Retired NHL star Scott Niedermayer has voiced his opposition to Enbridge's pipeline plans to build through the Great Bear – a rainforest nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Coast Mountain range on B.C.'s west coast.
The region is one of the largest parts of temperate rainforest left in the world and home to thousands of species of animals, birds and plants.
"Having places like the Great Bear make Canada a truly special place. The risks to this area are too high to allow oil tankers and an oil pipeline," he said.
Niedermayer has joined a panel introducing "Canadians for the Great Bear". It is fighting against the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline alongside World Wildlife Fund Canada. In addition to environmental risks, the group is pointing to the fact that unrefined Alberta oil would be shipped away only to come back at an inflated price.
The prominent opposition comes a day after B.C.'s NDP had formally renounced the controversial proposal, which would build a pipeline from the Alberta oil sands to a port in northern B.C.
According to opposition leader Adrian Dix, the project's risks would outweigh its benefits.
The City of Vancouver has been raising similar concerns about the Kinder Morgan pipeline, which is expected to triple its capacity. Council has passed a motion to force the industry to add more to the $1.3-billion fund that would pay for oil spill cleanup in the Burrard Inlet, Howe Sound or any other waterway in British Columbia.
"We want to see if we can craft a bylaw that will raise the bar dramatically in terms of the liability that tanker operators have to carry if they're going to move through the Port of Vancouver," Councillor Geoff Meggs said in a report.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Peter Grainger
