FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – If you read the Vancouver Sun via online or print, you would have seen a familiar face in the paper today.

Fort St. John Mayor Lori Ackerman and the City of Fort St. John took out an advertisement page to talk energy in the province.

It comes at a time where many in B.C. may feel angry at Justin Trudeau’s recent pipeline approvals.

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The advertisement has a headline of “USA stops importing Canadian oil and gas”. And while that headline isn’t true, Ackerman brings up the point “what if it was?”.

She gets straight to the point, saying she wants to talk about energy, pipelines and our natural resources.

The most timely subject of those 3 topics would obviously be pipelines. Ackerman says pipelines are a “safe, cost-efficient means of oil and natural gas transportation” and they also emit fewer greenhouse gasses. Canada currently has 830,000 km of pipelines. She also points out that B.C. has around 43,000 km of pipeline.

The Mayor also notes she understands that people are concerned about safety and she is too.

“In Canada, we have some of the strictest safety requirements in the world. Canada’s oil and gas producers are continuously improving the safety of their operations and transportation of their products.”

Ackerman also addresses many other topics in the article ranging from oil to Site C to the Oil and Gas commission to concerns of Indigenous people.

She ends by saying:

Let’s lead the world in resource extraction, continuous improvements and long term planning. Let’s be leaders in reliable and renewable energy development. Let’s support Canadian industry and stop buying foreign oil. Let’s grow our economy by meeting our domestic needs and exporting our abundant resources. Let’s live well now and in the future.”

Ackerman is also making a strong push to those who support the projects to speak up as people who oppose projects are more likely to speak out and voice an opinion.

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