VANCOUVER—Supporters of the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline project do exist, but in Vancouver at least they are remaining completely silent.

During its hearings in Vancouver, the consensus has been unanimous: Of the dozens of speakers appearing before the National Energy Board panel reviewing the proposed Enbridge oil project, not a single person has spoken in support of it.

Speaker Marc Eliesen looked as if he was going to break the trend as he told the panel about his credentials. A former chairman of Manitoba Hydro, former CEO of B.C. Hydro and former senior executive in the public and private sectors, Eliesen appeared to be markedly different than the speakers before him in his crisp white shirt and dark business suit. The two speakers before him were a former environmental lawyer and a nurse who spoke about the jeopardy to salmon streams.

But Eliesen too spoke against the project.

“The public benefit test is not being met and therefore the project is not in the public interest,” said Eliesen. “It’s bogus economics being utilized to justify this pipeline project.”

The speakers in Vancouver, the latest stop in the months-long public hearings touring B.C. and Alberta, included medical doctors, public sector executives, politicians, rabbis, teachers and students. Some speakers have been overcome by emotions, breaking into tears during their presentations.

The panel will ultimately assess the environmental effects of the proposed project and release its recommendation report by Dec. 31 this year. After that the federal government must decide whether or not the project should be approved.

The first speaker last Monday night, W.M. Cakette, was just beginning his comments when drum beats outside from protesters nearly drowned him out.

Anticipating the protests, the panel had arranged to have public viewing rooms in a separate building from the hearings. The panel made the same arrangements in Victoria.

In Vancouver, the distance between the hotels where the public was allowed to attend and where speakers appeared was more than two kilometres apart. That didn’t stop protesters from showing up at the hearings, including five of them with whistles who burst in on the second day of hearings and were arrested.

Panel member Sheila Leggett called the disruption, which shut down the hearing for nearly an hour, a “huge disappointment.

“It’s important for us to hear these oral statements. It’s why we’re here. To have the discussion jeopardize other people’s days is very unfortunate,” she said.

Leggett, a biologist and former board member with the Natural Resources Conservation Board, is one of three panel members who have been hearing speakers. The other two are Kenneth Batement, an energy lawyer and former senior executive in the energy sector, and Hans Matthews, a professional geologist and former mining executive.

Also in the room beside the speakers who are rotated in through groups of three are legal and public affairs representatives of Enbridge, the Calgary-based energy transport and distribution company which employs 6,000 people in North America. The company wants to build the pipeline from Edmonton to a marine terminal on B.C.’s northern coast of Kitimat.

Company spokesman Ivan Giesbrecht said he’s not surprised at the deep emotion many of the speakers displayed.

“People have become very emotional about this. It speaks to the importance of the project,” said Giesbrecht. As for the lack of supporters of the project at the hearing, Giesbrecht said he remembers a man a few months ago when the panel was in Comox, B.C., who told him he supported the project.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses polled its members a year ago about whether the association should support the pipeline.

“We got a very split opinion with members with very strong opinions on the issue,” said Kimball Kastelen, policy analyst with the federation. “If our members all line up, we represent their opinion but where we find there is conflict or strongly expressed diverging views, we will not express an opinion.”

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The business community has done a poor job of showing its support said Philip Hochstein, president of the Independent Contractors and Business Association of B.C., the non-union representatives for construction work.

“I’m as guilty as the next one. I represent the construction industry, lots of jobs and service jobs that will continue on after the construction of the pipeline is completed,” said Hochstein. “We should be out there saying it’s a good thing, but I’m not out there making the case and I should be.”

A poll from Angus Reid found that of 800 people sampled, nine per cent of British Columbians completely support the project it while 27 per cent support the pipeline but could change their minds based on economic or environmental considerations. One third say they completely oppose the pipeline.

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