Conservatives emphasize conditions, science around Northern Gateway pipeline

OTTAWA – Federal Conservatives are emphasizing the hundreds of conditions placed on the Northern Gateway pipeline — and the uncertainty around it — a day after their government approved the project.

The NDP and the Liberals predict Northern Gateway will be an issue during the 2015 general election.

But BC Tory MPs say they’re not overly concerned about possible electoral fallout from the conditional approval of the project and caution it’s not a done deal.

MP John Weston says the 209 conditions spelled out by a federal review panel will be difficult for the Enbridge-led consortium to meet.

A spokesman for Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford posted to Twitter that Ottawa’s response was a maybe, rather than straightforward approval.

The project faces formidable hurdles, including energetic opposition by aboriginal groups and communities that lie in the path of the proposed pipeline.