In a poll released Tuesday by Living Oceans Society, B.C., residents living along the proposed Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI, Stock Forum) pipeline route ranked pipeline and tanker issues virtually neck-and-neck with the economy as the most important issue facing the province today.
“It is very unusual to see a single issue top health care or come so close to tying with the economy as the most pressing issue in B.C.,’’ said Bob Penner, president of Vancouver-based Strategic Communications, who conducted the polling in August. “This has become a critical issue in B.C.”
“Concern about oil spills from pipelines and tankers is the number one reason people are taking it so seriously. Over half of the respondents said they were opposed to the new Kinder Morgan pipeline and the opposition seems to be hardening from previous polls, with 34.3% saying they are ‘strongly opposed,’” said Karen Wristen, Executive Director of Living Oceans Society.
The poll included two distinct samples – one canvassed federal ridings along the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline route, representing approximately 60% of B.C.’s population; the other was B.C.-wide.
The B.C.-wide poll showed British Columbia Premier Clark’s five-point plan for pipeline approval was not persuasive to poll respondents – only 30% said they’d be more likely to support the Enbridge Inc. (TSX: T.ENB, Stock Forum) proposal if B.C. were to receive royalties, while 59% said that either made no difference to their opinion, or would make them more inclined to oppose.
Support for the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline proposal seems to have plummeted from a high of 48% reported by Ipsos-Reid in January 2012, to only 19% in the Strategic Communications August B.C.-wide poll.
“Opposition seems to be hardening here, too,” observed Wristen. “Over 60 percent oppose the project and 45 percent of them say they are ‘strongly opposed.’”
For the poll, two different samples were taken:
·One was fielded online August 8-10 to a representative sample of 1,012 adults province-wide. A randomized survey of this size yields a 2.1 percent margin of error, 19 times out of 20.
·The second sample was fielded by telephone August 1-21 to a representative sample of 600 B.C. adults living in federal electoral districts along the Kinder Morgan pipeline route. This poll is considered accurate to +/- 3.5 percent, 19 times out of 20.
Living Oceans Society is based in Sointula, B.C. It describes itself as the largest organization in Canada, focusing exclusively on marine conservation.