Our Coast. Our Call. No Oil Tanker Expansion on the B.C. Coast

Unless we stop them, super-tankers will travel through grey whale migratory routes, through feeding grounds for humpback and orca whales and into the heart of Vancouver. Take action.

: Oil clean-up after Exxon Valdez oil spill. Public Domain.

A river of crude oil piped from the Alberta tar sands to Kitimat, and then shipped in supertankers through the narrow fjords of the Great Bear Rainforest? Burrard Inlet dredged? One supertanker a day traveling past Stanley Park, across the Salish Sea and through the Gulf Islands? A majority of British Columbians say no to the expansion of oil super-tankers on B.C.’s coast. Join with us, speak up to protect our priceless coast.

Twenty years after the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, some fisheries remain closed and oil can still be found on the beaches. A single oil spill in the Great Bear Rainforest could be catastrophic to humpback whales, salmon, coastal wolves and spirit bears, and could devastate coastal communities that rely on the ocean for food, culture and livelihoods.

In the southern B.C. waters, the consequences would be similarly catastrophic – directly impacting the people of Metro Vancouver, Victoria and the Gulf Islands, as well as the fisheries, agriculture and tourism on which they depend. The proposed tankers would be fed by new pipelines, putting our precious salmon-bearing streams rivers at risk of an oil spill, as well as threatening critical habitat for resident orca whales.

Over 100 First Nations have signed on to the Coastal First Nations and Save the Fraser declarations, banning the transport of tar sands crude through their traditional territories. We are calling on the governments of Canada and British Columbia to recognize these declarations, listen to British Columbians, and stop the expansion of oil supertankers on B.C.’s coast.

Speak up now for an oil-free coast! Send a letter to B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

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Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Prime Minister of Canada)
Premier Christy Clark (Premier of British Columbia)

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I am opposed to the expansion of oil tanker traffic on B.C.’s coast.  I am writing to express my opposition to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline proposal as well as the proposed twinning of Kinder Morgan’s Transmountain pipeline and dredging the Burrard Inlet to allow super-tankers.

An oil spill would be devastating to the rich salmon-bearing rivers of northern BC and the abundant waters of the Great Bear Rainforest.   These waters are treacherous to oil tankers and an accident would be only a matter of time.  A spill would be catastrophic to our salmon, our wildlife, First Nations’ culture and the economy of coastal communities.

In the southern B.C. waters, an oil spill would be equally devastating to the families, ecosystems and economies of Metro Vancouver as well as Victoria and the Gulf Islands. The tankers would also pass through critical habitat for resident orca whales.

The 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker disaster, as well as the 2006 sinking of the Queen of the North ferry, show that ships and tankers can run aground along BC’s perilous coastline even in the absence of extreme weather.

I am calling on your government to recognize the Coastal First Nations and Save the Fraser declarations, and the authority exercised therein, and respect the wishes of a majority of British Columbians.  Take action now to stop the expansion of oil tankers on the coast of BC.

Sincerely,

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Our Coast. Our Call. No Oil Tanker Expansion on the B.C. Coast

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