THUNDER BAY -- City council has decided it won't decide right now whether to oppose a proposed pipeline project.
A memo from Coun. Paul Pugh wanting the city to formally oppose the plan, which would see an oil pipeline from Alberta to New Brunswick pass through North of the city, brought out more than 130 people to city hall Monday night looking for the rest of council to agree.
It also brought Energy East spokesman Stefan Baranski who said Transcanada's application for the plan hasn't even been accepted by the National Energy Board yet.
"We believe the motion tonight now before council is premature," he said.
“All we’re simply asking for is time.”
Council agreed, passing a resolution that they'd revisit whether to oppose the plan or not two months after the NEB accepts Transcanada's application.
Coun. Iain Angus, who has already shown support through the project through his work as vice president of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association, introduced the idea to defer the decision. He said council should wait and let the process unfold.
“Let's make sure we understand what the ramifications are,” he said.
But Coun. Shelby Ch'ng said she's been hearing arguments on both sides of the project for more than 10 months and residents in her Northwood ward want her to oppose the pipeline. She worried about trading permanent jobs on the railway for temporary construction work for the pipeline.
"I've heard lout and clear from both sides," she said.
Northwestern Ontario Trades Council's Terry Webb said that the pipeline would have 16 pumping stations between Kenora and Kapuskasing, all of that distance considered local for people working in the trades in Thunder Bay.
"This amounts to more than just some construction," he said of the potential work available should the plan go ahead.
Before city council around 130 people rallied outside of city hall asking councillors to oppose the project. Citizens United for a Sustainable Planet said the number of people who showed up were evidence that Thunder Bay doesn't want a project that would see little economic benefit but could risk damaging the environment.
"City council will have the message strongly that people in Thunder Bay want them to stand up for us and oppose this pipeline," he said.
Baranski told council that the company has already spent $10 million through more than a dozen local businesses so far. He's hoping that the NEB accepts its application by the end of the year.
