Northern Gateway Hosts Business Summit
Enbridge is hosting its 3rd annual business summit at the Ramada Hotel this week- photo 250 News
Prince George, B.C. – Enbridge Northern Gateway is hosting its third annual business summit at the Ramada Hotel in Prince George today and tomorrow.
Community benefits and sustainability manager Catherine Pennington says the goal is to help explain information about the project to contractors and to small and medium sized businesses.
Enbridge Northern Gateway’s Catherine Pennington – photo 250 News
“We get a lot of requests about business opportunities on the project. We’ve had over 2,000 people register their information into our regional skills database. So this is really a place to help create relationships and talk about opportunity.”
She says Northern Gateway is also committed to ensuring local companies can benefit as well.
“I think there’s a tremendous opportunity for businesses in the Prince George area and really northern BC more broadly to see themselves in the picture of this project.”
One of those local businesses hoping to capitalize is PG based civil construction company Formula Contractors.
“We’re excited about the project. Most of us are here to educate ourselves about the project itself and to learn about its feasibility and constructability,” says general manager Paul Tiefensee.
He admits one challenge to overcome if the project goes forward will be adressing the skills shortage.
“That’s everybody’s concern. We’re affiliated with two separate unions that give us really good people but we need people that can run these jobs and our services we provide.”
Tiefensee says the goal during the summit will be to align themselves with sub-contractors “that do some of the things we don’t.”
Anyone interested in more information about the summit can go to www.gatewayfacts.ca.
Comments
Looks like they are trying to paper over the 209 holes in their project with visions of dollar bills. Won’t work with regard to holes in their pipeline, or in tankers. Why won’t they start by assuring the public will not pay in case of a spill? Because Northern Gateway is a shell company with no assets beyond the actual pipeline, if costs of a cleanup exceed their 2 billion insurance policy, Northern Gateway will declare bankruptcy, and we will be stuck with the bill.
Lots of empty chairs. The smart folks have left the building!
Herbster –> valid point, now do you go after the company to voluntarily up their insurance/equity package or do you go after the federal and provincial governments to legislate the appropriate requirements?
As a general principle, any project that cannot pay for the damage it might cause should not proceed. The public should not be expected to subsidize damage to the environment for private gain. So if Northern Gateway cannot afford to post its own bond then it should be shelved. However if Alberta really thinks that Northern Gateway is worthwhile, then it could use its Heritage Fund as collateral. I doubt that they would though, a spill could wipe out all the money Alberta has been able to save for the last 38 years.
Where you there counting chairs?
How many tax dollars were spent at this “summit”?
If they are concerned about labour skills shortages maybe Enbridge should start talking to our government about more training for the locals of this province,but most likly they would be using TFWs.
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