Our coastal life is too important to our economy and our waters are too rough to risk tanker traffic. We only have to remember the Exxon Valdez disaster as well as the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico last summer to understand the potential devastation that would result from an accidental spill. The sinking of the Queen of the North ferry showed that even with navigational technology, human error can result in shipping accidents.
The oil and gas companies are not concerned about the B.C. Coast, but rather about their own profits. It is up to us to defend what is ours.
An oil tanker spill like the Exxon Valdez would devastate BC's coastal economy and unique environment, which includes the world-renowned Great Bear Rainforest. It would mean the end of our commercial and sport-fishing industries for many years, would destroy the very thing that we rely on for our livelihoods and deprive of us of our most precious resource.
Eight in ten British Columbians, the vast majority of coastal First Nations, and the Canadian Parliament support a ban on oil tankers on BC's Coast. Passing a tanker ban into law will protect our coastal economy and ensure future generations do not bear the risk of a major oil disaster.