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Citizen backlash against Enbridge’s misrepresentation of tanker traffic risk
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Thursday, August 16, 2012
This week started with Patrick Daniel, The CEO of Enbridge saying “I think we're facing a very strong, almost revolutionary movement”.
What unfolded next confirmed this to be true.
A citizen scientist, uncovered that Enbridge erased 1000 square kilometres from the Douglas Channel in its Northern Gateway pipeline public safety videos to convince the public that its tanker route is safer than it really is. The strong, almost revolutionary movement, responded.
In less than 24 hours, the above image was shared over 10,000 times on Facebook and elicited thousands of comments by outraged citizens.
A video that clearly documents this Enbridge Northern Gateway flyover Misleads the public was viewed over 2100 times.
Over 13,000 people signed a letter to Enbridge demanding they pull the ad.
The media picked up on the story as well. Here is a summary of the initial media response.
Times Colonist - Enbridge stirs up controversy with depiction of waterway without islands
Ottawa Citizen - Enbridge stirs up controversy with depiction of West Coast waterway as containing no islands
Huffington post front page - Northern Gateway: Enbridge Accused Of Misleading Public With Video That Shows Smooth Sailing In Douglas Channel
CTV news - Enbridge depiction of clear tanker route sparks outrage
GlobalTVBC - 11o’clock news
Global TV - Enbridge controversy over missing islands in tanker animation
Vancouver Sun cover page - Enbridge map sinks islands, angers critics
Vancouver Sun - Enbridge's missing islands
The Province - Dan Murphy cartoon: Enbridge’s Photoshop safety plan
Georgia Straight - Islands disappear off Enbridge map
Metro - Not so clear sailing in ‘misleading’ Enbridge animation
Today Lori Waters, the citizen who uncovered the misleading map representation (who herself is a specialist in scientific data visualization), filed two formal complaints with the federal Competition Bureau, and Advertising Standards Canada, claiming Enbridge is misleading the public with promotional videos that have erased the numerous and intricate web of more than 1000 square kilometres of islands along the proposed Northern Gateway tanker route. Read her media release here.
Tagged with: pipeline, enbridge, northern gateway, tankers, kitimat
