Seems that ol' Gordon is trying hard to butter up to his chums in Alberta on his way out of office with this latest load of hogwash concerning oil tankers along the BC coast. Gee, I wonder if Campbell has any options in oil futures???
How can this moron sign a letter of support like this that directly jeopardizes the very province that he is allegedly supposed to protect? And do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING with regards to the halibut allocation issue?
As much as i don't want to say this, perhaps it's time we look at what's happening over in Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, and Iran. Those people have finally had enough and have literally put their own lives on the line in order to protect their rights, liberties, and freedoms as citizens of their respective countries. And do you know what? IT WORKED!
Why are WE so complacent with getting screwed, over, and OVER again???? I find this kind of action by Campbell absolutely revolting. Here's the article from the Province if you'd like to start your day off on the wrong foot...
JT
A wide-ranging coalition of environmental, business and fishery groups are furious at Premier Gordon Campbell’s “lame-duck” call to end the ban on oil tankers through B.C. waters.
Campbell, who will step down as premier shortly, signed a letter this week from Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach to the Prime Minister’s office, urging defeat of Bill C-606, introduced by federal Liberal MP Joyce Murray to ban oil tanker traffic.
If passed, the bill would not permit oil tankers from the top of Vancouver Island to the southern Alaska coast.
The bill is aimed squarely at two proposed pipeline projects, with a terminus in the waters off Kitimat, B.C., that would require oil tankers to complete delivery of oil to southern ports in a bid capture the lucrative Asian market.
“We’re extremely dismayed that as an outgoing premier Mr. Campbell would tell British Columbians to give away our power to decide what happens to our rivers and our coast,” said Eric Swanson of Dogwood Initiative.
Swanson charged that Campbell appears to be ignoring the positions of 80 per cent of B.C. residents who have said they don’t want oil tankers jeopardizing the waters off the west coast.
“He’s leaving as premier because he didn’t listen to British Columbians, so it’s shocking that he would take this step, as a lame-duck premier, to defy us again.”
Spokespeople for B.C.’s tourism industry, which contributes $1.5 billion to B.C.’s economy and employs about 26,000 people, half of whom work on the coast, joined with environmental groups in decrying the premiers’ letter.
Sport and commercial fishing generate more than $1 billion a year in revenue in B.C., mostly in rural communities with few other economic opportunities.
“Oil tankers could seriously jeopardize the future of nature-based tourism, not only on the coast but throughout B.C., because an oil spill would cause lasting damage to our coast and B.C.’s reputation,” said Evan Loveless of the B.C. Wilderness Tourism Association.
Loveless and Swanson charged that the Enbridge Northern Gateway proposal, which involves a new twin pipeline from Edmonton to Kitimat to export petroleum and import condensate, is under review by a three-person panel, none of whom are British Columbians.
Loveless said that Murray’s private member’s bill would provide “business certainty” by banning oil tankers, compared to one decision by a small panel.
“We prefer legislation (Bill C-606) over review by a panel whose conclusions can be ignored,” said Loveless.
Stelmach’s letter, also signed by Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall, noted that banning coastal B.C. oil tankers would be “inconsistent” while 800,000 barrels of petroleum products are shipped each day along the Saint Lawrence Seaway.
Arnie Nagy of the United Fisherman and Allied Workers Union, said that when he heard Campbell had signed the letter “I was furious.
“The fishing industry in B.C. employs 56,000 people and is at risk from oil tankers in waters that are notoriously difficult to navigate,” said Nagy.
The bill, introduced by Vancouver Quadra MP Joyce Murray in December 2010, was intended, she said, to protect the “treasure” that is B.C.’s north coast from catastrophic oil spills, by bannning tanker transport of crude oil.
Polls have consistently shown about 80 per cent of B.C. residents oppose the twin pipelines and oil tankers, along with more than 80 First Nations in B.C.
The Coastal First Nations have joined with the dozens of aboriginal bodies on the Fraser River watershed to say they will militantly oppose tankers and pipelines.
However, a spokesman for Campbell said the premier has not changed his mind from earlier statements expressing caution about the future of coastal waters
“This is not a new position, said Dale Steeves.
“The Western premiers have simply reiterated this government’s position that tankers have been delivering and exporting petroleum and refined products from our costal water for 100 years and are an integral part of our economy.”
Steeves noted that B.C. already has “adopted some of the most stringent regulatory policies available to protect our waters from environmental accidents.”
Meanwhile, the New Democrats have called on the front-running B.C. Liberal leadership candidates to say where they stand on crude oil tanker traffic.
Although candidate George Abbott has rejected putting the coast at risk from oil tanker mishaps, candidates Christy Clark and Kevin Falcon, “widely thought to be Gordon Campbell’s protege,” have remained silent, said NDP environment critic Rob Fleming.
