Enbridge’s Northern Gateway project could be dead in the water long before it completes navigating the regulatory process.
Last week Vancouver-Quadra Liberal MP Joyce Murray officially submitted her private Members bill, C-606, to proceed to debate next month.
If passed into law, that bill would ban oil tanker traffic on the North Coast.
An amendment to the Canada Shipping Act, would “prohibit the transportation of oil by oil tankers in the areas of the sea adjacent to Canada’s Pacific North Coast known as Queen Charlotte Sound, Hecate Strait and Dixon Entrance.”
And, “The Governor in Council may, by order made on the recommendation of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, designate other areas of the sea within Canadian waters in which the transportation of oil by oil tankers is prohibited.”
C-606 would not affect current deliveries of diesel and other oil products to local communities.
Nor would it stop the current oil tanker traffic in and out of Vancouver.
The shipping of liquefied natural gas and coal would also be unaffected.
The bill is expected to be debated toward the end of March.
In the time leading up to its debate, Murray says she will be meeting with local communities and stakeholders in BC to gain further support for the legislation.