Canada has a double standard on oil tankers
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
138.02617
Summary
In November 2015, the Trudeau government issued a tanker ban, a complete moratorium on large tanker ships near the Queen Charlotte Sound in northern British Columbia. But despite the ban, there are still more than 20,000 oil tankers coming and going from Canadian ports each and every year. Canada could be leading the way, developing and championing the most environmentally secure and forward-looking energy shipping methods in the world.
Transcript
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Canada has a double standard when it comes to oil tanker ships off our coasts.
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In November 2015, the Trudeau government issued a tanker ban, a complete moratorium on large
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tanker ships near the Queen Charlotte Sound in northern British Columbia.
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With that moratorium, the government killed the Northern Gateway Pipeline.
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The Northern Gateway Pipeline was an Enbridge project that would have brought natural gas
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from British Columbia to Alberta and then diluted bitumen from Alberta back to a marine
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From Kitimat, the oil would have been transported to Asian markets via tanker ships.
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But Trudeau said no to tankers off Canadian coasts.
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In 2015, the same year as the tanker ban, there were 626 crude oil tankers that traveled through
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These tanker ships were carrying American oil to market.
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The U.S. ships about 900,000 barrels of oil per day of Alaskan crude oil down to ports
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These tankers travel through Canadian waters, including the Juan de Fuca Strait.
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These American tankers are able to sail right by our islands and our beaches.
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But they're not the only tanker ships traveling by our pristine coasts.
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Despite Trudeau's travel ban, Transport Canada estimates that there are approximately 20,000
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oil tankers that come and go from Canadian ports each and every year.
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Not surprisingly, about 85% of these tankers are on the Atlantic coast.
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Canada produces more hydrocarbons than we can consume.
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And yet, because of a lack of pipelines, Canadians in eastern Canada still import foreign oil
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from countries like the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Algeria.
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And of course, that oil is often imported via tanker ships.
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Trudeau allowed about 17,000 oil tankers off the east coast.
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And look, there's still more large ships coming and going from our ports each year.
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The Port of Vancouver welcomes 3,160 vessels each year, or about nine ships per day.
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This is a pretty small number compared to other cities of similar sizes.
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Now, of those 3,100 ships, only about 30 to 50 of them are crude oil tankers.
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According to the Port of Vancouver, the maximum size for an oil tanker ship allowed in its port
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is 120,000 tons, about 800 feet long, with a maximum capacity of 80%.
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But get this, Vancouver welcomes cruise ships that are much larger than that.
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This year, they'll welcome the Norwegian Bliss, a ship that is 1,000 feet long and that has
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We let tankers come from the east, but then we ban them from the west.
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We let American tankers sail through the pristine BC coastline, but then we ban our own Canadian
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And we ban tankers because our politicians don't like oil.
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But we also allow cruise ships that are bigger and have a much larger environmental footprint.
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Canada could be leading the way, developing and championing the most environmentally secure
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and forward-looking energy shipping methods in the world.
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Instead, we're watching energy opportunities sail away.
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For the TrueNorth Initiative, I'm Candace Malcolm.