(Letter available for download here. Ici en Francais)
Fredericton, February 27 2013
Honourable Craig Leonard
Energy and Mines Minister
CC:
Honourable Bruce Fitch, Environment and Local Government Minister
Honourable David Alward, Premier of New Brunswick
Dear Minister Leonard,
We are a group of 29 associations, organizations and unions representing [tens of] thousands of New Brunswickers, rural and urban; Anglophone, Francophone and Aboriginal.
"Your release of new rules for the oil and gas industry on February 15 2013 presumes that you have a mandate from the public"
Your release of new rules for the oil and gas industry on February 15 2013 presumes that you have a mandate from the public. We believe that you have no such mandate and are not entitled to release these rules or take any further steps to proceed with the extraction of shale gas in New Brunswick. We base our claim on the following REASONS:
“Shale gas and hydraulic fracturing were never mentioned in your Party‘s 2010 electoral platform”
(1) Shale gas and hydraulic fracturing were never mentioned in your Party‘s 2010 electoral platform. You cannot claim that your voters were aware that you were using the term ‘natural gas’ as a synonym for the above.
(2) You have a responsibility to protect the public from environmental harm. There is growing scientific and anecdotal evidence that shale gas extraction is an activity that can potentially cause significant harm. Therefore, you cannot allow such activity until the risks are fully assessed. Such assessment can be done without exposing the public to the actual risks, which is what you are in fact doing by allowing exploration and drilling. Ignoring your responsibility to protect the public cannot possibly be called ‘responsible’. Therefore, your current plans cannot be reconciled with the statement in your 2010 platform that you will “support the responsible expansion of the natural gas sector in New Brunswick”.
“You have a responsibility to protect the public from environmental harm”
(3) The two points above clearly show you do not have a mandate to renew existing licenses related to shale gas exploration or drilling, or to grant new ones. We believe doing so is undemocratic and irresponsible, for the aforementioned reasons.
(4) You have never held public meetings to consult with your constituents about the decision to move ahead with shale gas, even though you have been requested to do so. Shale gas licensees have conducted open houses, and you hired Dr. LaPierre to solicit feedback on an earlier version of the new rules. However, industry marketing exercises and Dr. LaPierre’s pro forma consultation, where no elected officials were present, are no substitutes for a meaningful two-way consultative process.
“You do not have a mandate to renew existing licenses related to shale gas exploration or drilling, or to grant new ones”
(5) You do not have the free, prior, and informed consent of the First Nations in this province to explore, license or mine for shale gas, which is a requirement under Canada's own rule-of-law.
“You have never held public meetings to consult with your constituents about the decision to move ahead with shale gas”
(6) You have ruled out a moratorium on shale gas based on false claims. Specifically, in your Statement to the Legislative Assembly on the future of the oil and gas industry in New Brunswick made on November 28th 2012, you claimed that both Dr. LaPierre’s and Dr. Cleary’s reports came to the same conclusion – a moratorium on shale gas exploration is neither required nor desirable in New Brunswick. This claim has no basis in fact, as shown in the next three points.
"Consult on the question of whether the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Peoples of New Brunswick want the shale gas industry to operate within provincial boundaries"
(7) You did not give a mandate to Dr. LaPierre to make recommendations on a moratorium on shale gas. We understand this decision, since we perceive he may be in a conflict of interest on this subject, given he is a Director of NB Power. The latter has expressed interest in converting some power generation facilities to natural gas and hence has a vested interest in the development of a local shale gas industry.
“You have ruled out a moratorium on shale gas based on false claims”
(8) Yet Dr. LaPierre created his own, ethically questionable, mandate and ruled out a moratorium on shale gas, and you made his conclusion yours. You seemingly did not pay attention to the fact that he did not derive such conclusion from the content of his report or the input he received from the public. Rather, he derived it from fallacious arguments such as that a moratorium is incompatible with a science-based approach and would leave the issues undefined. Therefore, you cannot claim that his report came to that conclusion, or that the conclusion is based on sound evidence or perceived public will. The conclusion is rather Dr. LaPierre’s biased and flawed personal opinion.
“Any inferred comment on a moratorium was not the intention or the point of my report”
- Chief Medical Officer Dr. Eilish Cleary
(9) Dr. Cleary’s report drew no conclusions on a moratorium, and does not even contain the word ‘moratorium’. When asked about this, Dr. Cleary has stated that “any inferred comment on a moratorium was not the intention or the point of my report”. Furthermore, some of us brought to your attention the falsehood of your claim about Dr. Cleary’s report and asked you to retract it, a demand that you ignored. Therefore you cannot claim you were not aware of this misrepresentation.
“You have not substantiated your claim that the benefits for the people of New Brunswick will outweigh the risks you intend to subject them to”
(10) You have not substantiated your claim that the benefits for the people of New Brunswick will outweigh the risks you intend to subject them to. The experience of people living in various shale plays across North America is that the purported benefits do not trickle down to the society at large, while extensive environmental, health and social problems do.
Considering the above, we DEMAND that your government:
(1) Bring the following to an immediate stop: ongoing shale gas exploration, the granting of any new licenses for exploration or wells, and the renewal of existing ones.
(2) Reopen the case for a moratorium and commission an independent panel of scientists with no conflict of interest with industry to review it.
(3) Apologize to the public for the false claims ruling out a moratorium and publicly retract them.
(4) Consult on the question of whether the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Peoples of New Brunswick want the shale gas industry to operate within provincial boundaries. We believe the consultative process should not start until (i) the risks are fully assessed; and (ii) a credible scenario-based business case is developed to assess potential benefits.
We kindly ask that you reply promptly and publicly to this letter.
Respectfully,
29 organizations, associations and unions of New Brunswick
(please see alphabetical list below)
Canadian Union of Public Employees New Brunswick (CUPE NB)
CCNB Action
Citizens Coalition for Clean Air
Concerned Citizens of Penobsquis
Council of Canadians – Saint John Chapter
Council of Canadians – Fredericton Chapter
Darlings Island Fracking Intervention Naguwigewauk
ecoFredericton Sustainable Living Inc.
Fredericton & District Labour Council
Friends of Mount Carleton
Friends of the UNB Woodlot
Hampton Water First
Maliseet Grand Council
Memramcook Action
New Brunswickers Against Fracking
New Brunswick Senior Citizens Federation
National Farmers Union New Brunswick (NFU NB)
Notre Environnement, Notre Choix
Parents Against Everyday Poisons
Penniac Anti-Shale Gas Organization
Quality of Life Initiative
Sierra Club Atlantic
Sikniktuk Mi'kmaq Rights Coalition
Stanley Area Action Group
Taymouth Community Association
Tantramar Alliance Against Hydrofracking
Upper Miramichi Stewardship Alliance
Upriver Environment Watch
Water and Environmental Protection for Albert County
