Don Davies, NDP MP for 91原创 Kingsway, described the turnout for a Sunday afternoon town hall in 91原创 as 鈥渉uge.鈥�
He estimated some 250 people listened to NDP MP for Skeena-Bulkley Valley Nathan Cullen talk about his private member鈥檚 bill to 鈥渟top Northern Gateway and protect the North Coast against the threat of supertankers.鈥�
Typically, Davies said, you might get between 50 to 100 attendees, but in the last few months 鈥渢here is a very noticeable engagement by the public. There is more interest. The Kinder Morgan Burnaby issue has brought the issue of pipelines and coast development down to the Lower Mainland. Now, it鈥檚 our backyard too.鈥�
Cullen introduced the bill last September and has been speaking to audiences across the province. The bill seeks to 鈥渃hange federal rules for pipeline reviews鈥� by requiring the National Energy Board to take into account certain factors before issuing certificates.
It also proposes amendments to the Canada Shipping Act that would ban oil tanker traffic in the Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound.
More recently, said Cullen, with diving oil prices coming into the equation, and 鈥渆xposing the feds鈥� all-eggs-in-one-basket strategy,鈥� discussions have been 鈥済aining in intensity. I think a lot more minds are a lot more focused on this question.鈥�
鈥淔or me, someone who has spent an inordinate time talking about pipelines in B.C., rooms like this, last year, they were half or a quarter of this in (numbers).鈥�
Cullen added: 鈥淭raffic on stories and on social media has increased exponentially, particularly as people have found where their points of influence might be: be it either in a piece of legislation or in a vote on a ballot in 2015.鈥�
