A future Liberal government will formalize the existing B.C. crude oil tanker moratorium as part of a comprehensive plan to protect Canada’s oceans and coastal communities, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff announced today.
“The Harper Conservatives refuse to recognize the tanker moratorium off the B.C. coast, and have taken no steps to protect our marine ecosystems from harmful oil spills,” said Mr. Ignatieff. “A Liberal government will take a position of global leadership in protecting our shared ocean heritage and vital coastal communities so that ecological disasters never harm our shores.”
In order to provide better protection for Canada’s oceans and coastal communities, Mr. Ignatieff announced that a future Liberal government will:
- Formalize the existing B.C. crude oil tanker moratorium, through regulation, legislation or both, to prevent crude oil tanker traffic through the Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound.
- Expand Canada’s marine protected areas network and establish timelines and targets to implement integrated ocean management and ocean zoning to support conservation and our ocean economy – in consultation with coastal communities, First Nations, provincial governments, ocean industries and other ocean users.
- Create a world-leading oil spill contingency plan in partnership with the provinces by launching an independent review of Canada’s offshore oil spill prevention and response capabilities, as well as the liability limits for companies in the event of a spill.
- Halt all new leasing and current oil exploration activities in Canada’s Arctic pending an independent examination of the risks related to oil drilling under Arctic ice.
“Canada has the longest coastline in the world, and our quality of life is closely connected to our oceans,” said Mr. Ignatieff. “The disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is a grim reminder that we must always be vigilant. While the Conservative government has left our coastal communities and oceans vulnerable, the Liberal party is proposing innovative, decisive action that will make Canada a world leader in protecting our oceans and coastal communities.”
Restoring Canada’s leadership in the world is one of the Liberal Party’s three policy priorities, along with learning and care.
“We have the opportunity to lead the world, and protect our spectacular natural heritage for our children,” concluded Mr. Ignatieff. “Under a new Liberal government, we will.”
Background:
Protecting Canada’s Oceans and Coastal Communities
Canada’s oceans, rivers, forests, Arctic tundra and other natural riches are unparalleled. They have shaped our history, our economy, our communities and our sense of identity. Canadians take pride in our natural heritage, which defines us as a people and a nation.
Canadians value our shared natural heritage for many reasons – for its aesthetic and spiritual aspects, but also for providing us with the clean air, water and natural resources on which our environment, economy and quality of life depend.
Despite the connection Canadians have with our natural environment, less than 10% of our land base and only 1% of our waters are protected. Canada ranks 70th globally in the percentage of our protected ocean territory. Industrial development is advancing ever further north, while climate change is putting new stresses on wildlife and their habitat.
The Harper government, meanwhile, has no credibility on environmental protection, leaving Canadians with little confidence in their ability to steward our natural heritage.
Innovative and decisive action is needed to protect the globally important wilderness that lies within Canada’s borders on land and sea – now more than ever before. At the same time, Canada is uniquely positioned as a country to demonstrate global leadership in the conservation of our ecosystems.
The Liberal Party of Canada is committed to re-positioning Canada as a global leader in environmental conservation by taking innovative and decisive actions to better conserve, restore and maintain the long-term health of our ecosystems.
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and its devastating effect on the communities, economy and ecosystem of the Gulf Coast, has served a grim reminder to all Canadians of just how vulnerable our oceans and coastlines are to environmental disasters like oil spills. The need has never been so urgent for Canada to once again take a leadership position on nature conservation, starting with the protection of our oceans and coastal communities.
In a major speech on the environment last November at Laval University in Quebec City, Michael Ignatieff said:
“We’ll create new marine protected areas off our Atlantic and Pacific coasts, to ensure the survival of both our marine ecosystems and our fisheries…. Because the Arctic, one of the planet’s most fragile ecosystems, is sure to get busier—we will establish clear rules about what can and cannot be done in the Arctic, where, by whom, and how. “
Today, in a comprehensive plan to protect Canada’s oceans and coastal communities, Mr. Ignatieff announced that a future Liberal government will:
- Formalize the existing B.C. crude oil tanker moratorium
- Expand Canada’s marine protected areas network and establish timelines and targets to implement integrated ocean management and ocean zoning
- Create a world-leading oil spill contingency plan
- Halt all new leasing and current oil exploration activities in Canada’s Arctic
Formalizing the Existing British Columbia Crude Oil Tanker Moratorium
In 1972, the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau enacted a moratorium prohibiting crude oil tanker transit through B.C.’s northern coastal waters including the Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound. Since then, tankers carrying petrochemical products have been operating through the Port of Kitimat. The Liberal Party does not, however, support an increase in this traffic along the coastal waters of the Pacific North Coast, nor do we support crude oil tankers traversing these waters.
Fully opening B.C.’s coast to crude oil tankers creates the risk of a major spill, endangering wildlife and the livelihoods of dozens of communities who live in and around the coastline. To prevent an oil spill from ever occurring in the coastal waters of the ecologically sensitive Pacific North Coast, a Liberal government would not allow an increase in tanker traffic in this region.
A Liberal government would formalize the moratorium on crude oil tanker traffic in the coastal waters of the Pacific North Coast, including in the Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait, and Queen Charlotte Sound, through regulation, legislation, or both.
Expand Canada’s Marine Protected Areas Network and Implement Integrated Ocean Management and Ocean Zoning
Canada has the longest coastline of any country in the world. The combined Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic Ocean environments within Canada’s exclusive economic zone are home to some of the most abundant and diverse webs of marine life on earth.
The need to protect our ocean ecology has never been so clear, yet complex and often uncoordinated approaches to oceans management have prevented effective marine conservation. At the same time, the influence of climate change is causing warming and acidification of our oceans. The resulting biological and physical changes in oceans are causing shifts in species diversity, abundance and distribution.
Less than 1% of Canada’s oceans are protected, while Australia and the U.S. have federally designated marine protected areas that are 32 and 16 times larger, respectively. Canada has committed under the Convention on Biological Diversity to establishing a marine protected area network by 2012. However, by 2008, only seven marine protected areas had been created. While a federal blueprint for creating a marine protected areas network is in place, a greater sense of urgency that leads to concrete action is needed.
The Liberal government of Jean Chrétien introduced the federal Oceans Act to improve oceans management and introduced the Oceans Action Plan to accelerate oceans protection. A future Liberal government will once again take steps to improve the health of Canada’s oceans.
A Liberal government will expand Canada’s marine protected areas network and will ensure that this network is accompanied by a new approach to ocean management. We will engage with coastal communities, First Nations, provincial governments, tourism operators, ocean industries and other ocean users in decisions about how to reduce risks to oceans health. We will also guide smarter ocean use by establishing timelines and targets to implement integrated oceans management and ocean zoning, with the same rigour as land-use planning is conducted on Canadian landscapes, to support conservation and our ocean economy.
By dividing the marine environment for a variety of uses, the potential for conflict among users is reduced, the cumulative impacts of human activities can be addressed, and industry is provided with greater certainty with respect to the regulatory environment. Advancing on an integrated approach to oceans zoning puts in place a critical building block to sustainable oceans management, and will ultimately enable greater access for Canadian fisheries to the growing market for eco-certified seafood.
A World-Leading Oil Spill Contingency Plan
Canadians will not soon forget the sight of millions of litres of oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico when an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform triggered a huge spill, contaminating miles of coastline, threatening some of the richest U.S. fisheries and endangering a fragile marine ecosystem. The Harper government has been unable to assure Canadians that federal response capabilities would be sufficient to cope if a similar disaster were to happen in Canada.
The Liberal Party is committed to ensuring that a disaster like this never harms our oceans or coastal communities. A future Liberal government will work together with our provincial and territorial counterparts, and launch an independent review of Canada’s offshore oil spill prevention and response, including the legislative and regulatory regimes, capabilities and practices in place across the country for prevention and remediation of oil spills. Drawing from this review, the Liberal Party will create a world-leading oil spill contingency plan for Canada to ensure the very best emergency and safety measures are part of the cost of doing business.
In the event of an oil spill, absolute liability limits on companies are currently set at a maximum of between $30-40 million for compensation to the National Energy Board or either of the two East coast offshore petroleum boards. Given that billions of dollars will be spent to clean up the ongoing oil spill in Gulf of Mexico, it is clear steps need to be taken to rectify this situation to ensure taxpayers are not left to pay for the clean-up of a major spill.
A Liberal government believes that fishermen, tourist operators, coastal communities and others must have access to compensation in the event of a major oil spill, without having to spend years in court fighting for it. A Liberal government will work to change the cap on absolute liability limits in the event of an oil spill to a level which ensures compensation for loss of income and the cost of clean-up activities, but isn’t so prohibitive that oil and gas companies won’t be able to operate.
Halting all new oil exploration leasing activity in Canada’s Arctic
There is no technology in place to clean up an oil spill under Arctic ice. Two years ago, the Conservatives accelerated the approval of leases for exploration by B.P. and Imperial Oil in the Beaufort Sea, despite the fact that it would be impossible to protect this fragile ecological zone if there was ever a spill because of the icy water.
The McKenzie Valley Joint Review Panel’s report on emergency preparedness in the Beaufort Sea recommended that, within one year, the government of Canada should publish a plan demonstrating that Transport Canada has adequate capacity in place to ensure that spills and accidents are appropriately prevented, detected and remediated. In other words, Canada currently has no such plan. One year after the recommendation was made, no such plan is in place.
The Conservatives are now forging ahead with oil exploration plans in Lancaster Sound, an area described by Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq as “teeming with wildlife,” only months after Minister Prentice’s December 2009 announcement that he would make it a National Marine Conservation Area.
Given the uncertainty surrounding the technology to clean up an oil spill in Canada’s pristine northern waters, a Liberal government will halt all new leasing and oil exploration activities in Canada’s Arctic pending an independent examination of the risks related to petroleum activity in the North.
In a major speech last week, Mr. Ignatieff committed to lead international cooperation on Arctic issues including climate change, environmental stewardship, responsible resource development, and future shipping through the Northwest Passage. This would be accomplished by building and strengthening multilateral institutions and proposing a new international agreement on the Arctic that would formalize cooperation on environmental stewardship, economic and social development, transportation, search and rescue, and security. It could also mandate a joint mapping exercise of Arctic lands and waters to help establish international protected lands, oceans, fisheries and wildlife, and sacred indigenous sites.
