Date: Saturday Feb. 2, 2013
Time: 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Place: Meet outside the Ukrainian Orthodox Centre at 154 E 10th Ave., Vancouver.

After a year of community hearings and more than 1,000 presentations opposing Enbridge’s oil tanker and pipeline proposal, the decision boils down to politics and, with a provincial election four months away, provincial politics play a pivotal role.

With that in mind, about 200 people, including many presenters to the joint review panel, are expected to attend Knock the Vote on Saturday to take the No Tankers message to voters in the B.C. Liberal riding of Vancouver-Fairview for a strategic canvass blitz.

The volunteers will be going door-to-door collecting No Tankers petition signatures. More than 150,000 people have signed Dogwood Initiative’s No Tankers petition so far.

“This is going to be a political decision whether we like it or not,” said Ben Porcher, organizer for Dogwood Initiative. “We’re targeting specific polling divisions with specific voting patterns to encourage all MLAs to take a clear stance on proposals to bring more oil tankers to B.C.’s coast before May’s provincial election.”

“The strong majority of British Columbians oppose an increase to oil tanker traffic on B.C.’s coast” said Nikki Skuce, senior energy campaigner for ForestEthics Advocacy. “On Saturday we’re going to see that we have the numbers and the commitment to really put this issue on the political map.”

Media contacts:

Ben Porcher, Organizer
Dogwood Initiative
250-456-4578
ben@dogwoodbc.ca

Nikki Skuce, Senior Energy Campaigner
Forest Ethics Advocacy
778-210-0117
nikki@forestethicsadvocacy.org

Dogwood Initiative is a Victoria-based public interest advocacy group working to help British Columbians have more say in decisions about their air, land and water.

Founded in April 2012, ForestEthics Advocacy is a non-profit society in Canada devoted to public engagement, outreach and environmental advocacy – including political advocacy. We secure large-scale protection of endangered forests and wild places and transform environmentally destructive resource-extraction industries.