From the Globe & Mail – Feb 23, 2011

by Josh Wingrove

Canada’s three western premiers are urging Prime Minister Stephen
Harper to defeat an opposition bill that would ban oil tanker traffic on
British Columbia’s north coast, saying it would kill pipeline plans
meant to open up the region’s energy markets.

Alberta Premier Ed
Stelmach submitted a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday
saying the private member’s bill, C-606, is “aimed squarely at limiting
Western Canada’s opportunities to grow our economies.” The letter was
co-signed by Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and outgoing B.C. Premier
Gordon Campbell.

The letter struck a nationalist tone – while 800,000 barrels of
petroleum products are shipped each day along the Saint Lawrence Seaway,
a ban on tanker traffic in the West would be “inconsistent,” it said.

“We would therefore urge you to act in the national interest and defeat this bill,” it said.

The letter may be something of a moot point because the minority Harper government is far from supportive of the bill.

“Our
government’s number-one priority remains the economy. We must balance
that with responsible environmental stewardship. A cursory review of
this bill raises serious concerns about how it could hurt Canada’s
economic recovery,” Transport Minister Chuck Strahl – a B.C. MP – said
in a statement, adding that oil tankers have operated safely along
B.C.’s coast for years.

The bill, if passed by the opposition
parties, would amend the Canada Shipping Act to ban oil tanker traffic
along three regions that stretch continuously from the top of Vancouver
Island to the southern Alaska coast. Included in that region are the
waters off Kitimat, B.C., the destination of two proposed pipeline
projects that the three provinces see as essential to reaching lucrative
Asian markets.

But the proposed pipelines are opposed by dozens of aboriginal groups, environmental groups and fishermen.

“When
I heard [Mr. Campbell] signed that [letter], I was furious,” said Arnie
Nagy, a union leader in the fishing industry in Prince Rupert, B.C.

Mr.
Campbell is set to step down next month, and his late signing of the
letter is “absolutely a betrayal of the people of British Columbia,” Mr.
Nagy said.

Liberal Vancouver-area MP Joyce Murray, who tabled
Bill C-606, said the provinces have accepted “wildly inflated” oil
company figures and projections in their support of the pipeline.

“The people of B.C. – the vast majority – would like to see this area protected,” Ms. Murray said.

Her
bill calls the waterways a “world treasure” and says Canadians must
“protect the ocean’s vital natural resources” by banning tankers for
fear of a potential oil spill. The waters along northern B.C.’s shores,
which support a fishing industry that employs 56,000 people, are
notoriously difficult to navigate, Mr. Nagy said.

“One little accident destroys this entire operation,” he said.

The
bill had its first reading on Dec. 14 of last year. If the opposition
parties all vote to pass it, the partisan and Conservative-dominated
senate could strike it down – although Ms. Murray hoped that wouldn’t be
the case. (She noted she’s something of an “optimist.”)

The
letter was submitted one day after the Alberta throne speech, in which
Mr. Stelmach announced his province would create an Asia advisory
council as part of a renewed push to open trade routes with China,
India, Japan and South Korea.

Currently, most western energy is sold to the United States, and there’s little or no capacity to sell it elsewhere.

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