The chambers of commerce across the province have passed a policy that calls on the British Columbia government to maintain full support behind pipeline projects.
In particular, the policy targets the Trans Mountain Expansion project. This project, the chambers said, will boost B.C.’s economy by more than $8.5 billion over the next two decades.
“B.C.’s commodities, including oil and gas, already support tens of thousands of jobs in B.C.,” said BC Chamber of Commerce John Winter.
“We have an unprecedented opportunity to grow even more jobs in this sector through the development of new oil pipeline capacity.”
The chambers support working toward both tanker/marine spill response and terrestrial safety systems. As well, the policy supports First Nations participation.
Winter said there is a lot of “fear mongering” in the province when it comes to pipelines.
“We need to remember that pipelines are nothing new to our province, and in fact sustain many of our day-to-day activities,” he said.
“Every day, we rely on our extensive pipeline network to heat and light our homes and businesses, and to power our transportation system.”
The chambers’ policy quotes a statistic published last year by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce that said the country is losing $50 million per day as a result of inadequate pipeline infrastructure, which is negatively affecting exports to markets such as the Asia Pacific.
