Double-hulled Tankers Won't Protect Northern BC Coast From Oil Spills

Enbridge's Northern Gateway Pipeline Project proposes to take tar sands oil from Alberta to the northern BC port of Kitimat for export to Pacific markets. Enbridge believes petroleum products can be moved safely through the northern BC coast, in part thanks to "modern and double-hulled" tankers.

In a report released last week, Living Oceans Society takes a close look at the limitations of double-hulled tankers and concludes they're not the panacea they're touted to be.

The risk of an oil spill in the northern BC coast is one of the main objections to this project. A spill could cause irreversible harm to the livelihoods of many coastal and aboriginal communities, the area's unique marine ecosystems, the Great Bear Rainforest and 28 Important Bird Areas.

A Joint Review Panel has been established to review the environmental assessment of the project, but a date for the hearings is yet to be announced. Nature Canada plans to participate in the review, together with BC Nature. However, opposition to the project is building and a proposed legislated ban on tankers in the area could put an end to this threat. Watch spOIL for a glimpse of the wilderness at risk.

Looking Deeper Into Fish Lake

  

Grizzly bears are one of the
species identified by the
Prosperity Review Panel
that would be adversely affected
by development at Fish Lake.



The government of Canada made a good decision earlier this week when it turned down a proposal for an excessively damaging mine at Fish Lake, British Columbia. Nature Canada congratulated Environment minister Jim Prentice for respecting the conclusions of the federal environmental assessment of the project, and for respecting the will of First Nations about land use in their territory. Looking deeper into the context of that decision reveals some important insights and implications.

Environmental assessment works
While the process of environmental assessment may seem mysterious from a distance, Nature Canada has been up close and personal with it many times over the years and we are convinced it works. Environmental assessment allows independent panels to consider expert testimony, reach conclusions about the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project, and identify mitigation measures that could limit the damage. The resulting recommendation to the government (and it is only a recommendation) can range from approval of the project, to approval on the condition that certain mitigation measures be required, to rejection of the project as proposed.

Politics happens
The government must then decide whether or not to accept the recommendations about the studied project, and this is where the hard facts of environmental assessment meet the vagaries of politics. The government can follow the recommendations completely, partially, or not at all. But thanks to the public nature of the assessment process, we the citizens know whether or not our government is approving projects that destroy our environment. This is where the vagaries of politics meet accountability to the voters. In the case of Fish Lake, Minister Prentice deserves credit for doing the right thing for Canada, despite pressure from within his own caucus to do otherwise.

More to come
Nature Canada is very engaged in two other environmental assessments that are awaiting a response from the federal government: proposed gas drilling in the Suffield National Wildlife Area, and the proposed Mackenzie gas project.

In the case of the Suffield NWA, the environmental assessment report concludes that the proposal to drill 1,275 gas wells would interfere with the purpose of the National Wildlife Area. It also recommends that the government complete overdue work to identify the critical habitat of species at risk, and take other conservation action even if the project does not proceed. We are hopeful that Minister Prentice will accept all of this panel's recommendations too, reject the gas drilling project, and take other actions to better protect the national wildlife area.

In the case of the Mackenzie gas project, the federal government has been accused of attempting to secretly make the panel rewrite some of its recommendations. This suggests a lack of appreciation for a key feature upon which citizens depend: the independence of environmental assessment panels. We congratulate the panel for standing up for the their independence in the interest of Canada. We hope Minister Prentice will show leadership and convince his cabinet colleagues to accept the panel's report. You can help us encourage the government to stop the Mackenzie Gas Project and to instead establish protected areas in the Mackenzie Region that will be safe from development.

Changing the rules
Parliament will soon be undertaking a review of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. There is cause for concern, since the government already used the budget bill to weaken the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act earlier this year. You can be certain that Nature Canada will be working to ensure the review results in a stronger act, not a weaker one.

Back to the lake(s)
The decision about Fish Lake is a good news story, and we hope it does not go down in history as a rare exception. A loophole in the law that protects fish habitat, the Fisheries Act, allows the government to exclude some lakes from the protections of the act and let mining companies use lakes as dumps for toxic mining waste. A handful of lakes has been targeted so far, including Fish Lake in BC and Sandy Pond in Newfoundland and Labrador. We are concerned that this loophole threatens pristine lakes across Canada. Now that Fish Lake has been spared, it's time to take action on the others.

Fall Preview: What Should Parliament Be Doing for the Environment?

Parliament resumed this week, and there are several environmental policies or legislations that need action now. Nature Canada will be asking our elected representatives to:

• Complete the mandatory Species at Risk Act 5-year review.

The long-awaited 5-year review of Canada's Species at Risk Act (SARA) began in 2009. The House of Commons Environment Committee has heard testimony from many witnesses and received numerous submissions, including from Nature Canada, and now needs to complete its report. As we wait for recommendations to make this crucial environmental legislation stronger, the list of at-risk species in Canada has reached 602.

Parliament must act now to strengthen SARA and make the law work to protect our endangered species.

• Begin a comprehensive review of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and reinstate crucial measures that were cut this spring in Bill C-9, the Budget Implementation Act.

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) establishes the national environmental assessment process used to evaluate the negative environmental impacts of new projects like mines, pipelines and tar sands projects and seeks out ways to reduce or eliminate those negative impacts.

During the budget process this spring, changes were made to CEAA that weaken the Act, side-stepping a mandatory review process that was due to start in June.

There should be a full consultation and discussion on CEAA, allowing for open and transparent debate of any further amendments. We are calling on all MPs to work to reinstate the legislation that was removed from the Act and strengthen it to ensure that our environment is protected.

• Begin a comprehensive review of regulation of unconventional oil and gas production promised in the spring.

In the wake of the Gulf oil spill, the federal government voted on June 2 to immediately conduct an open public review of relevant federal laws, regulations and policies regarding the development of all unconventional sources of oil and gas. Since this decision, little action has been taken, leaving Canada's wildlife and habitats in danger from oil and gas development.

The federal government must immediately undertake this comprehensive review to assure Canadians that our oil and gas development regulations meet the highest standards.

Additionally, Bill C-311 - the only piece of climate change legislation currently under consideration in Canada - is stalled in the Senate. The Bill has been adjourned in the name of Conservative Senator Richard Neufeld and cannot move forward until he speaks to it.

This Bill has been passed in the House of Commons not once, but twice. It was originally introduced as Bill C-377 by the NDP in 2008; the Bill died when an election was called in the Fall of 2008. In its most recent form, Bill C-311 passed third reading in the House by a majority of MPs representing almost 2/3 of the Canadian population.

Concerned Canadians have constantly raised their voices demanding strong action from our government on climate change, and we hope to see this Bill move forward this fall.

If you agree that these issues are important and the federal government needs to act on them this fall, contact your MP today and tell them to take action for Canada's environment.

Changes Weakening Environmental Protection Laws Passed

On July 8, Liberal and independent senators voted for the removal of changes weakening environmental protection laws, namely the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA), amongst other sections of Bill C-9 they believed did not belong in the bill. Unfortunately, yesterday, Bill C-9 was passed after a 48 to 44 vote - bad news for environmental protection because the sections, that were removed by the Senate finance committee, have now been reinstated and the bill received royal assent last night.

On a more positive note, 'turning the CEAA amendments into a public and political issue is a great achievement which demonstrates the collective influence environmental organizations are capable of' said Mr. Stephen Hazell of Ecojustice. And this work will, of course, continue!!

Liberal Senators Vote against Amendments to Weaken Environmental Protection Laws

The 2010 budget implementation bill, the Jobs and Economic Growth Act (Bill C-9), proposes changes that would gut Canada’s environmental protection laws. If passed, Bill C-9 would significantly weaken the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) in various ways - one of which allows projects to be exempted from environmental assessments!

After months of concern and efforts to remove these changes from the bill, yesterday, some Liberal and independent senators in the senate finance committee voted to remove some of the sections included in the budget. It was agreed amongst them that these sections did not belong in the bill because they are not related to implementing the 2010 budget. Besides weakening the CEAA, other sections proposed for removal dealt with Canada Post, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. and how financial services are taxed.

The bill has now been passed onto the full senate for a vote that will likely take place on either Monday or Tuesday. It is likely that the Conservative senators will vote to have the removed sections re-installed. And although Liberal and independent senators outnumber the Conservatives, it seems as though they haven’t been able to get enough senators to stop the bill from being passed.

Still, these senators have given us some hope that Bill C-9 will do what it is meant to - which does not include weakening Canada's environmental protection laws. We hope that all senators will attend this vote and consider the true impacts of their decisions on our wildlife, our natural legacy and our country.