Cartoonist wrong on Coderre

Dear Editor

I respectfully disagree with the message conveyed by the editorial cartoon about Denis Coderre in the Jan. 27 Oshawa Express, which is heavily slanted by omitting critical points in the decision.

First, Denis Coderre was not speaking for himself. He was representing the mayors of municipalities through which the proposed pipeline will pass. All have agreed that although the oil is needed, the safety measures in place on how to act in case of a spill were greatly lacking in credibility. Any municipality that would have been the location of a spill would have little or no help from the pipeline owner to contain the oil and clean up the mess. The responsibility and cost of the clean-up would have been mostly theirs.

Second, municipalities do not get transfer payments from Ottawa. The provinces do. There is no reason to link the per-equation payments with the municipalities’ decision to refuse the pipeline.

Third, the proposed pipeline will obviously pass through Ontario. Let’s see what the local municipalities and the First Nations say about it. First Nations may not be too pleased with the risk of a spill on their ancestors’ land.

Fourth, as far as I know, this project has no social acceptability anywhere in Ontario and Québec, a criteria now necessary to carry a project of this magnitude. Nobody wants this thing shoved down their throat without being consulted first.

Fifth, why do you think British Columbia and the U.S.A. rejected their version of the pipeline? Maybe they were thinking like Mr Coderre and all the mayors involved did. The New Brunswick port was the last chance Alberta had to build a pipeline to carry its oil. Maybe all that venom is caused by “What do I do now?”

Just my friendly opinion. I could be wrong.

Robert Giard