A must read, watch and share: W5 brings us Pipeline Wars, a story of unreported spills, alarmed communities and a promise to do ‘better’

Posted on by Laila

“On the eve of W5’s reporting about the issue, the company sent an e-mail to mayors and councillors in dozens of Ontario communities located along the line, advising of the broadcast, offering links to the company’s website to provide its own view and warning that those opposed to reversing the flow had been interviewed.

“We anticipate this story will not be presented in a balanced manner despite our efforts and full cooperation with CTV,” wrote Ken Hall, Enbridge’s Senior Advisor, Public Affairs, even though he had no advance knowledge of the W5 report’s contents.”

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/w5/enbridge-record-questioned-company-vows-to-do-better-as-line-9-pipeline-decision-nears-1.1698491#ixzz2u7FWVwB0Other

Other coverage:

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontopipeline/2014/02/22/enbridge_line_9_w5_uncovers_unreported_spills_alarming_communities_along_830km_pipe.html

18 thoughts on “A must read, watch and share: W5 brings us Pipeline Wars, a story of unreported spills, alarmed communities and a promise to do ‘better’”

  1. Pretty gutsy of CTV to run that exposé. I can’t imagine Enbridge is too pleased about a little truth leaking onto their ad campaign.

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    1. CTV deserves big props on this one. The W5 feature is a great one,although I admittedly had a hard time watching the Enbridge reps without rolling my eyes more than a few times.
      Their record speaks for itself. They are, in my opinion, completely unbelievable based on their past actions and repetitive record in Canada and the US.

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  2. Enbridge has used every underhanded tactic in the book, to force their way into BC. Harper’s greed, trumps common sense every time. Harper does not worry about such trivial events of, pipeline bursts poisoning our clean underground drinking water, rivers, streams nor lands.
    Quite frankly. I don’t care if China ever gets their dirty oil.

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  3. Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Laila. I rarely watch CTV so was unaware of this excellent W5 episode. Now, more than ever, I will be very vocal about my opinion of Enbridge, and will attend every protest rally to stop the Northern Gateway Project.

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  4. W5 draws a very sharp line around the fundamental issue of “Corporate Responsibility” in Canada.
    Linked with this is the broader discussion surrounding “Corporate Governance”.

    One referrers to “Citizenship” and the later to “Lawfulness”. Both refer to behavior of and by individuals.

    This focus cares not if you agree or disagree with Enbridge building/operating a pipeline, however it matters greatly as to how we in Canada go about getting things done.

    Increasingly, our political and business leaders have taken the “easy” way forward as a means to avoiding the expectation for transparency, discussion and ultimately leadership. It has become routine to pursue parallel objectives while not disclosing the practice to the very people they claim to represent, you and I.

    Furthermore, if we abandon citizenship or lawfulness, the other will always suffer as they are complimentary to each other rather than exclusive.

    If you accept this relationship, it comes as no surprise that “responsibility” is made void. No one is responsible!

    You can be assured that the “Enbridge’s” of the day have already factored this in.

    They believe that keeping the focus on the environment, however challenging, is more winnable than the alternative.

    Just ask SNC Lavalin.. SNC is a very capable engineering firm but a disaster when it comes to “citizenship and lawfulness”.

    Like many of you, I am always alarmed when so many get locked into a confrontation only to learn too late, that there was a bigger issue in play. And so it is with Enbridge.

    Good on W5 for hitting them where it hurt the most. I only hope this pressure is kept up.

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  5. A very thoughtful and astute comment Mike. Often these other issues are red herrings when looking at the bigger picture. I saw an article this morning that talked about developing a high trust culture that relates to this http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140222084557-11846967-high-trust-culture-6-don-t-keep-people-in-the-dark

    Time and time again the lack of responsibility when something goes wrong, is at the heart of the issues. Enbridge could very well pen, in partnership with SNC, the corporate playbook on everything you’ve mentioned.

    The fact that Enbridge sent out those emails prior to the episode airing, kills them in this one. Attacking the messenger who is simply telling the events, or facts, never works. It’s a credibility killer and the more they keep it up, the more people wonder where it’s coming from.

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    1. Laila, something learned from you. It would be interesting to see how many of the same names appear on boards of directors for the companies in question. Couple this with the investment decisions made by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. I have confidence in the CPPIB however, it does cause one to pause given the huge dollars they invest on behalf of Canadians in support of the CPP. Experience teaches us that where you find a trickle, a river runs not far away. This is especially true in matters of compliance. Enbridge is starting to resemble a “car crash” looking for a place to happen!

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      1. Yes indeed – I think I have written about this previously and I know others have. When pension funds are invested in companies that many consider nefarious or less than ethical,it is surprising to many,and perhaps ensures a degree of complacency among people – when your future depends on those investments doing well ( Enbridge is but one example) how hard are you going to fight back against it?

        When you look at the investments in Chinese state connected companies, and in Enbridge among other companies, it is surprising to many http://www.cppib.com/dam/cppib/What%20We%20Do/Our%20Investment/CanadianPublicEquity%20(EN).htm

        http://www.cppib.com/dam/cppib/What%20We%20Do/Our%20Investment/ForeignPublicEquity%20(EN).htm

        And yes, Enbridge is on that list….

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    2. Got to disagree on this Laila. Harper does it all the time and it seems to work for them. However, that being said, the Conservatives are setting themselves up for a real big fall at the next election. I don’t know of anyone who believes or trusts them anymore.

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  8. If you are surprised by the Powell River Persuader article linked here, congratulations – you have just awakened from a 12 year coma…….

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    1. National Energy Board authorized Enbridge to proceed with the line 9 flow reversal. Claim to improved monitoring and safeguards…. no show me what that really means. B.C. next I fear.

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