Although it's unlikely that Enbridge appreciates their viewpoint much, it is comforting to see a group of Prince George doctors publicly declare their opposition to the Northern Gateway pipeline project.
The 18 doctors were listed in a full-page ad in last Saturday's Citizen. Further ads will run on July 26 and on Aug. 9, with more doctors adding their names to the list, vows Dr. Marie Hay, a local pediatrician who is spearheading the opposition effort.
It's comforting because it's the continuation of a level of social and political activism Prince George residents have come to expect from their local doctors. At least in Prince George, doctors do more than see patients, bill the Medical Services Plan for their work and go home. They are engaged citizens and when they see something going on that they don't like, they speak up, loud and clear.
If Enbridge think they're dealing with a group of political lightweights who don't know how to get the ear of government, they are in for a taste of some nasty medicine, which is what usually happens when concerned Prince George doctors flex their political muscles.
On the nights that former mayor Colin Kinsley has nightmares, it's likely Dr. Hay he sees because she has been a source of constant irritation in Kinsley's side. As mayor, Kinsley worked for years on building a bioenergy plant built in the light industrial area near downtown, a short distance from Sacred Heart school and the Millar Addition neighbourhood. The plant would reduce greenhouse gases and use wood waste to heat downtown civic buildings. Furthermore, it attracted millions in support from the federal government.
It seemed like a slam dunk until Dr. Hay mobilized area residents, saying the estimated one tonne of emissions the plant was expected to emit each year made no sense in a heavily populated area of the Bowl that already had constant issues with air quality. Furthermore, she said fine particulate air pollution is linked to numerous health problems, include asthma among children and pulmonary disease in older people.
"Our air is like a toxic dump and I do not see the politicians taking any action on this," she told The Citizen in 2009, after a detailed air analysis was completed.
Kinsley has been working with Enbridge since retiring from politics, promoting the community benefits of the pipeline, such as jobs and tax revenues for school, hospitals and so on. Now here is Hay again, opposing the pipeline for health reasons.
She wrote a letter to the editor in early June, directly appealing to Premier Christy Clark to oppose the pipeline. Two weeks later, the federal government gave its conditional approval for construction of the pipeline. Since then, Hay has clearly been busy, mobilizing support from among her ranks.
One of the other signatories against the pipeline is Dr. Bert Kelly, another doctor who is no stranger to political activism. Like Hay, he also has a record of getting results.
Kelly played a huge role through the Northern Medical Society in getting Victoria's attention about the chronic doctor shortage in Prince George in 2000. He and his colleagues in Prince George threatened to go on strike if the NDP government of the day didn't take immediate action. In the end, they got $10-million in increased spending for recruitment and retention.
Those efforts, along with a massive public rally, eventually led to the Northern Medical Program at UNBC, so doctors could be trained in the North to work in the North. He remains politically active to this day, proud that local MLAs past and present, as well as the Liberal government, perceive him as an annoying pebble in their shoe. Kelly is given the stage each year at the Northern Medical Programs Trust dinner to give the "Kelly Report," where he thanks government for the positive health initiatives over the last year and then he gives them hell for all they haven't done.
Neither Kelly nor Hay mince words when they are dissatisfied with the efforts of government to safeguard the health of residents.
Whatever one thinks of their stances on these issues is irrelevant. They deserve thanks from all residents for caring enough about Prince George and its residents to speak up and encourage others to speak up with them on important civic issues.
That speaks volumes about their commitment, as doctors and as individuals, to making Prince George as safe and healthy for everyone as possible.
