > Dogwood organizers luck but said he's not optimistic about their odds of   
   > success.   
   > "It's extraordinarily difficult," he said.   
   >   
   > Support for the initiative must come from every riding.   
   >   
   > Although they set out with 85 per cent of voters opposing the tax, the   
   > HST campaign only barely met the threshold in one Abbotsford riding,   
   > Tieleman said.   
   > And that was with taxpayers faced daily with the reality of paying the   
   > hated tax, he noted.   
   >   
   > "They'll make their targets in a lot of Vancouver and Victoria [ridings]   
   > but that's not the way it works. It's not a five per cent or ten per   
   > cent of all voters. It's every riding," Tieleman said.   
   >   
   > "There's a lot more people who support the Enbridge pipeline for job   
   > creation and economic reasons than supported the HST."   
   >   
   > Nagata said he realizes there is work yet to be done.   
   >   
   > But a legal team is working on the draft legislation and there are 450   
   > trained volunteers on the ground across the province. There are 5,500   
   > people who say they will help collect signatures and already 27,000   
   > people who have pledged to sign.   
   >   
   > They are aiming for 15 per cent of voters in each riding to ensure   
   > success once signatures are verified.   
   >   
   > They'll need 320,000 verified signatures spread throughout the 85   
   > ridings and Nagata said an announcement is imminent about labour,   
   > environment and community groups that will join the campaign.   
   >   
   > Despite the odds, he's confident that if the initiative must go ahead,   
   > it will succeed.   
   >   
   > "We know from our own polling and our work on the doorsteps that this is   
   > an issue that's moved into the mainstream," he said.   
   >   
   > "We live in this province. We pay taxes in this province. The idea that   
   > a pipeline could be built through our province ... without any   
   > democratic input from British Columbia is something that people —   
   > regardless of their political affiliations or their education level or   
   > their place of residence — agree on."   
   I support the pipelines but would like to see a referendum on them.   
      
   --   
   *Read and obey the Bible*   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)