AFN vote against northern pipeline shows there are better ideas to move oil, Dix says

VICTORIA – British Columbia’s energy minister says a vote from chiefs at the Assembly of First Nations gathering in Ottawa to uphold the oil tanker ban is more support for the provincial argument that there are better alternatives than a northern coast pipeline.

Chiefs representing more than 600 First Nations voted unanimously to ask Ottawa to uphold the oil tanker ban off the northern coast and withdraw the MOU signed last week between the federal and Alberta governments.

Adrian Dix says the assembly’s vote reflects the historic position of First Nations, and the memorandum was signed “in spite of the fact that there is no project, no proponent, no possibility of the project going forward.”

Dix says a new pipeline across northern B.C. doesn’t make economic sense and no one is “proposin