» View at medium resolution » View at high resolution

Nov. 22, 2005

TODAY: Students to Stand in Formation of the Words “Oil Free Coast” during rally to Maintain the Moratorium

Date: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Time: 11:30 am to 12:30 pm
Place: By the McPherson Library, before the fountain, University of Victoria

Today, students organized by the Western Canada Wilderness Committee’s University of Victoria club, will stand in formation of the words “Oil Free Coast”. The event kicks off a week of action to encourage the federal Liberal government to maintain the moratorium (implemented in 1971) on coastal oil and gas development off BC’s coast. The federal government has been under intense pressure by the BC Liberal government to lift the moratorium.

Media photographers and camera people will be able to access the Library roof to capture the image (talk to Angus Argyle at the event). The rally will also include speakers from the WCWC’s UVic club and a large banner which reads “No Seismic Testing and Oil Drilling Off BC’s Wild Coast!”.

One year ago in November, 2004, the federal government released the “Priddle Report” that detailed the results of the public input process about the moratorium held in the spring of 2004. Of 3700 respondents, 75% opposed lifting the moratorium.

“We believe the federal government should be obligated to adhere to the results of its own public input process and publicly announce that they will maintain the moratorium, or better yet, simply ban oil and gas development from Canada’s Pacific waters,” states Ziya He, WCWC University of Victoria club coordinator. “With a federal election coming up, it’s time the federal government acted in the public’s interest.”

Concerns about offshore oil and gas development off Canada’s Pacific coast include:

• Daily chronic pollution, including toxic drilling fluids and drill cuttings, toxic waste waters, oil leakages, and small spills that contaminate the marine life.
  
  
• Catastrophic oil spills in Canada’s most earthquake-prone region, which would hit the sensitive coastlines of the Queen Charlotte Islands and the mainland coast. In Newfoundland, the Hibernia project is 300 km offshore, whereas in BC the rigs would be as close as 20 km to shore. Currents in Newfoundland take oil spills away from shore, currents in BC would take the spills onto the sensitive shores.
  
  
• Seismic testing, where underwater sonic blasts are used to locate potential oil deposits, kills marine life and drives fish and whales long distances away from their feeding and migration areas.
  
  
• Substantial greenhouse gas emissions, which contravenes Canada’s commitment to Kyoto.
  
  
• Jobs would go in large part to foreigners. Oil companies are not looking for unemployed loggers and fishermen in rural BC as their main labour source, but rather already trained and experienced workers with the specialized skills, generally to be hired from abroad.