The March 22 sinking of BC Ferries' Queen of the North is bad news for the $4-billion Gateway pipeline project proposed by Enbridge Inc., environmentalists claim.

The Gateway proposal is for a 1,200-kilometre pipeline that would carry 400,000 barrels of oil per day from Strathcona County, near Edmonton, to Kitimat, B.C. At Kitimat, the oil would be transferred to large tankers, which would travel along Douglas Channel, passing close to where the Queen of the North sank, off Gil Island.

According to Enbridge's 143-page "preliminary information package" for Gateway, an estimated six or seven "very large crude carriers" would travel the route each month.

That is asking for trouble, according to Bruce Hill, the Terrace-based northern program director for the B.C. branch of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. "It's like an obstacle field," Hill told the Georgia Straight, referring to the waters near Gil Island. "It's a very dangerous coast."

According to an April 10 statement from the Environment Ministry's Prince Rupert Incident Command Post that is handling the environmental cleanup following the sinking, no wildlife deaths have been reported to date. As well, the statement said, BC Ferries is meeting with two salvage companies to discuss ways of preventing long-term environmental damage.

But Hill said some damage has already occurred.

"There is diesel fuel on most of the clam beaches around Hartley Bay, which is not good," Hill said.

Enbridge spokesman Glenn Herchak told the Straight that the tankers proposed for the Kitimat terminal are quite different from passenger ferries and have an "excellent" safety record. "Only tankers that meet strict standards, that are ocean-certified, with double hulls, would be used at the Kitimat terminal," Herchak said.

He added that tugs would escort the ships to open waters. "Those tugs would be designed to provide navigational assistance to the ships in the event of a loss of power or steerage capability," Herchak said.

Will Horter, the executive director of Dogwood Initiative, a land-reform organization concerned with environmental issues, told the Straight that the ferry sinking is a warning signal.

"It illustrates the problems with petroleum projects in northern coastal waters, and how fragile they are," Horter said. "The answer that the likelihood of an accident is very remote isn't much consolation when one accident can lead to an enormous amount of environmental damage."

Enbridge is hoping to have all regulatory approvals completed in 2007 and to have the pipeline fully operating by 2010.

When the legislature unanimously-if temporarily-approved a pay raise for MLAs last November, the details had all been worked out in advance at secret meetings of the legislative assembly management committee.

The committee consists of Speaker Bill Barisoff (Penticton-Okanagan Valley), also committee chair, along with fellow Liberals Gordon Hogg (Surrey-White Rock) and Randy Hawes (Maple Ridge-Mission), as well as New Democrats Jenny Kwan (Vancouver-Mount Pleasant) and Mike Farnworth (Port Coquitlam-Burke Mountain).

The package included a 15-percent increase in MLAs' base pay, plus increased allowances, a defined-benefit pension plan, increased severance pay, and a long-term disability scheme. There was also more money for MLAs' constituency offices, for a total package worth $3.8 million.

The Legislative Assembly Statutes Amendment Act 2005 was rushed through all three readings on November 17. Following only superficial debate, the bill passed unanimously. Four days later, after a deluge of public complaints, another bill, the Legislative Assembly Statues Amendment Act 2005 Repeal Act, was also rushed through all three readings in a single afternoon, with only one MLA (Vancouver Burrard Liberal Lorne Mayencourt) dissenting.

Though the committee always meets in camera, its minutes are eventually published. Last week, the minutes of those meetings were released.

Anyone hoping to learn if any MLAs thought the increases-which took MLAs' base pay to $86,580, from the current level of $75,400-were too steep is out of luck. For the most part, the minutes reveal what we already know: "The committee continued its review of services to members of the legislative assembly including pay benefits, allowances and parliamentary and constituency office expenses."

The most detailed minutes are for the November 2 meeting. For each part of the package, the minutes report that the committee was unanimous in backing the increases.

Given the importance of the issues it considers, it's time for the committee to meet in open session and to be covered by Hansard.

Established under the NDP in 1992, the committee is charged with the consideration of "any matters necessary for the efficient and effective operation and management of the legislative assembly".

That includes coming up with the budget of the legislature itself, which stands at more than $55 million.