Government to block the $6.5 billion project
Thirty-four percent of respondents want the Canadian government to block the $6.5 billion project, which would ship crude from Alberta’s oil sands to the B.C. coast for export to Asia, and 33 percent want it delayed for further review. Twenty-nine percent say they want it approved, according to the poll.
With two weeks to go before the deadline for a government decision on Gateway, the poll shows environmentalists and aboriginal groups have more credibility on the project than Enbridge (ENB.TO 0.18%) and the Harper government, making it harder for pipeline proponents to win support in Canada’s westernmost province.
“It’s a no-go politically if environmental and aboriginal groups have concerns,” said Nik Nanos, chairman of Nanos Research Group. “The data shows there needs to be a B.C. solution, not one that’s imposed from outside.”
While crude producers say pipelines such as Northern Gateway and TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL would ease transportation bottlenecks that have depressed the price of Canadian heavy oil, efforts to build energy infrastructure have run into opposition both at home and in the U.S.
President Barack Obama said in April he was delaying a decision on the Keystone project because of a court battle in Nebraska, extending a review that is now in its sixth year.
Aboriginal groups in Canada are threatening lawsuits and protests to stop Gateway if it gets approval. Harper’s cabinet has until June 17 to decide on the project. Canada is home to the world’s third largest crude reserves, much of it buried in the oil sands of northern Alberta.