British Columbians are feeling more positive about the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines than they were at the beginning of 2013, according to the results of an Insights West study released November 21.
The survey found that opposition to the pipelines has dropped 14 points, from 61% in February to 47% today.
The results also showed that 42% of respondents are in support of the project, compared with 35% in a similar poll taken in February – an increase of seven percentage points.
"Strong opposition" has also fallen over the same period from 38% to 29%, while "strong support" grew from 11% to 16%.
"At the start of the year, strong opposition to the Northern Gateway outranked strong support by an almost 4-to-1 margin—now it's less than 2-to-1," says Mario Canseco, vice-president, public affairs, Insights West.
"While a large proportion of British Columbians continue to have reservations about the project, the numbers are very different from what we observed at the start of the year."
The poll found responses were divided along gender lines and among different age groups. Men are more likely to favour the pipelines than women, and those in the 55+ age group expressed more support than those in the 18-34 group.
Other findings included:
- 53% feel the pipelines will benefit First Nations groups, up from 40% in February;
- 88% are concerned about increases in oil tanker traffic, and 85% are worried about an oil spill and the impact of construction on the environment.
More than 80% of respondents stated that the job creation, economic growth and new capital investment associated with the pipelines are appealing.
"British Columbians continue to be of two minds on the Northern Gateway," said Canseco.
"There is a large proportion of the population that remains concerned with the possibility of oil spills and environmental problems, but the argument about economic benefits has gained traction over the past few months."
