Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen will be one of the many witnesses from across Northwest B.C. speaking on the proposed oil tanker moratorium on the North Coast held on Tuesday, April 16.
The Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications will be in Prince Rupert on Tuesday, April 16, and in Terrace the following day. The hearings are part of the committee’s study of Bill C-48, the oil tanker ban.
READ MORE: Senate to hold hearings in northwest B.C. on controversial oil tanker ban
A day before his appearance, Cullen shared his frustration with the delay in legislating the ban.
“We are now only a few short months away from the end of this Parliament and still this bill has not been passed by Senators. Folks in the Northwest have been clear that we need this ban to protect our coast, our fisheries and our way of life here. I will be reminding Senators that this has already been approved by elected MPs and that they cannot keep running out the clock like this. I hope that others will be able to come along and send a clear message that people here want this to happen,” Cullen said in a press release.
READ MORE: Lack of urgency from the Liberals on tanker ban: Cullen
Cullen was an early proponent for the ban during the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project. In 2014, he introduced a private members bill for an oil tanker ban that was later defeated in Parliament.
Bill C-48 passed through the House of Commons in May 2018, but it has been held up in the Senate since then.
Between Prince Rupert and Terrace there will be more than 50 witnesses who will share their views with Senators on the proposed oil tanker moratorium.
In the press release, it states that the government had included Bill C-48 in a motion “to move forward delayed legislation, but it was later dropped by Liberal and independent Senators in a deal agreed with Conservatives, leaving its path forward uncertain.”
Cullen will present on April 16, in the afternoon session starting at 1:15 p.m.
The hearings are open to the public and will be held at the Highliner Plaza Hotel in Prince Rupert on Tuesday, April 16 and the Best Western Inn in Terrace on Wednesday, April 17.
READ MORE: Oil tanker ban to be reviewed by committee
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