Right now is THE MOST IMPORTANT TIME EVER for you to SPEAK UP to defend BC'S wild Pacific coast!

The federal Liberal party is either two-faced or confused about its stance on coastal oil and gas development in BC. Recently they responded to a Greenpeace questionnaire on whether they will maintain the moratorium on coastal oil and gas development in BC. In response, the Liberals state that “the environmental effects of offshore oil and gas exploratory drilling are, in general, minor, localized, short in duration and reversible,” and that exploratory drilling off BC’s coast would be subject to a simplified “screening assessment” instead of a comprehensive environmental assessment. Along with recent remarks by the BC Minister of Energy and Mines, Richard Neufeld, that “the province is getting positive signals from the federal government about offshore oil exploration” (Canadian Press, Jan.6, 2006), the warnings are ominous for the fate of BC’s wild coast.

However, today (January 11, 2006) the Liberals contradicted this pro-drilling stance in an email sent by federal Minister of Environment Stephan Dion to WCWC supporters that “Environment Canada has consistently advocated that conservation issues need to be addressed before any decision on the moratorium can be made. Based on the information received to date, it is clear that there are many things we do not know about the impact of oil and gas development on British Columbia's offshore and this will require further investigation. I strongly believe in promoting a ‘conservation first’ approach.”

The federal NDP favours strengthening the moratorium, while the federal Greens would ban coastal oil development.

Meanwhile the Conservative Party hasn’t even responded yet to the Greenpeace questionnaire, and are also the only major political party with no “Environment” or “Environmental Policy” section on their website (see recent media release). However, the Conservative National Campaign Coordinator and former party leader John Reynolds has stated his support for lifting the moratorium, saying “It’s providing much wealth off Newfoundland. We can do the same off the West Coast.” (The Province, Nov.21, 2004).

Whether it’s the Conservatives or the Liberals who take power, they will step into an explosive situation with BC’s largest environmental organizations, with coastal First Nations, and with fishermen all over the coast should they move to allow seismic testing, exploratory oil drilling, and commercial oil extraction here.

BUT IT'S VITAL THAT YOU SPEAK UP, right now, in order to ensure that whichever party takes power that BC's Wild Pacific Coast stays safe and sound from oil development.

HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. PHONE and EMAIL the LIBERAL and CONSERVATIVE candidates in your federal riding ASAP.
   
   Let them know whether or not you want them to maintain the moratorium of coastal oil and gas development in BC.
   
   Your LIBERAL Candidate can be found by calling 1-613-237-0740 or at http://www.liberal.ca/default_e.aspx by entering your postal code on the top right side of the page, or at http://www.liberal.ca/candidates_e.aspx where they're listed alphabetically by riding
   
   Your CONSERVATIVE Candidate can be found by calling 1-866-808-8407 or at http://www.conservative.ca and entering your postal code on the middle-right side of the page.
   
   
2. SPEAK UP at your local ALL CANDIDATES DEBATE on this issue.
   
   
3. WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR of the various newspapers in BC and Canada.

Some of the problems that coastal oil and gas development in BC would bring include:

• Seismic testing, where underwater sonic blasts are used to locate potential oil deposits, is perhaps the most destructive part of coastal oil development aside from major oil spills. It kills fish, crabs, and marine larvae, and it drives fish and whales long distances away from their feeding and migration areas. It is a precursor to exploratory drilling.
• Daily chronic pollution from exploratory and commercial oil rigs. This pollution comes part and parcel with all offshore oil development and includes the discharge of 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.
• Substantial greenhouse gas emissions, which contravenes Canada’s commitment to Kyoto. Offshore oil and gas rigs are major greenhouse gas emitters.
• Jobs would go in large part to foreigners. Oil companies are not looking for unemployed loggers and fishermen in coastal BC as their main labour source, but rather already trained and experienced workers with the specialized skills, generally to be hired from abroad.

THANK YOU for taking the 10 minutes to do this - the fate of BC's spectacular, world-class marine ecosystems depends on your voice right now!

- Ken Wu
WCWC Victoria