{"id":7998,"date":"2016-11-30T11:15:42","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T16:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savethebalafalls.com\/?p=7998"},"modified":"2016-11-30T14:55:01","modified_gmt":"2016-11-30T19:55:01","slug":"the-ontario-liberals-are-hiding-behind-the-proponent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/savethebalafalls.com\/?p=7998","title":{"rendered":"The Ontario Liberals are hiding behind the proponent"},"content":{"rendered":"

All four front-page stories in today’s Globe and Mail (click on the image below to see) concerned the federal government announcing their decisions to reject one proposed oil pipeline project and to approve another.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The photograph above shows Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself making the announcement, backed by his Ministers of; Transport, Fisheries, Environment, Natural Resources, and Justice. The Prime Minister stated: “If I thought this project was unsafe for the B.C. coast, I would reject it. This is a decision based on rigorous debate on science and evidence. We have not been, and will not be swayed by political arguments, be they local, regional or national.”<\/em> That is, the Canadian federal government stated that through science and evidence they determined the proposed project would be safe.<\/p>\n

Contrast that with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) and the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change\u00a0(MOECC)\u00a0who state: “it would be the responsibility of Swift River Energy Limited to ensure appropriate public safety measures are in\u00a0place”<\/em>. That is, the Ontario provincial government has no idea whether the proposed Bala project could or would be safe. They just hope<\/strong> the proponent can figure it out. Hope<\/strong> is not a plan. Hope<\/strong> is not protecting the public’s interest.<\/p>\n

The MOECC relies on an approval they issued over three years ago, even though the proponent would not comply with that, for example:<\/p>\n