Ottawa’s new ‘Pacific strategy’ will combine conservation, economic growth, minister says
OTTAWA — The Trudeau government will formalize its long-promised moratorium on crude oil tankers off the northern B.C. coast this fall as part of a broader “coastal strategy” to protect the environment while using West Coast ports to fire up the national economy.
The moratorium would cover the Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound, and would effectively kill Enbridge’s $7.9-billion Northern Gateway pipeline proposal to transport 525,000 barrels a day of diluted bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands through Kitimat.
Ottawa wants to package that announcement with other measures aimed at improving shipping safety and marine spill response, dealing with the growing number of derelict vessels that create pollution and safety problems, and designating new marine protected areas.
The focus on environmental and marine management will be coupled with unspecified steps to boost the role of the ports of Prince Rupert and, especially, Vancouver as vital engines of the Canadian economy.
The Port of Vancouver is by far the busiest port in Canada, handling 55 per cent of all containerized traffic entering and leaving the country, compared to second-place Montreal’s 27-per-cent share, according to 2011 Statistics Canada data. Prince Rupert is third at nine per cent, just ahead of Halifax’s eight-per-cent total.
The federal plans were broadly outlined in an exclusive interview this week with Transport Minister Marc Garneau.
“British Columbia is a unique place, it’s a very, very special part of the country,” said Garneau, who will be in Haida Gwaii Tuesday and Vancouver Wednesday consulting with First Nations leaders and other with an interest in his plan.
The ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert are “two incredibly important ports that transport goods from the rest of Canada to places like Asia and the United States, and we want to get it right.”
Garneau will meet with the Haida First Nation in Masset and Old Masset on Haida Gwaii, before travelling to Vancouver to attend as a guest the third annual gathering of B.C. provincial cabinet ministers and B.C. First Nations leaders.
He will be holding one-on-one meetings with a number of the chiefs in attendance.
Garneau said the unspecified economic component of the government’s strategy has no connection to the government’s decision, scheduled to take place in December, on whether to approve Kinder Morgan’s $6.8 billion expansion of its pipeline from Edmonton to Burnaby.
“I’m not linking this to anything,” he said.
Garneau’s theme of balancing economic, environmental and safety issues echoes a message Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has delivered when asked about the need to boost exports while taking environmental issues seriously.
The Liberal government is determined to get “the balance right between building a strong economy and protecting the environment,” Trudeau said in a June interview.
The package will include the following components:
• Despite some media speculation that Ottawa hasn’t closed the door on Northern Gateway, officials echoed Trudeau’s commitment in the June interview that the moratorium promise is non-negotiable. “Crude oil supertankers just have no place on the B.C. north coast,” Trudeau said.
The consultations with local communities and especially First Nations are being done to ensure local needs, like the transportation of fuels to remote communities, are being met, Garneau said.
“When we put together the formal moratorium we have to specifically define what is part of the moratorium and what might be excluded.”
• Measures will be taken to improve marine safety and traffic, environmental protection, and spill prevention and response planning. One already-announced component of this effort was the decision to reopen the Kitsilano Coast Guard station.
“There’s a need for (more) resources along the entire coast” for spill prevention and cleanup, Garneau said, echoing Premier Christy Clark’s demand for a “world-leading” spill response system.
(Trudeau, in the June interview, portrayed the Kitsilano decision as one with national reverberations.
“Things that seem very local, like restoring the Kits Coast Guard base for example, do have an impact on marine safety for issues of importance across the country,” he said during an interview only steps from the Kits station.
“Making sure we have a strong and thriving economy here, with connections across the Pacific, is important for all of Canada.”)
• Officials will consider regulatory changes for the shipping industry in the areas of handling of fuels and waste-dumping.
• A long-promised and likely costly strategy will be unveiled to deal with the growing number of derelict vessels that litter Canada’s coastline and present both an environmental and safety threat. A 2012 report said there were 240 abandoned and derelict vessels across the country, including 42 off the West Coast.
• New protected areas along the B.C. coast will be identified as part of national plan funded by an $81 million, five-year injection in the 2016 budget.
The coast strategy’s target audience isn’t just regional or national, Garneau said, but also global as Canada tries to shake its reputation as a laggard on issues like climate change.
“We want the world to see we are putting together an approach that will maintain the beauty, the ecosystems, while at the same time allowing us to continue to develop our economy.”