Activists claim victory as Trudeau's oil tanker ban passes Commons
As environmentalists bemoan the Liberal government's promise to build the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, Ottawa handed them a victory of sorts last night with the passage of an tanker moratorium bill that will prohibit tankers carrying crude oil from loading or unloading at ports in northern British Columbia.
Bill C-48, which passed the House of Commons along party lines and is now headed to the Senate for its second legislative phase, was introduced after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet vetoed Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline — a project that would have carried crude from Alberta through northern B.C. to a tanker terminal in Kitimat for export to Asia.
At the time, Trudeau said it would be a mistake to move crude through the pristine Great Bear rainforest, describing the region as the "jewel" of B.C.
The legislation — which would ban tankers capable of carrying more than 12,500 metric tons of oil from an area that stretches from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to the Alaska border — has been both celebrated and pilloried by local Indigenous peoples.
The failed Northern Gateway project had secured financial agreements with some 21 First Nations along the project's route — an entity called Aboriginal Equity Partners owned a 33 per cent stake in the line — while others Indigenous communities were worried about the potential for a spill in coastal waters.
Environmentalists championed C-48's passage Wednesday because it effectively would prevent another project like Northern Gateway.
Activists claim victory as Trudeau's oil tanker ban passes Commons | CBC News
As environmentalists bemoan the Liberal government's promise to build the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, Ottawa handed them a victory of sorts last night with the passage of an tanker moratorium bill that will prohibit tankers carrying crude oil from loading or unloading at ports in northern British Columbia.
Bill C-48, which passed the House of Commons along party lines and is now headed to the Senate for its second legislative phase, was introduced after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet vetoed Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline — a project that would have carried crude from Alberta through northern B.C. to a tanker terminal in Kitimat for export to Asia.
At the time, Trudeau said it would be a mistake to move crude through the pristine Great Bear rainforest, describing the region as the "jewel" of B.C.
The legislation — which would ban tankers capable of carrying more than 12,500 metric tons of oil from an area that stretches from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to the Alaska border — has been both celebrated and pilloried by local Indigenous peoples.
The failed Northern Gateway project had secured financial agreements with some 21 First Nations along the project's route — an entity called Aboriginal Equity Partners owned a 33 per cent stake in the line — while others Indigenous communities were worried about the potential for a spill in coastal waters.
Environmentalists championed C-48's passage Wednesday because it effectively would prevent another project like Northern Gateway.
Activists claim victory as Trudeau's oil tanker ban passes Commons | CBC News
