Northern Gateway timeline

A chronology of milestones in the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline. Enbridge plans to construct a twin pipeline from the Edmonton area to Kitimat, on B.C.'s northern coast, where oil will be shipped by super tankers to Asia
March 6, 2002 Calgary-based Enbridge (TSX:ENB) announces preliminary plans for a pipeline linking the Alberta oilsands to the West Coast.
April 14, 2005 The company announces a deal with PetroChina Co. to transport oil from Alberta to the B.C. coast for export. The pipeline is expected to be in operation in 2010.
Nov. 1, 2006 Enbridge announces it will delay Northern Gateway and focus on expanding pipelines to U.S. market.
March 23, 2010 Coastal First Nations Declaration bans oil supertankers from the Pacific North Coast. It is the first aboriginal ban on the project.
May 27, 2010 Enbridge files its application to the National Energy Board to build the Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker terminal.
Map shows the proposed route of Enbridge Inc.'s Northern Gateway pipeline. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Vokey
Aug. 10, 2010 A joint Canadian Environmental Assessment and National Energy Board review panel holds its first panel session for the public, to discuss issues, the information provided by the company in its application and locations for the future oral hearings.
A giant piece of pipeline is placed in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery in downtown Vancouver, Tuesday, August 31, 2010. The pipeline was brought there by opponents of the Northern Gateway Pipeline Project which would see a gas pipeline built in northern B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Sept. 9, 2010 The panel determines the company has submitted enough information for the project to proceed to public hearings.
Natives from the Yinka Dene Alliance march through downtown Calgary, Wednesday, May 11, 2011, protesting Enbridge Pipeline's Northern Gateway project that is planning to cross their land. Enbridge held its annual meeting Wednesday.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Jan. 10, 2012 The review panel begins public hearings that will travel throughout B.C. and Alberta.

Members of the Haisla First Nation dance as drummers play during a ceremony to open hearings for the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project in Kitimat Village, B.C., on January 10, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
March 2012 Federal government announces changes to Navigable Waters Act and the rules governing the environmental review process for major projects.
May 2012 Enbridge is ridiculed for a sleek promotional video that portrays the Douglas Channel into Kitimat minus the hundreds of islands that will lie in the path of project tankers on their way to port.
A mock-up model of part of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project is on display at the company's annual general meeting in Toronto on Wednesday, May 9, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
July 11, 2012 U.S. National Transportation Safety Board releases damning report on a July 2010 spill from an Enbridge pipeline into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan.

A worker monitors the water in Talmadge Creek in Marshall Township, Mich., near the Kalamazoo River as oil from a ruptured pipeline, owned by Enbridge Inc, is vacuumed out the water on July 29, 2010. AP Photo/Paul Sancya
July 27, 2012 B.C. Premier Christy Clark announces at a premiers' conference that B.C. will not be part of any discussions about a national energy policy until the province gets its "fair share" of revenues from the Northern Gateway project.
Aug. 17, 2012 Media mogul David Black announces plans to pursue an oil refinery in Kitimat.

Newspaper publisher David Black speaks about his proposal to build a refinery in Kitimat, B.C., to refine oil from the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline, during a news conference in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday August 17, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
British Columbia Premier Christy Clark speaks during a news conference after former B.C. attorney general Geoff Plant was appointed chief legal strategist for the government on the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline proposal in Richmond, B.C., on Thursday, September 6, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Sept. 26, 2012 A coalition of conservation groups files suit in Federal Court to try and force Ottawa to protect endangered and threatened species along the route of the proposed pipeline.

Lawyer Devon Page, Ecojustice Canada Executive Director, holds a copy of a lawsuit against the federal government during a news conference in Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday September 26, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Oct. 22, 2012 A protest against the project draws thousands of people to the B.C. legislature.

Protesters take part in a mass sit-in in front of the British Columbia legislature in Victoria, B.C. Monday, Oct. 22, 2012. to protest the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Dec. 12, 2012 UBC Fisheries Centre report says financial costs of a worst-case scenario tanker spill off the north coast of British Columbia could outweigh the economic rewards of the pipeline.
A humpback whale in the waters of Chatham Sound near Prince Rupert, B.C. Tuesday, December, 11, 2012. Chatham Sound is in what is called the oil spill zone in case of a spill during transportation of oil from the Northern Gateway Pipeline via tanker ship. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Jan. 14, 2013 Thousands gather to protest the pipeline on the first day of community hearings held in Vancouver. Five protesters are arrested the next day for disrupting the high-security hearings.

Protesters demonstrate against the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline in Vancouver, B.C., on Monday January 14, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
March 18, 2013 Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver announces changes to marine safety rules for oil tankers.
March 19, 2013 Oliver announces he's appointed Vancouver lawyer Doug Eyford as a special representative on West Coast energy infrastructure, to report to government on aboriginal relations.
April 12, 2013 The joint review panel releases a list of 199 conditions the company would have to meet should the project receive approval, including $1 billion in liability coverage to cover the cost of a spill.
May 31, 2013 B.C. government lawyers tell the federal review panel that the province does not support the pipeline project as proposed.
Protestors form a "women's circle" to honour those leading the fight against the Enbridge Northern Gateway project in George Little Park, Terrace, B.C., June 16, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Robin Rowland
June 24, 2013 Final arguments are complete. The panel begins its deliberations.
June 26, 2013 Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver announces that pipeline companies will have to have $1 billion in liability coverage to cover the cost of a spill on land.

Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver pauses while announcing new rules for pipelines and financial penalties for individuals and companies that violate environmental laws, during a news conference in Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday June 26, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Oct. 29, 2013 After a five-year delay, the federal government publishes a final recovery strategy for humpback whales off the West Coast that recognizes shipping traffic and toxic spills as threats to critical habitat.
A humpback whale is seen just outside of Hartley Bay along the Great Bear Rainforest, B.C. Tuesday, Sept, 17, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Nov. 5, 2013 The B.C. government capitulates on revenue-sharing, saying a share of Alberta's revenues from heavy oil pipelines is off the negotiating table.
People gather during a demonstration against the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline in Vancouver, B.C., on Saturday November 16, 2013. Similar events were held in more than 100 communities across Canada as a show of opposition ahead of the release of a review into the pipeline by the National Energy Board. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Dec. 5, 2013 Doug Eyford issues report saying Ottawa must build trust with First Nations.
Dec. 19, 2013 Federal joint review panel issues report recommending approval of Northern Gateway project, subject to 209 conditions.
Jan. 17, 2014 First of 10 applications filed to Federal Court and Federal Appeal Court by environmental and First Nations groups seeking judicial review of panel recommendation to approve project.
Feb. 14, 2014 Federal Court finds federal environment and fisheries ministers broke the law by failing to enforce Species at Risk Act, in lawsuit brought in relation to pipeline route.
April 13, 2014Residents of Kitimat, site of the proposed marine terminal, vote against Northern Gateway in municipal plebiscite, 58.4 per cent to 41.6 per cent.
April 22, 2014Environment Canada announces status of Pacific humpback whales will be upgraded from "threatened" to "species of special concern."
May 13, 2014Transport Minister Lisa Raitt announces new rules for marine spill response.
May 14, 2014Rickford announces more new rules for pipeline safety.
May 27, 2014New Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford announces Ottawa will open a major projects managment office in B.C. to work with First Nations on energy projects.
June 17, 2014The Federal government conditionally approves the pipeline provided Enbridge adhere to all 209 recommendations handed bown by the review panel. Ottawa said Enbridge also had to take on more consultations with affected aboriginal groups.

B.C.'s Northern Gateway pipeline