Dear Editor:
I have been made aware of Mr. Carolan's claims in the Sunday, Oct. 26 North Shore News that District of North Vancouver election candidate Wayne Hunter (no relation to me) was supporting the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion. I now understand that Mr. Carolan may have mistaken Wayne and I in his article. I understand that Mr. Hunter has indicated he opposes the current plans for the expansion. The North Shore News kindly published this correction on Wednesday.
However, in that correction, it seems to imply that I spoke at times "on behalf of the oil and gas industries and the Kinder Morgan Pipeline expansion." Let me clarify that I speak on behalf of and represent only J. Hunter Associates. Although at any time I could be advising any one of dozens of energy, infrastructure, or international business companies, including TransMountain Pipeline, I almost never have the authority to represent them or speak on their behalf and I certainly have no such authority in the case of the oil and gas industry or Kinder Morgan Canada/TransMountain Pipeline.
As for my position on the TransMountain Pipeline expansion, it is generally favourable, but has not changed from the speech I gave at the Vancouver Board of Trade in January 2013. In my view, that speech provides a reasonable position for any candidate for election at this stage in the project: "NEB decisions, over my 10 years of testifying before them, are thorough and balanced. I think the key documents are the evidence, the decision itself including summaries of evidence, and just as importantly, if the project is approved, the conditions imposed on the project. It's all publicly available. Without seeing these three documents, and particularly the conditions imposed by the regulators, in my view it is impossible to judge the benefits and risks of a project. Hence, I am disappointed in those who categorically and unconditionally oppose a project when these key documents are not yet available."
John Hunter
North Vancouver
