Sign and online petition and take action to stop Oil and Gas development in BC!

Help Stop Coastal Oil and Gas Development in B.C.!

The threat of coastal oil and gas development looms over BC’s wild and beautiful Pacific coast. For over thirty years there have been both provincial and federal moratoria in place to protect Canada’s Pacific coast from oil and gas development. Currently, the BC government is intensively pressuring the federal government to lift their moratorium in order to open up the Pacific coast to oil and gas development by Chevron and Shell.

Coastal oil and gas development would seriously harm our marine ecosystems, fishing and seafood industry, and whale-watching industry through pollution and seismic testing (sonic blasts in the ocean that kill and harm marine life). At stake is the ecological integrity of our Pacific coast and the livelihoods of thousands of BC citizens that depend on these traditional coastal assets. We need your help to protect Canada’s wild Pacific coast from inappropriate, dirty development.

More than seventy different interest groups ranging from tourism and fishermen to First Nations and environmental groups have joined together in the Oil Free Coast Alliance, and are calling on the provincial and federal governments to maintain the moratoria on any coastal oil and gas development off BC’s coast. Here are some of the reasons:

- Almost 70% of the respondents to the federal government’s own public input process in the spring of 2004 supported keeping the moratorium in place.

- The environmental and economic consequences of a major oil spill or blow-out in Canada’s most earthquake prone region would be devastating to coastal communities, as was the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska. Earthquakes 8.1 (1949) and 7.0 (1970) on the Richter Scale have occurred in the Queen Charlotte Islands region. Also, the fiercest winds in Canada, recorded at almost 200 km/hr and the resulting giant waves there could demolish oil rigs and tankers.

- Major oil spills aside, inherent in coastal oil and gas production is daily chronic pollution, including the discharge of toxic drilling fluids and muds, chronic oil leakages, and small oil spills that are unavoidable. Toxic drilling fluids and muds include mercury and heavy metals like chromium and lead that contaminate fish and invertebrates.

- In order to locate oil and gas deposits, seismic tests must be done using air gun blasts that send shock waves through the ocean that deafen whales, kill fish and invertebrates, and drive fish and whales long distances away from their feeding areas and migration routes.

- Coastal oil and gas development runs counter to Canada’s Kyoto Protocol commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Hydrocarbon extraction and production accounts for almost 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.

- Few direct jobs would be created for coastal communities. Foreign work crews with the necessary specialized skills would be brought in from around the world, as is normally the case. Oil rigs would be constructed where labour is cheapest and the facilities exist, likely in South Korea or China. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) forbids any laws that give first dibs on jobs to local people.

Federal Government Under Pressure to Lift Moratorium

The BC Liberal provincial government started the process to lift the
moratoria when they were elected in 2001. The Federal Minister of Natural Resources John Efford has stated an interest in lifting the federal moratorium and Environment Minister Stephane Dion and Prime Minister Paul Martin are in the process of formulating a decision.

It is vitally important that we flood the Prime Minister’s office with letters of concern about offshore oil and gas development. Each letter counts for hundreds of people who feel the same way but didn’t send in a letter. This is an issue that affects all Canadians.

How YOU Can Take Action!!

As A Concerned Individual You Can:

1. Sign our online petition and download copies to circulate at: www.bcoilslick.org

2. Write a letter to:

Prime Minister Paul Martin
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
email: p...@pm.gc.ca

Also, write to:

Minister of Natural Resources John Efford (email: effo...@parl.gc.ca)
Minister of Environment Stephane Dion (dio...@parl.gc.ca)
Same addresses as above.
(no postage needed if mailed in Canada)

As importantly, write to your local federal Member of Parliament (MP) who you can find at: http://www.gc.ca/directories/direct_e.html
or call your local MP toll-free at: 1-866-599-4999

As an Organization You Can

1. Write the government on behalf of your organization. See the contact info above.

2. Get your members and supporters to also write letters, and to sign and circulate the petition available at www.bcoilslick.org
Mail and email your members this action alert/info sheet, and get it on to your website.

3. Organize public forums, slideshows, and garner media interest in your area. Contact us (below) for advice.

4. Please help us circulate the petition in your communities and through other local groups.

For further information please contact:

Pearl Gottschalk, Campaign Assistant
Phone:(250) 388-9292
Email: pea...@wildernesscommitteevictoria.org
Western Canada Wilderness Committee – Victoria chapter
651 Johnson Street
Victoria, BC V8V 1M7

For more info visit:
www.bcoilslick.org
www.oilfreecoast.org