Final Draft: please send any comments to peterr@island.net

September 23, 2000
The Duncan Declaration

being the unanimous statement of participants to

“The Power is Ours” Forum:
Alternatives to the Georgia Strait Crossing (GSX) Project

Whereas the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted on May 9, 1992, in New York City; and,

Whereas Canada signed the UNFCCC on June 12, 1992 and ratified it on December 4, 1992; and

Whereas the UNFCCC came into effect on March 21, 1994, and, in that Convention Canada committed to reduce its Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) to its 1990 levels by 2000; and

Whereas on December 10, 1997, in Kyoto, Japan, a further agreement, known as the Kyoto Protocol, was adopted by, Canada, among other nations; and,

Whereas Canada signed the Kyoto Protocol on April 29, 1998; and

Whereas in accordance with the terms of the Kyoto Protocol, Canada committed to reduce its GHG emissions to 6% less than its 1990 level by the period 2008-2012; and

Whereas in 1990, at the time of the UNFCCC, Canada lagged only the United States and Luxembourg in its per capita GHG emissions; and

Whereas Canada’s per capita emissions have increased more than the United States’ since 1990 so that Canada has one of the worst records amongst signatory nations not only of GHG emissions, but also of increase in GHG emissions through the post-UNFCCC period; and

Whereas by 2000, Canada’s GHG emissions are 15% higher than they were in 1990 and rather than stabilizing or decreasing, they continue to increase at approximately 1% per annum; and

Whereas Canada has not taken effective or substantial steps to address its commitments or breaches of its international treaty obligations; and

Whereas those breaches in commitment are also breaches of commitment in governance to the people of Canada; and

Whereas the Georgia Strait Crossing (GSX) natural gas pipeline project and its associated gas-fired electrical co-generation facilities:

-         move Vancouver Island away from hydro electric energy and commits it to the burning of fossil fuels;
-         contribute to the creation of GHGs,
-         are inherently polluting of local airsheds, and thereby contribute negatively to human health and the local quality of life,
-         are dangerous to human life and settlements;
-         are  damaging to marine ecology and marine habitat, and thereby contribute negatively to the health and well being of the marine life of Georgia Strait;


THEREFORE, be it resolved,

That we, the participants of “The Power Is Ours” Public Forum, call upon the Government of Canada and the federal Cabinet

-         to ratify and live up to its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol;
-         empower an Independent Panel Review to study the GSX proposal;
-         ensure that the scope of the environmental assessment should include the climate change implications of the pipeline.

It is further resolved that we call upon the Government of British Columbia

-         to make British Columbia “Kyoto Compliant”, by holding to its part of the spirit of the Kyoto Protocol and reduce GHG emissions by at least 6% below 1990 levels;
-         declare Vancouver Island a Green Economy Zone, and use tax shifting and other public policy instruments to help bring this about;
-         support the creation of Green Energy Cooperatives as part of the government’s current review of Cooperative legislation;
-         direct BC Hydro to reinvigorate their PowerSmart energy conservation program and to aggressively pursue green, renewable energy alternatives, such as wind and micro-hydro power generation;
-         further direct BC Hydro to specifically review green, renewable energy alternatives to the GSX project and associated co-generation facilities, including demand side management, conservation and other tools.

It is further resolved, that we call upon Municipal governments, First Nations governments, Village and Town Councils and Chambers of Commerce of Vancouver Island,

- to embrace green, renewable energy programs as part of their economic development plan strategies and use their offices to encourage green, renewable energy and green economic development initiatives.

We further declare:

That in the event that the environmental assessment review of the GSX under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and the review by the National Energy Board under the National Energy Board Act do NOT consider the project in its broader context, that is as a means to fundamentally commit Vancouver Island to a natural gas-fired electrical future,

Then those process and decision makers will thereby have failed to properly or adequately consider the public interest, and will thereby have ignored Canada’s commitments and obligation to the world and to future generations,

And, therefore, those processes and the project resulting therefrom will be illegitimate and will bring Canada into further disrepute.

Signed:

Unanimously endorsed.



Original document drafted by Norman Conrad
Amended document as presented by Peter Ronald