“People have every right to wonder whether Falcon agrees with the disgraced premier on this issue,” said Fleming.
sfournier@theprovince.com
© Copyright (c) The Province
Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Ang...thern+waters/4343463/story.html#ixzz1EzNaWHjT
How can this moron sign a letter of support like this that directly jeopardizes the very province that he is allegedly supposed to protect? And do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING with regards to the halibut allocation issue?
As much as i don't want to say this, perhaps it's time we look at what's happening over in Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, and Iran. Those people have finally had enough and have literally put their own lives on the line in order to protect their rights, liberties, and freedoms as citizens of their respective countries. And do you know what? IT WORKED!
Why are WE so complacent with getting screwed, over, and OVER again???? I find this kind of action by Campbell absolutely revolting. Here's the article from the Province if you'd like to start your day off on the wrong foot...
JT
A wide-ranging coalition of environmental, business and fishery groups are furious at Premier Gordon Campbell’s “lame-duck” call to end the ban on oil tankers through B.C. waters.
Campbell, who will step down as premier shortly, signed a letter this week from Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach to the Prime Minister’s office, urging defeat of Bill C-606, introduced by federal Liberal MP Joyce Murray to ban oil tanker traffic.
If passed, the bill would not permit oil tankers from the top of Vancouver Island to the southern Alaska coast.
The bill is aimed squarely at two proposed pipeline projects, with a terminus in the waters off Kitimat, B.C., that would require oil tankers to complete delivery of oil to southern ports in a bid capture the lucrative Asian market.
“We’re extremely dismayed that as an outgoing premier Mr. Campbell would tell British Columbians to give away our power to decide what happens to our rivers and our coast,” said Eric Swanson of Dogwood Initiative.
Swanson charged that Campbell appears to be ignoring the positions of 80 per cent of B.C. residents who have said they don’t want oil tankers jeopardizing the waters off the west coast.
“He’s leaving as premier because he didn’t listen to British Columbians, so it’s shocking that he would take this step, as a lame-duck premier, to defy us again.”
Spokespeople for B.C.’s tourism industry, which contributes $1.5 billion to B.C.’s economy and employs about 26,000 people, half of whom work on the coast, joined with environmental groups in decrying the premiers’ letter.
Sport and commercial fishing generate more than $1 billion a year in revenue in B.C., mostly in rural communities with few other economic opportunities.
“Oil tankers could seriously jeopardize the future of nature-based tourism, not only on the coast but throughout B.C., because an oil spill would cause lasting damage to our coast and B.C.’s reputation,” said Evan Loveless of the B.C. Wilderness Tourism Association.
Loveless and Swanson charged that the Enbridge Northern Gateway proposal, which involves a new twin pipeline from Edmonton to Kitimat to export petroleum and import condensate, is under review by a three-person panel, none of whom are British Columbians.
Loveless said that Murray’s private member’s bill would provide “business certainty” by banning oil tankers, compared to one decision by a small panel.
“We prefer legislation (Bill C-606) over review by a panel whose conclusions can be ignored,” said Loveless.
Stelmach’s letter, also signed by Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall, noted that banning coastal B.C. oil tankers would be “inconsistent” while 800,000 barrels of petroleum products are shipped each day along the Saint Lawrence Seaway.
Arnie Nagy of the United Fisherman and Allied Workers Union, said that when he heard Campbell had signed the letter “I was furious.
“The fishing industry in B.C. employs 56,000 people and is at risk from oil tankers in waters that are notoriously difficult to navigate,” said Nagy.
The bill, introduced by Vancouver Quadra MP Joyce Murray in December 2010, was intended, she said, to protect the “treasure” that is B.C.’s north coast from catastrophic oil spills, by bannning tanker transport of crude oil.
Polls have consistently shown about 80 per cent of B.C. residents oppose the twin pipelines and oil tankers, along with more than 80 First Nations in B.C.
The Coastal First Nations have joined with the dozens of aboriginal bodies on the Fraser River watershed to say they will militantly oppose tankers and pipelines.
However, a spokesman for Campbell said the premier has not changed his mind from earlier statements expressing caution about the future of coastal waters
“This is not a new position, said Dale Steeves.
“The Western premiers have simply reiterated this government’s position that tankers have been delivering and exporting petroleum and refined products from our costal water for 100 years and are an integral part of our economy.”
Steeves noted that B.C. already has “adopted some of the most stringent regulatory policies available to protect our waters from environmental accidents.”
Meanwhile, the New Democrats have called on the front-running B.C. Liberal leadership candidates to say where they stand on crude oil tanker traffic.
Although candidate George Abbott has rejected putting the coast at risk from oil tanker mishaps, candidates Christy Clark and Kevin Falcon, “widely thought to be Gordon Campbell’s protege,” have remained silent, said NDP environment critic Rob Fleming.
“People have every right to wonder whether Falcon agrees with the disgraced premier on this issue,” said Fleming.
sfournier@theprovince.com
© Copyright (c) The Province
Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Ang...thern+waters/4343463/story.html#ixzz1EzNaWHjT
