By Judith Lavoie, Times Colonist, June 4, 2010
Despite the spectre of environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico -- where oil is spewing from a destroyed BP well -- the federal and provincial governments aren't closing the door on oil drilling off B.C.'s coast or supertankers plying the province's tricky northern waters.
Energy and Mines Minister Blair Lekstrom said yesterday the province is waiting to see the results of a federal environmental assessment of Calgary-based Enbridge Inc.'s application to build two pipelines from the Alberta oilsands to Kitimat.
"We've said from the beginning we're going to respect the wishes of the environmental assessment process. We're going to let them do their job," Lekstrom said during question period.
New Democrat Gary Coons said every First Nation on the north and central coast and 80 per cent of British Columbians are opposed to the Enbridge plan, which would see tankers carrying oil to China travelling through Hecate Strait, Dixon Entrance and Queen Charlotte Sound. "Will [Lekstrom] tell the prime minister to just say no to supertankers in our sensitive northern coast?" Coons asked.
But Lekstrom said outside the house that there has been tanker traffic on the coast for decades and the world still depends on fossil fuels. "As much as some people would like to think we could be off fossil fuels tomorrow, we can't."
The province's wait-and-see statement comes on the heels of confirmation from the Conservative government that there is no legislation guiding a 1972 moratorium on offshore drilling in B.C. or a ban on oil-tanker traffic.
Cabinet orders on the moratorium, imposed during Pierre Trudeau's government, have since expired, according to Natural Resources Canada, which also says the moratorium does not apply to tanker traffic.
Environmental groups believe federal opposition MPs of all stripes need to insist the government of Stephen Harper pass legislation to protect B.C.'s coast. "We can move something like this ahead against the will of the Conservatives," said Eric Swanson of the Victoria-based Dogwood Initiative.
The NDP supports a tanker ban and there have been indications the Bloc might support it, he said.
"Now we need to see if the [federal] Liberals will support legislation."
Former Liberal environment minister David Anderson, who was instrumental in bringing in the original moratorium, said it's unacceptable that the Harper government should reverse a policy accepted by all governments for almost 40 years.
Given what's happening in the Gulf of Mexico, it's incredible that a government believes technology can make tanker traffic or drilling safe, he said.
A decision to allow tankers at Kitimat would also likely result in government being forced to open the Port of Vancouver to more oil tankers, Anderson said. "This really would open the whole coast to major oil exports."
jlavoie@tc.canwest.com
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