Article content

I’m a proud British Columbian but would be ashamed to show my face in Calgary today.

Firstly, we are looking like a bunch of selfish navel-gazers, mindless of the fortunes of fellow Canadians. In the case of Albertans, the jobs we threaten relate to people who have for decades borne a disproportionate percentage of Canada’s financial burden. Can’t we find a way help our countrywomen and countrymen without harming ourselves?

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or John Weston: Is it time to be embarrassed to be a British Columbian? Back to video

That question leads to the second point, that pipeline opponents appear to reject out of hand even the most stringent environmental protections. Those of us who advocate for B.C.’s splendid environment should be able to find some world-class environmental protection standards in which we can put our faith. Few places in the world have the protections that we have, to guard against petroleum spills, on land or at sea. As I argued in the House of Commons, the environment is the economy; we can stand for both. Mindlessly to reject resource development rejects our invaluable assets as Canadians and dismisses a generation of excellent, environment-related technology developed and applied by some of the word’s top experts — Canadian experts.