Lifting the oil tanker ban off British Columbia's North Coast for a nonexistent pipeline from Alberta would endanger billions in other real investments that Premier David Eby says will need the support of coastal First Nations.
"This is a pretty straightforward issue for British Columbia," Eby said. "The oil tanker ban off the coast is the social licence with First Nations along the coast to be able to do significant economic development in the region," he said on Tuesday at an unrelated news conference.
Eby said he's asking the federal government to reaffirm its support for the tanker ban off the West Coast, after Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Friday that lifting the ban would depend on a number of factors.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been calling for the repeal of the tanker ban as part of her government's proposal to build an oil pipeline to the coast in a pitch it plans to make to the Major Projects Office by next spring.
But Eby said scrapping the ban would jeopardize approval from coastal First Nations for mines and energy and other projects that represent up to $60 billion in capital investments.
"To have the premier of one of the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest province in Confederation insisting that the country does not work, and is broken unless she gets her way and gets this tanker ban lifted, even if it costs all Canadians tens of billions of dollars in major projects that actually exist with proponents, is absurd," Eby said.
Eby said the only possible reason why the North coast would be put at risk is because Smith "woke up one morning and thought that that would be a good idea."
Smith's proposed pipeline lacks a proponent, financial backing and a route, and instead is a form of "wedge politics" by a premier who is in "political trouble," he said.
"So, with all due respect, we need to just forge ahead, build the country, build our economy, and keep the tanker ban in place," Eby said.
The premier said he is glad to hear that at "least some members of the federal government" have indicated that the tanker ban is not at risk.
Federal Energy Minister Tim Hodgson recently said questions about lifting the tanker ban were "hypothetical."
But Hodgson made his statement before Carney's recent comments, raising questions about Ottawa's commitment to the ban.
Marilyn Slett, chief councillor of the Heiltsuk Tribal Council and president of the Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative, said in a statement that she welcomes Eby's appeal to Ottawa to reaffirm the federal government's support for the oil tanker ban.
"The oil tanker ban is foundational to building our economy and protecting our coastal waters, and we are calling on all political leaders and levels of government to support it," she said.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns
