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June 22, 2010
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B.C. would be tanker-free
Federal Liberals make pre-election promise for west coast
Gordon Hoekstra Citizen staff
A future Liberal government will formally implement an oil tanker moratorium on B.C.’s west coast, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff announced Monday.
A move such as that would have implications for En-bridge’s proposed $5.5-billion pipeline through northern B.C., which is meant to open up new markets for crude from the Alberta oil sands in Asia, particularly China. If Enbridge gets the go-ahead for its 1,170-kilometre pipeline, approximately 225 tankers would traverse the 100-kilometre Douglas Channel to Kitimat each year.
“The Harper Conservatives refuse to recognize the tanker moratorium off the B.C. coast, and have taken no steps to protect our marine ecosystem from harmful oil spills,” said Ignatieff, in a prepared statement released at the same time as he spoke on the policy announcement in Victoria.
However, the current Conservative government has disputed there ever was a blanket ban on oil tanker traffic on B.C.’s inside coastal waters. (The Liberals say that in 1972, the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau enacted a moratorium prohibiting crude oil tanker transit through B.C.’s northern coastal waters.)
Instead, the minority Conservatives have said there is only a voluntary exclusion zone for Alaskan tankers that deals with north-south traffic. It would mean there
Douglas Channel and other areas off B.C.'s west coast will not have oil tanker traffic if the federal Liberal party is voted into government in the next election. Federal Liberal party leader Michael Ignatieff made the pledge in Victoria on Monday.
is nothing stopping tankers from entering B.C. ports.
Prince George-Peace River Conservative MP Jay Hill said he believes that Ignatieff is simply trying to use the fear sparked by the BP deep-water oil rig spill in the Gulf of Mexico for political gain. Hill, who is part of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet, said he is confident that Canada’s existing regulatory and policy structure will protect its waters. He also said that an outright tanker ban would eliminate significant investment in oil and natural gas export development. There is also a proposal for a $4.3 billion pipeline and liquified natural gas terminal in Kitimat.
Enbridge project spokesperson Alan Roth wouldn’t directly respond to the Liberal policy statement, saying it wouldn’t be appropriate given the pipeline project is under a federal review.
But Roth noted that tankers use both the ports of Vancouver and Kitimat. He said that banning tankers into Kitimat would limit the creation of new jobs and investment needed in northern B.C.
Enbridge has argued the project will be an economic boon to the Canadian and regional economy in northern B.C., and that the project will be designed and built to the highest safety standards, including for tanker traffic.
The project has faced stiff opposition from environmental groups and some First Nations, which say the risks of a spill far outweigh any economic benefits.
Prince George-based Sea-to-Sands Conservation Alliance spokesperson Mary MacDonald said the Liberal policy statement was a positive sign the concerns of the Canadian public are being heard at the level of Parliament. The New Democ-
rats have also proposed legislating a moratorium on tanker traffic on B.C.’s coast.
MacDonald said that the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has heightened Canadians concerns about the dangers of oil spills in marine environments, but that the public is also concerned about the export of crude from the Alberta oil sands overseas to Asia.
There is not an impending federal election timeline, however any minority government is at risk of being taken down by the Opposition parties.
The NDP recently released a strategic plan in preparation for a fall election, the next time the legislative session resumes.
In a recent EKOS poll, the Conservatives polled 30.5 per cent, compared to 26.3 per cent for the Liberals. The NDP polled 17.4 per cent, the Greens 12.3 per cent and the Bloc 10.5 per cent.
Grizzly charges filmmaker
Rare footage of bear taken during incident
Serena Black Citizen staff
A B.C. wildlife filmmaker wanted to capture the wild side of nature, and found it in the back country area of Dunster, east of Prince George.
Leon Lorenz says he’s lucky to be alive after a grizzly and her cub charged him, and luckier to have caught the attack on camera.
“It’s something I’ll never forget, her mouth, open, roaring. And that speed. I knew grizzlies were fast, but I can’t believe her speed,” said Lorenz, who owns Canadian Wildlife Productions and has been filming for 19 years.
It was one of his last days trying to capture the courtship of grizzlies last week when he came across the two grizzlies 25 feet ahead of him.
He hid behind a bushy tree, and captured 30 seconds before the grizzlies moved out of sight. He says he shifted two feet, and that’s when her head came up.
“She looked me in the eye, went out of sight for a moment, and came back charging, with her cub
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behind her,” Lorenz said.
“She was so smart in the charge. She was zigzagging, using the tree as a shield.”
He stayed with the camera until he realized it was for real, and that’s when Lorenz says he pulled the handgun he keeps loaded in a holster on his side.
He was expecting her to come out of the right side of the tree, when he says he had the sudden urge to pull the trigger. He aimed high and shot just moments before she burst through the bush.
“She got the full blast in the face, and turned instinctively. She missed me by six feet.”
Shortly after, the cub came out behind her to the right, where Lorenz was expecting her to come from.
Spooked, the grizzly joined her cub, and they left the way they came.
— Turn to ‘FILMMAKER Page 3
In this photo, from Canadian Wildlife Productions, courtesy of the Valley Sentinel, a female grizzly is witnessed getting ready to attack.
Photo submitted
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