I read Quinn Blunderfield’s blog post about Enbridge’s “Marketing Pipeline Economic Analysis to Citizens and Consumers” and wish to share my view on it. Enbridge’s seemingly deceptive marketing strategy certainly raises serious ethical issues.  For an international project headed by a North American leader in the energy industry, such negligence in illustrating different scenarios – from best to worst in regards to investment and environmental damage – in its proposal cannot be mere oversight. Enbridge should highlight potential environmental damage such as disastrous oil spill and how they can prevent or fix the problem, and what the consequences are if such issue cannot be solved. This is not strictly an environmental problem that harms the nature only – humans are just as affected. Our food source, water supply, even the air can be affected, and these are essential to our survival.

The more alarming issue is the overall integrity in business between large corporations and government in Canada. Enbridge’s flaw becomes obvious only because of the strong, vocal environmental group in Canada – British Columbia specifically. Such claim may be true, but if such environmental group does not exist, Enbridge will probably strike a deal with the government and disregard public opinions. The reality is that money is king in business; as long as the company’s actions are legal – and they are in Embridge’s case – ethics do not mean much if the project is profitable. This is especially true in a poor economy where jobs are scarce and investors’ pockets are tight, and this presents an opportunity for unethical practices to prevail. It is human nature to be short-sighted in desperation when money takes precedence over ethical issues for survival, and no solution is faster and more sure-fire for the government than a commitment from a well established company to invest heavily. We must remain vigilant as Embridge’s case may only be the tip of an iceberg, for profitable but questionable deals such as building more casinos can spell doom to the province in the long run.