The Oil Man and the Sea: Navigating the Northern Gateway

I didn't expect to enjoy this book, but in the end I really did. In this travel journal, Kopecky sets out to introduce us to the Northern BC coast, its ocean, rivers, flora, fauna and peoples to look at the balance that has been achieved through out the centuries and the diversity that has bloomed.
Kopecky makes no bones about his angle: he's there to convince the reader of the loss a massive infrastructure project would inflict if the project came to fruition. But I did appreciate his attempt at presenting the other view as well and adding the testimonies of those that inject a bit of realism in the idealistic vision Westerners have of Native peoples living in harmony or content with nature. It's sparse but it's there and I have no show more doubt that getting anything but media lines and press releases from the big outfits was near impossible.
What really made this book fascinating for me, however, is Kopecky's writing style: this is incredibly beautiful prose. He conjures images and communicates the earth's energy and riches like I have rarely read - be the reader for or against the project the book is worth reading just for those wonderful passages. And it's true, after reading about so much beauty, it is difficult to be anything but against the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project through this incredible biomass which is the Great Bear Rainforest. show less

This was really a great book, a DIY and informative look at this area in which the pipeline terminus is proposed to go. It could have used more reporting than there was, it seemed to devolve to a little bit of a travelogue with less history and context as the book moved on. But in any event, a very worthwhile read and exactly the kind of journalism I wish there was more of.

The media has been dominating the airwaves recently about ‘The Northern Gateway’ – the outlet to the Pacific Ocean where plans are being made to build a major pipeline from Alberta to the British Columbia coast. But what exactly makes up that area is hardly know or discussed in great detail to the rest of us Canadians. Arno Kopecky has travelled the area extensively and documented his trip in The Oil Man and the Sea.

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