NDP MP Don Davies drafts bill to ban oil tankers off B.C. coast
By Stephen Hui
*Don Davies*, the NDP MP for Vancouver Kingsway, has drafted legislation to
enshrine in law the federal moratorium that prohibits oil tankers from
plying British Columbia's coastal waters.
"Oil tankers in our coastal waters pose a grave threat to our environment
and sensitive ecosystems," Davies said in a statement e-mailed today
(February 5) to the *Straight*. "The risk of oil spills and damage to our
marine mammals is unacceptable."
In this week's *Straight* cover
story
http://www.straight.com/article-199616/pipeline-would-bring-tankers-bc-i...,
*Andrew Findlay* reports on a proposed oil pipeline that would link northern
Alberta's oil fields with the port at Kitimat on B.C.'s central coast.
As Findlay notes, "over the past two years there has been furious debate
about the validity of an ambiguous federal government statement dating back
to the early 1970s that refers to a moratorium on oil-tanker traffic along
the B.C. coast".
Davies's private member's bill—titled "An Act to amend the Canada Shipping
Act, 2001 (prohibition of oil tankers off the British Columbia Coast)"—has
been sent to the House of Commons law clerk for a routine examination.
The MP hopes to introduce the bill in the House in the next two weeks.
"The particular coastal areas identified for potential tanker traffic run
through very difficult navigation areas and one of the last acoustically
quiet sanctuaries for whales," Davies said in his statement. "British
Columbians want to keep our coast areas protected and don't want another
Exxon Valdez spill. It would be far better and more intelligent to use this
precious resource for eco-tourism—clean, sustainable and economically
productive development."
