The Northern Gateway website is a great place to come for respectful, factual conversation about the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline and related issues.  We appreciate everyone who takes the time to meaningfully participate in the discussions hosted here—thank you for being a part of this community.

We are dedicated to this community and we work to ensure the conversations are respectful and fact-based. To achieve this goal, we have specific guidelines for commenting. We strive to ensure your comment is posted in a timely fashion, provided it meets our guidelines. 

We ask you to follow the guidelines below to ensure the community spirit they are designed to create.

All comments are moderated

We understand many people are passionate about the issues raised related to the Northern Gateway proposal. But passion isn’t a valid reason to act inappropriately. To maintain a civil atmosphere, our moderation team reads all comments before they are published. Moderation times will vary depending on the number of comments posted and the time they are posted.

Please know we are committed to this conversation and understand timely comment approval is critical to keeping the conversation going; your comments are important to us and we will work hard to publish them as quickly as possible.

All commentators are required to use a username

We pledge to be transparent, factual and honest in the conversations we host and we require the same from you. This guideline will make our online community a more valuable place for everyone who wants to participate.

You may choose to comment under a pseudonym, but please always use the same identity in your interactions on these blogs. Any users found misrepresenting themselves or others, spreading misinformation, creating multiple accounts or "astro-turfing" will have their comments blocked. Comments left with the username “anonymous” will not be published.

All viewpoints are welcome

We understand people have different opinions about the proposed Northern Gateway project. You do not need to be a supporter of the proposal to comment here. However, comments designed to shut down the conversations add no value and will not be included.

We want to hear from you. Tell us why you believe the Northern Gateway pipeline should, or should not, be developed. Tell us what you think about the economic developments that grow out of projects like this. Share local knowledge and insights. Ask open-ended questions of the content authors and other users.    

Hostile, foul, threatening, racist, derogatory and insulting language are not welcome here. Users who attempt to post this type of language in their comments will have their comments rejected without exception.

Please note, comments containing links will only be published if the link is to a credible and objective source of information, like a government or regulatory body website, newspapers, etc.

Real people read your comments and real people will reply

The commentary on northerngateway.ca is moderated by members of the Northern Gateway communications team. Whenever a comment is best responded to by a subject matter expert, a subject matter expert will be consulted. This could result in delayed responses as professionals—engineers, marine safety experts and others—are consulted. In some cases, questions may not be answered if they are deemed to conflict with the requirements of the Northern Gateway regulatory review process. Any such cases will be clearly identified and dealt with respectfully.

Some questions and answers to help you further understand commenting on the Northern Gateway website

Q: Why am I required to provide a username in order to comment?

All users must provide a username in order to submit comments. This is a requirement to ensure the conversation is kept orderly and to prevent the commenting areas from becoming victims of spamming behavior. You are not required to share personal information or use your real name.

Q: I posted a comment. Why can't I see it on the site?

There are several reasons why your comment may not appear:

1. It is likely waiting for approval. Comments are moderated before they appear. There will be a short delay between when you submit your comment and when it is approved for posting, especially during non-peak hours. Please be patient, there is no need to attempt to post your comment again.
2. Your comment violated our comments policy. The Northern Gateway website is a place for engaging, thought-provoking dialogue and we encourage everyone to speak freely—provided your comments don’t violate our commenting policy.
3. Someone has already made your point. If someone has already made a point you agree with, there are other ways to indicate your agreement rather than making the same point again in an additional comment. The conversations are better served as free-flowing expressions of unique ideas. Please add something new and unique to the conversation.

Q: Can I follow the blogs?

All of the blogs are connected through a single RSS feed. You can subscribe to this feed to be notified of updates to the blogs when they are posted.

Q: Can I submit a suggestion for a future blog post?

We welcome your suggestions. If you have an idea for a great blog post, please suggest it to us using the link on the sidebar found on any of the blog pages. Please keep in mind, your suggestion must fit the topics outlined in the blogs and must be appropriate topics to be dealt with in a blog format. Should a suggested post be deemed inappropriate for a blog post on the Northern Gateway blogs, we will let you know.

Q: I want to include a link, how can I do this? 

Our comments system does not allow you to use HTML formatting. If you include a URL in your comment, provided it links to a credible and objective source of information as noted in our guidelines, your comment will be published and the link will appear in plain text format. Please do not cut and paste content published elsewhere as this action may violate copyright law—comments that include obvious cut and paste content will not be approved.

Q: There is a comment published that I think violates your guidelines. How can I tell you?

You can submit a comment pointing this out. Please remember to include the user’s name noted on the comment you think violates our policies. Please note, the comment you submit will not be published and your privacy will be protected. The Northern Gateway comment moderation team will determine whether or not the comment violated our policies—if it disappears, you’ll know it did.  

Q: Why am I blocked from commenting? 

A comment you submitted violated our stated guidelines above. Please remember, users who attempt to post comments violating our policies will have their comments rejected without exception.