Statement on Rachel Notley’s refusal to debate with me on Kinder Morgan

For immediate release
Dec. 6, 2016

Statement on Rachel Notley’s refusal to debate Andrew Weaver on Kinder Morgan

VICTORIA B.C. – B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver issued the following statement following Alberta premier Rachel Notley’s refusal to debate the merits of Kinder Morgan, saying:

I’m the premier of Alberta, so I’m going to continue to confer with my colleagues on this matter and I’ll let local politicians debate local politicians.

“I am deeply disappointed by Premier Notley’s disdain for open dialogue with British Columbians. She claims that her support for Kinder Morgan is based on science, yet she laughs off an invitation to engage in an open forum with a scientist who has studied the evidence through-and-through. If she is unwilling to discuss her claims side by side with real science, then it is clear that British Columbians should not trust her ‘sales pitch’ on this project.

“It was only one and a half years ago that Premier Notley was also the leader of the third party in her provincial legislature. The contribution of our points of view are essential to a fair and balanced discussion of the issues in our respective provinces. In British Columbia, only the B.C. Green Party has raised consistent, evidence-based concerns about this project. By refusing an open dialogue with those who are opposed to the project, Premier Notley continues to exclude British Columbians’ voices. Her trip to B.C. amounts to nothing more than a media blitz and a series of backroom meetings. These are more of the same closed-door conversations that have characterized the entire Kinder Morgan project thus far.

“British Columbians already feel like they’ve been excluded. Dismissing the only offer for a public discussion does nothing to sell British Columbians on this project. I am going to keep pushing for an open discussion where the facts can speak for themselves.”

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Media contact
Mat Wright, Press Secretary, Office of Andrew Weaver, MLA
+1 250-216-3382 | mat.wright@bcgreens.ca

Background – Andrew Weaver
Andrew Weaver received intervenor status in the National Energy Board hearing on the Trans Mountain Expansion Project both as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and as a scientist with a doctorate in applied mathematics and with specialty in physical oceanography and atmospheric and climate science. As an MLA, he represents the constituency of Oak Bay-Gordon Head, which is located along the Trans Mountain Tanker Sailing Route on the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island. He was the only B.C. MLA with intervenor status in the hearing process.

As a scientist, Weaver served as Lansdowne Professor and Canada Research Chair in climate modeling and analysis in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria, where he worked for over 20 years. He was a lead author on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th scientific assessments and has authored and coauthored over 200 peer-reviewed, scientific papers. Weaver is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, the American Meteorological Society, the American Geophysical Union and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Throughout the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain NEB hearings, he applied his scientific expertise, particularly in physical oceanography and modelling.