Editor:
Much has been made by the Harper government about the economic benefits for all Canadians from the development of the Northern Gateway pipeline. Until now I have thought the battle was between environmental concerns and economic benefits, but I have been wrong. There are none! Negative net economic benefits to Canada!
In her January 2012submission to the National Energy Board, economist Robyn Allan, the former president and CEO of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, corrects any assumption that we, the "average" Canadians, will derive any benefit economic or otherwise from construction of the northern pipeline.
Through her analysis of the proposal she discovered that far from being "a wealth generating project", the Northern Gateway proposal will be "an inflationary price shock to our economy" by "reducing output, employment, labour income and government revenues".
For example, "the pipeline would not only raise gasoline prices throughout Western Canada but inflate the price of imported oil for Eastern Canada too". According to Ms Allan, "the result (of building the pipeline) will be toenrich a few global oil companies such as Sinopec and increase inflationary pressures in Canada for decades".
I encourage you and your readership and perhaps even John Weston, our MP, to review Robyn Allan'ssubmission to the National Energy Board as evidence, entitled"An Economic Assessment of Northern Gateway."
This assessment puts the lie towhat we have heard from the Harper government.
Lynn Chapman
Roberts Creek
