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NDP pushes tanker-ban again

Victoria MP Denise Savoie joined her federal New Democrats in reviving her campaign to protect B.C.'s north coast from oil tanker traffic

Victoria MP Denise Savoie joined her federal New Democrats in reviving her campaign to protect B.C.'s north coast from oil tanker traffic.

Savoie first tabled a motion calling on the government to ban tanker traffic in 2007. After three years, the motion passed with Liberal and Bloc support. The Conservative government, however, didn't act on the motion.

This time the NDP is preparing to bring forward a private member's bill to the same effect, though the party hasn't decided which MP will sponsor the bill.

“I paddled in Prince William Sound years after the Exxon Valdez disaster, and there were still remnants of crude oil gummed onto the rocks,” said Savoie.

“And as I’ve paddled up and down the north coast over the past few years, it breaks my heart to think that these pristine waters are at risk of a similar disaster. It’s time to end the ambiguity and formalize the tanker ban.”

The proposed Enbridge pipeline, slated to run from the Alberta tar sands to the B.C. coast, would bring 225 oil tankers through B.C. waters.