Fredericton pressured to rescind Energy East support letter
Council of Canadians says Energy East support letter shouldn't have been approved in a closed council session
An environmental group is pressuring Fredericton to rescind a letter of support for the proposed Energy East pipeline project it sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this year.
Mark D'Arcy, a spokesperson for the Council of Canadians in Fredericton, raised questions on Monday about the letter in support of the pipeline project at a council meeting.
According to the group, the city's letter was approved in a closed council in committee meeting in January around the time that Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre came out against the pipeline project.
But approving such an item in a closed session, the group argues, is a violation of the Municipalities Act.
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"We want an accountable and trustworthy, transparent council that we can have our trust in and we simply want them to take back the letter," D'Arcy said.
The Municipalities Act says closed sessions are only for discussing information that is personal, confidential or could jeopardize negotiations leading to an agreement or contract.
Members of the Council of Canadians walked out of city hall on Monday night after council didn't approve a change in the agenda to publicly rescind the letter.
Woodside refused comment
Reporters asked the city's communications officer to have Mayor Brad Woodside comment on the letter.
But the mayor left before reporters had a chance to speak with him.
Coun. Randy Dickinson said he believes the city's support for the pipeline project is an important topic to be discussed in public.
"It should clearly be the topic that belongs in the public domain not in a closed session," he said.
TransCanada Corp. is behind the $12-billion Energy East pipeline project, which has received support from other cities and politicians in New Brunswick.
The proposed 4,600-kilometre pipeline would carry 1.1 million barrels a day of oilsands crude from western Canada to the Irving Oil refinery in Saint John and to the Canaport export terminal, located at the entrance to Saint John Harbour.
The completion date of the proposed pipeline has also been pushed back by two years to 2020.
with files from Lauren Bird