Bill C-264 Defeated: Ottawa Keeps B.C. Oil Tanker Ban in Place
Ottawa has kept the federal oil tanker ban on British Columbia's north coast in place. On Wednesday, Oct. 28, MPs in the House of Commons defeated Bill C-264, a Conservative private member's bill that would have repealed the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act. The vote was 132 to 191 at second reading, so the bill dies before reaching committee.
How the vote went
MPs voted along party lines. Only the Conservatives voted to send the bill to committee. The Liberals, the Bloc Québécois and the NDP voted against it. Prime Minister Mark Carney showed up in person after question period to vote on several bills, including this one.
The bill was introduced by David McKenzie, the Conservative MP for Calgary Signal Hill. During the debate, Liberal and Bloc MPs defended the ban. They pointed to environmental protection for the Great Bear Sea, long-standing voluntary tanker exclusion zones off the coast, and the legal duty to consult First Nations.
What the tanker ban does
The Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, passed in 2019 as Bill C-48, stops tankers carrying more than 12,500 tonnes of crude oil from loading, unloading or stopping at ports from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to the Alaska border. In practice, that rules out exporting crude from B.C.'s northern coast.
Why it matters for Alberta
The north coast is the shortest route from Canada to Asian markets. The Conservatives say a round trip to Asia from northern B.C. takes about three fewer days than one from farther south. Their push for the bill leaned on a proposal from Calgary-based Strathcona Resources to move up to 250,000 barrels of oil a day by rail to Prince Rupert, B.C., and ship it from there. Conservative energy critic Carol Anstey stressed that the plan is entirely private and needs no public money.
The ban has already changed Alberta's plans. The province first pictured its proposed Pacific Link oil pipeline ending on the northern coast, but the route was moved south this summer to respect the ban. In July, Carney also signed a multi-billion-dollar agreement with B.C. that keeps the moratorium in place.
What's next
B.C.'s politics have shifted. The B.C. Conservatives won a majority on Oct. 24, and Premier-elect Lorne Doerkson has questioned the ban, saying it "applies to Canadians and nobody else." Because coastal waters are federal jurisdiction, though, his government says the fight belongs in Ottawa. With C-264 defeated, any change to the ban would have to come from the federal government itself.
Stay with Alberta Radio for more on Alberta energy and what Ottawa is deciding for our province.
