Rabble.ca: Tar tankers: The mystery of the missing moratorium

[tuvor]

Most British Columbians, and many Canadians, probably believe there is a moratorium preventing oil tankers from plying the waters off the fragile and beautiful B.C. north coast. After all, hasn't the federal government banned oil tankers from entering Dixon Entrance, the Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound since 1972?

Certainly, most citizens support the tanker moratorium. Public opinion polling has consistently shown that three quarters of B.C. residents want the tanker moratorium to continue. Especially since the Exxon Valdez disaster of 20 years ago (and, indeed, since the 2006 sinking of the Queen of the North) there is much concern about environmentally damaging oil spills.

Surprise, surprise. The Harper Conservative government (and their allies in the Campbell Liberal government of B.C.) have simply made the moratorium disappear. Indeed, they deny it ever existed at all.

The disappearance of the moratorium was most recently confirmed by the Joint Review Panel of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and the National Energy Board looking into the Enbridge Gateway Pipeline proposal. On December 4th, 2009 the panel clearly stated: "It is the Government of Canada's position that there is presently no moratorium on tanker traffic in the coast waters of British Columbia."

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http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/blair-redlin/2010/01/tar-tankers-mystery-missing-moratorium

[HeresyLives]

1. Cons believe in magic, you know that.

Nobody will care about torture, or prorogation. Or a string of broken promises. There is no recession coming....oops...okay then we'll never have cap and trade or a carbon tax, cuz global warming doesn't exist.

Abracadabra!

So...what moratorium?