Canada's online magazine: Politics, entertainment, technology, media, arts, books: backofthebook.ca

Politics, tech, media, culture and more, from a Canadian point-of-view

  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Science and Tech
  • Living
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
You are here: Home / Politics / Yes, an oil spill could happen in B.C.

Yes, an oil spill could happen in B.C.

06/14/2010 by backofthebook.ca

By Alison@Creekside

hands-across-sandHands Across the Sand began in Florida in February to “protest the efforts by the Florida Legislature and the US Congress to lift the ban on oil drilling in the near and off shores of Florida.”

Well it’s a global movement now and here’s the Vancouver Canada page.

But don’t we already have a ban on tanker traffic and offshore drilling in BC?

Nope.

Natural Resources Canada – Review of the Federal Moratorium on Oil and Gas Activities Offshore British Columbia ERRATA :

The Terms of Reference for the “Report of the Public Review on the Government of Canada Moratorium on Oil and Gas Activities in the Queen Charlotte Region of British Columbia” state that “in 1972, the Government of Canada imposed a moratorium on crude oil tanker traffic through the Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait, and Queen Charlotte Sound due to concerns over the potential environmental impacts.” However; the moratorium on oil and gas activities offshore British Columbia does not apply to tanker traffic.

Prior to 1972, a number of permits for oil and gas exploration were issued for offshore British Columbia. Due to environmental concerns, rights under those permits were suspended as of 1972 by way of Orders in Council, thus forming a de facto moratorium.

Thank you, Pierre Trudeau, for suspending those offshore oil and gas exploration permits in 1972.

However in 1982 the Canadian government brought in the Canada Oil and Gas Act which allows the permits to be “renegotiated into exploration agreements” and “the time frame for renegotiation to be extended and the rights continued to be valid.”

In 1987, the Canada Petroleum Resources Act grandfathered the waiting exploration agreements.

“Thus, the moratorium continues to be maintained through government policy. No activity can occur until the former permits are converted to exploration licences. The decision not to negotiate with industry to convert those permits is a pure policy decision. There is no statutory impediment to carrying out those negotiations.”

Shorter Con: No actual laws against oil tankers or offshore drilling in BC.

The above “Errata,” by the way, were added to the Natural Resources Canada webpage just last year.

Gulf-Oil-Disaster_If-it-was-my-homeIf it was my home uses Google Maps and the current situation of the Gulf oil spill to show what the extent of the disaster would look like overlaid on your neck of the woods. Click and it will find you..

The Exxon Valdez spill of 1989 was 41 million litres of oil. It can still be found under the sand.
US government scientists are now pegging the Gulf Oil disaster at an Exxon Valdez-size spill every 5 to 13 days, with more oil gushing into the sea in an hour than officials originally said was spilling in an entire day.
h/t Galloping Beaver co-blogger West End Bob for the Hands Across the Sand links.

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: British Columbia, Canada, environment, Gulf oil spill, U.S., Vancouver

Subscribe to BoB by e-mail or RSS

Comments

  1. Eric Pettifor says

    06/14/2010 at 1:39 pm

    Here is what “If It Was My Home” shows for a spill centred on Regina.

    http://www.ifitwasmyhome.com/#loc=Regina%2C%20SK%2C%20Canada&lat=50.45&lng=-104.61&x=-103.7750390625&y=50.85400435346822&z=6

    That would make for a lot of pissed off farmers.

    “If It Was My Home” is a neat idea and has value for emphasizing scale in terms of a region the user is more familiar with, but that’s about it. It doesn’t really tell us anything about the effect of an underwater gusher (“spill” is just too weak a word for it) off our coast. Actual modeling taking in to consideration our specific geography and currents might paint an even grimmer picture for the coastline.

Trackbacks

  1. Spill Talk says:
    06/14/2010 at 9:28 am

    BP oil spill’s real impact on Canada’s energy sector – Calgary Herald…

    …

Google+
  • Living
  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
Fire sale sign

Fort McMurray: Shopping time!

By Brady Tighe We’re now officially in the aftermath phase of the northern Alberta wildfire crisis. The fire is long gone, and everyone with a home to return to is back in its … [Read More...]

Nathan Cullen

Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking

By Alison@Creekside The most interesting and innovative idea to come out of the first meeting of the all-party Special Committee on Electoral Reform, or ERRE, was Nathan Cullen's suggestion, … [Read More...]

Trudeau on quantum computing

The Trudeau gush fest is getting old

By Jim Henshaw There have been several bewildered as well as angry accounts coming out of the USA lately about how little media time has been spent covering the Democratic Presidential Primary … [Read More...]

Rick Meyers in Nanaimo Pride Parade

My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade

By Frank Moher On this dreadful day, I don't want to write about the shootings in Orlando. I want to write about my friend, Rick. Rick lives just outside of Nanaimo, a city of about 80,000, … [Read More...]

Stephen Colbert on Late Night set

Triumph of the drama nerds

By Frank Moher Two drama nerds have recently moved into high profile positions. Before I name them (or perhaps you’ve already guessed who they are; or perhaps you’d like to scroll down and look at … [Read More...]

From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon

Originally published on Our Rape Blog, the author's account of the aftermath of a violent sexual assault. By Mary Fraughton Have you ever played Hearts? It’s a card game. For our purposes, … [Read More...]

First Nations defending Lelu Island

The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

From Creekside: The B.C. provincial government is trying to green light the construction of a massive LNG terminal on Lelu Island in the Skeena Estuary -- Pacific Northwest LNG, backed by Malaysian … [Read More...]

Google

Follow Us!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

RSS CBC News



Recent Posts

  • Fort McMurray: Shopping time!
  • From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon
  • Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking
  • The fish hotel
  • Hatred on an Alberta golf course
  • The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”
  • My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade
  • Our selective sympathy
  • The Water Bomber, The Frogman and The Great Canadian Novelist
  • Komagata Maru: The story behind the apology

Tags

9/11 Afghanistan Alberta bad behaviour books British Columbia business Canada Canadian military Canadian politics CBC celebrity computers Conservatives crime environment family film G20 Globe and Mail internet Jason Kenney journalism Justin Trudeau law Liberals Maclean's music National Post NDP newspapers oil sands online media Ontario Quebec RCMP religion sports Stephen Harper television theatre Toronto U.S. Vancouver women

Archives

The Video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

Pages

  • About
  • Privacy

Copyright © 2025 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in