Ordinary citizens will get their first chance to address the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project Joint Review Panel, but the public will not be allowed into the room to witness the presentations.
The oral presentations begin in Victoria today and will continue in Vancouver during the second half of the month. About 280 people have signed up to speak to the joint panel during its seven days of hearings in Victoria.
But the federal review panel has decided to bar observers from the hearing room itself in both of those cities.
Instead, the public will have to watch the proceedings on a video monitor in another hotel several kilometres away, according to spokesperson Annie Roy.
"Considering the history of protests around the project in Victoria and Vancouver, the panel took a pro-active approach ... The panel decided that that would be the best format in order to avoid disruptions in the hearing room," Roy said.
Previous protests have targeted MLA's offices and the legislature in Victoria, but the panel did cancel hearings in Bella Bella after they were met by protesters at the airport in April.
Fears unfounded, says pipeline opponent
A spokesperson for the Dogwood Initiative, an environmental organization that opposes the project, says the panel's fears are unfounded.
Emma Gilchrist says protestors have not disrupted any proceedings in the past, and they are unlikely to start by interrupting the general public's first chance to address the panel.
"I don't see anybody really having an interest in disrupting the voices of average citizens who have taken this step to put their voice on the record."
Gilchrist is concerned having a separate venue will lower public interest.
"It's kind of like the difference between watching live theatre and watching it on a screen somewhere."
She says although there are no plans to interrupt the proceedings, opponents of the project will hold a rally outside of the hearings at the Delta Pointe Resort in Victoria at noon on Friday.
The proposed pipeline would transport diluted bitumen from the Alberta oil sands across northern B.C. to a tanker port planned for Kitimat, B.C. Opponents argue the risk of an oil leak on land or a tanker spill off the coast is too great.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Public barred from upcoming Gateway pipeline hearings
Dengan url
http://politikduniabarat.blogspot.com/2013/01/public-barred-from-upcoming-gateway.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Public barred from upcoming Gateway pipeline hearings
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Public barred from upcoming Gateway pipeline hearings
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar