Enbridge, Canada’s largest transporter of crude oil, is now also the largest sponsor of the BC chapter of the Ride to Conquer Cancer.

Held in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia, the Ride to Conquer Cancer is a major fundraising opportunity for the provincial cancer foundations: in 2009, the BC Ride provided over $7 million of the BC Cancer Foundation’s annual fundraising total of $15.9 million.

Enbridge began sponsoring the Alberta Ride in 2010, and is slated to begin sponsoring BC’s Ride to Conquer Cancer in 2011. In a press release, Enbridge President and CEO, Patrick D. Daniel explained, “At Enbridge we see health as one of the key building blocks for a sustainable community.” He goes on to speak of Enbridge’s “long-standing relationship” with the Alberta Cancer Foundation, and said he was “proud to have committed funding support” to the event for the next three years.

Last year in BC, 2,252 riders brought in $9.2 million dollars for cancer research. In Alberta and BC, the company’s generous sponsorship has prompted the coordinators to rename the event, The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer, though the exact amount was not disclosed.

Glenn Herchak, Director of Communications and Community Investment for Enbridge Pipelines Inc. noted that he, like the company’s President, considers health as a “key building block” in Canadian communities. Herchak explained that Enbridge’s “investment of dollars, partnerships and human capital” is “essential to being a good neighbour” to communities across the country, and that the company sees health and safety of Canadians as paramount.

Dollars raised by the Ride to Conquer Cancer go toward researching the disease in its many forms. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, one of the factors that may cause cancer is occupational exposure to carcinogenic substances. The workers most likely to come into contact with these substances are “construction workers, woodworkers, miners, painters, pesticide workers and workers in the chemical, rubber or dye industry.”

Additionally, the CCS warns that prenatal exposure to harmful substances in the air, water, soil, or food supply can cause cancer.

Enbridge currently employs over 6,000 workers across Canada and the United States, and is recognized as one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World. They are ranked as one of the Top 100 Employers in Canada and also one of Canada’s Greenest Employers.

Shannon Smart writes for The Tyee