Anti-Gateway Group Deploys Supporters En Masse to Stagger Review Panel Reports rolled in this week that over 4,000

have signed up to speak at the National Energy Boards Joint Review Panel for the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline. The most striking point here is the sheer number of interested parties; as a news piece, the Panel itself is quite dry. The details to be reported would be a retread of already familiar topics, with most of the discussion the Board has been developed to deal with being of deeply local concern. The conclusions of this process however will be very interesting, when we get to it. If we get to it, and Ill touch on what I mean in a moment. The story is the number of participants, but what that actually means hasnt yet been touched on by most news sources. The Joint Review Panels intent is to create a well rounded dialog where common viewpoints can be discussed, to be represented in a relative ratio to actual public opinion. Never was its intent to house multiple thousands of speakers, or to standby the presentation of a large number of redundant or generalized ideas. Unless it is possible the applicants hold 4,000 unique views that should be expressed? This seems unlikely. The true cause of the flooding of the NEBs forms is the direct result of Dogwood Initiatives webpage, which declares: Mob The Mic! Titled as it is, their goal is immediately clear and their success becomes the problem of a review process that has now been intentionally bogged down. Here Dogwood presents a form in the public space that anyone and everyone - British Columbian or otherwise - can quickly fill out. While the Panel does evaluate the legitimacy of each comment before the submitter is allowed to speak, they now have to spend their time throwing away thousands of registrations by pseudonyms, poorly informed click-through traffic and possibly a lot of Australians. A snotty move full of gusto for self-proclaimed rebels that in practice brings only inconvenience to British Columbians who like to actually see things get done. The government has mandated this review panel specifically to give people a voice and the immediate response seem to be to make a joke of it. While the Dogwood page asserts the federal minister responsible has already decided he supports [the Northern Gateway Pipeline]!, there is no particular reason why the federal minister should not be allowed to hold that opinion. It also complains about the lack of British Columbians on the Review Panel, though why this is not acceptable is not discussed, there is no proof to any alleged prejudice on behalf of the National Energy Board and jumping to that conclusion is an intentional fallacy meant only to stir up quick and reactionary support. The perspective of these activists is that there should not be any pipeline no matter the external circumstances and they are very staunch on that point, but the purpose of the review panel is not in line with them, instead giving the Northern Gateway Project a chance to go through on the condition of various opinions on the project. The way that Dogwood approaches the Joint Review Panel turns it into something like an activist initiative itself when that was never what the panel was intended to be. Dogwood gives the project, as a given of their angle, no chance of success and offers no compromise. They seem to misunderstand or overlook the point of the Joint Review Panel - it is not a

platform by design to deny the Pipeline as activists take it for, rather a platform for sharing and considering information. In the same way they claim the federal minister has, Dogwood has already come to its conclusion and will not be swayed by any argument, involved headlong with only subterfuge in mind. In the end strongly opiniated online campaigns like this one have little desire to speak in a formal context when the internet gives a much better medium, providing a buffer of impunity which allows for astounding bias without consequence.