Conservative members of Parliament are calling on Ottawa to repeal the West Coast oil tanker ban, arguing it’s hurting Canada’s prosperity. They pushed for the repeal during debate Monday in the House of Commons on a private member’s bill to scrap the tanker ban, a day after Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre wrote to Prime Minister Mark Carney about it. Poilievre was one of several Opposition MPs who signed the letter to Carney ahead of debate on the bill. The vote on it was set for Wednesday as the Liberals asked for a recorded vote. The existing law, the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, prohibits tankers from carrying more than 12,500 metric tonnes of crude oil in areas along the northern coast of British Columbia. Bill C-264, sponsored by Calgary MP David McKenzie, would repeal the law entirely. “Passing this legislation would not approve a single new pipeline or tanker terminal. It would not give an oil company permission to do whatever it wants, and it would not remove Canada’s other marine safety or environmental laws,” Manitoba Conservative MP Branden Leslie said in the House of Commons. “It would simply repeal the existing tanker moratorium, allowing future proposals to be considered under the other laws and approval processes that apply to it.” Leslie said decisions about whether a project should have access to shipping on the north coast should be made on the merits and risks. “How can we seriously talk about opening new markets while maintaining a law that rules out an entire region of potential export opportunities?” he said. “I don’t believe that protecting the environment and developing our natural resources must be competing objectives. We should in fact be able to walk and chew gum. I think it is perfectly reasonable to take another look at whether this tanker ban still makes any sense.” The letter to Carney from Poilievre and other Conservative MPs argued the tanker ban “effectively donates” billions of dollars to the United States by forcing Canada to sell discounted oil profiting American refineries. The MPs point to a proposal by Calgary-based Strathcona Resources to ship up to 250,000 barrels of Canadian oil a day on existing railroad tracks through Prince Rupert, B.C., and across the Pacific Ocean. For the proposal to be considered, the tanker ban would have to be lifted. The letter says the federal government is the only thing standing in the way. The Liberals don’t appear likely to repeal the tanker ban. “I think it is important that we continue to look at ways in which we can encourage and support that collaborative approach at dealing with building a stronger and healthier Canada,” said Kevin Lamoureux, parliamentary secretary to the government leader in the House of Commons. Carney signed an agreement with British Columbia in July that included a promise by Ottawa to maintain the north coast tanker ban “without alteration, suspension, or narrowing of scope.” A day later, Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced the route for their proposed oil pipeline to the West Coast would go south to respect the tanker ban. The plan would largely follow the path of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline from Bruderheim, Alta., to an export terminal in Delta, B.C. On Monday, Smith joined the calls for the tanker ban’s repeal. “Canada cannot become a global energy superpower while federal policies continue to stand in the way of getting our energy to the world. Repealing the tanker ban is an important step toward securing better prices for our resources and building a stronger, more prosperous Canada,” Smith said in a statement. The Conservative letter to Carney says the Official Opposition also would be willing to discuss amendments to the ban that would allow the Prince Rupert project to move forward. The provincial Conservatives swept to power in B.C. on Saturday after winning about two-thirds of the seats and defeating the NDP, which had governed the province since 2017. B.C. Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson has said he supports the new Pacific Link pipeline. — with files from Nick Murray in Ottawa and Aaron Sousa in Edmonton
