SAVOIE SAYS LIBERALS CAN’T BE TRUSTED WITH BC COAST

Ignatieff Three Years Late Joining NDP Call to Ban Tanker Traffic

VICTORIA – Three years ago to this day, Victoria MP Denise Savoie said it was urgent for all parties to back her motion to formalize bans on tanker traffic and offshore drilling. As recently as January of this year, when asked whether he would introduce legislation to turn the 1972 moratorium into law, Liberal leader, Michael Ignatieff said, "As I've said, I think you put into law when you need to put into law; I think moratorium will do the job.” (Public Eye, ‘Liberal leader’s slick response, 01/20/10).

“I welcome Mr. Ignatieff to Victoria and thank him for joining a three-year old NDP campaign to protect our coasts, but given his inconsistency on this and other environmental issues, I’m sorry – I just can’t take him seriously,” Savoie said, “It took the Gulf of Mexico disaster to wake them up to the threat to BC waters posed by tanker traffic. With Liberals and Conservatives taking turns sleeping at the wheel, I worry about what other disasters-in-the-making lie ahead.”

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Based on Savoie’s 2007 motion, former NDP MP Catherine Bell introduced Bill C-571 to amend the Canada Shipping Act to prohibit against oil tankers in Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound in 2008. NDP Critic for Fisheries & Oceans Fin Donnelly re-introduced the legislation as Bill C-502 in March of this year.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Fri 22 Jun 2007

END THE AMBIGUITY AND BAN TANKER TRAFFIC: NDP

Only formal moratoria on tankers and drilling will protect our coastal waters
VICTORIA – NDP MPs and MLAs today added their voices to those First Nations, environmentalists, and concerned citizens who want formal moratoria on tanker traffic and offshore drilling.

“It’s time to end the ambiguity,” said MP Denise Savoie (Victoria). “The people of British Columbia overwhelmingly choose clean coastal waters and clean energy over oil and gas. It’s urgent that we formalize the moratoria so these long-standing policies are clear and official.”

Last week, Savoie tabled motion M-354 in the House of Commons to formally re-affirm the federal moratorium on offshore oil and gas exploration, and to impose a formal moratorium on tanker traffic in the Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound, pending consultation with First Nations and other stakeholders.

“I’ve paddled in Prince William Sound years after the Exxon Valdez disaster, and there were still remnants of crude oil gummed onto the rocks,” said Savoie. “There is a simple fix to make certain this will never happen again, and that is formalizing the moratoria.”

Savoie was joined in Victoria by MP Jean Crowder (Nanaimo-Cowichan) and MLAs Shane Simpson (Vancouver-Hastings) and Rob Fleming (Victoria-Hillside). The message was echoed by MPs Catherine Bell (Vancouver Island North) and Nathan Cullen (Skeena-Bulkley Valley), and MLA Gary Coons (North Coast).

“The Minister claims we have a voluntary exclusion zone for north-south traffic but that’s clearly not enough,” said Crowder. “At least ten tankers have passed through in the last fourteen months. No matter what direction they travel, tankers threaten our coasts and we will not stand for it.”

Simpson and Fleming proposed cleaner energy alternatives that would be better for the environment and the economy.

“The boom myth is long discredited,” said Simpson. “If you study the Hibernia case on the east coast, renewable energy would create 60% more jobs, and energy efficiency / conservation projects would create 5 times more jobs than oil and gas development.”

“Premier Campbell just concluded agreements with California and Washington to protect our shared climate and oceans,” noted Fleming. “This is the opportunity for the BC Liberals to show how committed they really are.”

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M-354 — June 14, 2007 – That, in the opinion of the House, the government should, in consultation with key stakeholders, including affected First Nations: (a) reaffirm the federal moratorium on coastal oil and gas drilling in British Columbia; (b) impose a formal federal moratorium on the passage of international tanker traffic containing condensate, oil or natural gas in the Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound; and (c) encourage the government of British Columbia to do the same.