Smart political move.

“But as I go door to door, more and more citizens, regardless of party stripe, ask me why there can’t be a referendum on the pipeline”

Say it with me now…

Because the pipeline is under Federal jurisdiction. Same as other interprovincial pipelines, highways, and railways.

You would figure someone in politics would be able to understand that.

“Whether I am elected to government, the opposition, or I am included in a coalition for a minority government, I will not rest until the people of BC have been directly consulted about the pipeline in the form of a referendum.”

And if you’re not elected?

As JB notes, I doubt Harper gives a rodent’s mule about any stinkin’ referendum.

pretty bold words for a 24 year old Poli sci student …. obviously he didnt learn much in Langley … otherwise he would know that since its inter-provincial … its a fed issue … not a provincial one

And some wonder why some others won’t bother to vote. Comes the excuse ‘Provincially’, “It’s under Federal jurisdiction… , a Provincial referendum on it would mean nothing”; comes the excuse ‘Federally’, “It’s a global issue, we couldn’t do anything on our own without consulting our trading partners…”, Even though we are supposed to be a ‘sovereign country’, are we not? And some still believe THEIR vote is going to really decide anything other than who gets to be the winner of the latest beauty contest.

Even you socredible don’t seem to grasp the concept between Federal and Provincial. You’re not alone.

I’d bet the feds wished they had settled all those overlooked treaties in BC now. They are foolish if they think the pipeline won’t end up in court for a couple hundred years.

One good thing about a referendum is corporations and their foreign share holders wouldn’t get to vote.

“As JB notes, I doubt Harper gives a rodent’s mule about any stinkin’ referendum.”

The province of B.C. can hold a referendum on any matter that it considers to be important enough! Is Harper going to pay attention to the outcome if it is unfavourable and contrary to his mantra?
That would be HIS problem and not ours!

So what if it is not binding? Are we allowed to express our wishes or not? A referendum is always a good thing! If you don’t believe it ask the people of Switzerland!

What good will a referendum do? If it passes the federal environmental assessment process it’s a done deal. But a referendum should flush out some accurate numbers on just how many people oppose this thing.

I think i just answered my own question lol

REFerendums cost money. Spend the money on building REFinaries and create jobs and export oil and petrochemical products instead of exporting raw natural resources. Our politicians have the mentality of banana republic politicians.

They should learn something from other countries when they travel to China and 3rd world countries …

Sad to see some think we have no say in what goes on in this province. We do actually. If the province (we the people) spoke with one voice, as clearly defined by a referendum, the powers that be would have no choice but to listen. They work for us, not the other way around.

We need to change the attitude that we have to ask permission to take a breath in this country. This is an important issue and it should go to a referendum so that the attitude of the voters of this province is clear. BC needs to take control of its own destiny. Ottawa’s powers need to be reined in and curtailed.

“A referendum at this time wouldn’t cost all that much….
and extra line on the ballot…
are you for the pipeline or not…simple”

People don’t even know what Federal vs. Provincial means, let alone anything about pipelines… other than maybe what they read on the CBC website. But go on, keep believing a referendum would make some sort of difference.

A BC referendum that was overwhelmingly against the Enbridge pipeline would be hard for the Federal government to ignore, Johnny, even though it does have ultimate jurisdiction over interprovincial pipelines and could, at its peril come Federal election time, do just that.

But I don’t personally believe the opposition to the pipeline, while certainly loudly vocal, would be all that ‘overwhelming’ if it were put to a referendum.

If we had a BC government with any brains they’d allow it to be built, perhaps with a better choice of terminus ~ Prince Rupert seems to me to be a more amenable port for large oil tankers than Kitimat ~ and tax every litre of oil that goes through it.

Not for general revenue, for the government to waste as it sees fit trying to buy our votes, but to be returned directly to the people of BC as a reduction in the price we pay at the pumps for gasoline, diesel fuel, home heating oil, etc. ~ all of which will RISE, along with the general consumer price level we pay for virtually everything ~ through the inflation the construction of this project will induce.

Without doing something like that, we’ll pay a very high price indeed for any ‘jobs’ created during the construction phase, and those remaining after it goes into operation.

Socred: “A BC referendum that was overwhelmingly against the Enbridge pipeline would be hard for the Federal government to ignore, Johnny, even though it does have ultimate jurisdiction over interprovincial pipelines and could, at its peril come Federal election time, do just that. “

How BC Votes means very little federally. Not to mention people have pretty short memories and attention spans. If the pipeline is approved, people will move onto the next media-made crisis.

Enbridge in the news again breaking the rules….bad Enbridge! The pipeline will be stopped by the people of BC. You’ll see!

Johnny no amount of bullying will make you right. You have no idea what you are talking about provincial and federal jurisdiction.

Go read up on the constitution Johnny. Go read up on how Westminster interpreted provincial governments as responsible governments under the commonwealth. Governments that have direct sovereignty over natural resources, and that the Dominion of Canada can not over rule provincial sovereignty in areas of provincial sovereignty, as provincial sovereignty can not over rule Canadian areas of sovereignty.

Natural resources is provincial. The environmental review process was joined by Gordon Campbell so as to give control to the federal government… but BC has always retained the right to give 6-months notice to back out and conduct our own environmental review process. If the federal process does not address the concerns BC has to the risk that would be asked of us to take in harming our natural resources like inland water, then BC has every right to conduct our own process with what ever standard we deem necessary.

If Northern Gateway does not meet the made in BC standard their pipeline is done. If the federal government tried to impose its will on BC it would end up in the Supreme Court of Canada and they have already ruled in favor of provincial sovereignty, which ultimately lead to the Constitution Act of 1982 that required provincial consent to repatriate the constitution.

You know, federal or provincial, we can still hold a referendum and if the people aren’t listened to there will be consequences. The government might deem to pass it regardless the referendum but they must listen to the people of British Columbia or else we’re contradicting democracy itself!

I say good on him for stepping up.