Fort McMurray Forum

Former government geologist calls for Northern Gateway denial
The Northern Gateway Pipeline is being called an affront to the public interests and energy security of Canadians.
In a report published this week, former senior federal government geologist Ken Hughes says the Enbridge project would require oil sands production to expand by 33 percentage points above current industry projections just to meet the daily demand of the pipeline.
Hughes argues that a dependence on increasingly scant foreign crude sources in Eastern Canada is reason enough to reject the shipping route to Asia.
Also highlighted in the report is the absence of a Federal Energy policy which Hughes says points to a lack of credible scientific research on the environmental ramifications of the 1200 kilometre route.
If approved, the $5.5 billion oil sands link would transport 525,000 barrels of bitumen per day from Alberta to the West Coast of British Columbia.