In response to Colin Mayes’ report on protecting Canada’s water and fisheries, he said polluters pay.
Enbridge paid $1.21 billion for the Kalamazoo spill, according to the Michigan attorney general. Would Enbridge be forced to pay that here? I doubt it.
There is no amount of money that can repair the damage that a large oil spill causes in a waterway. A successful oil recovery in the northern waters is three to six per cent on a good day.
The northern waters are fast and not easily accessible unlike the quiet waters of the Kalamazoo. Harper’s omnibus bill gutted the environmental assessment act, got rid of habitat protection out of the fisheries act, takes the navigable water act out of law and reduces protected waters from 2.5 million to 150.
Also, he reduced the environmental assessments from 3,000 to 4,000 a year to 12 to 15 per year.
The Nexen spill in northern Alberta, with a new double-wall pipe, does not ensure its safety. The delayed Vancouver harbour oil spill recovery was inadequate because of cutbacks to the Coast Guard.
A few years ago, I told my Edmonton Conservative MP that I finished the Sue Channel in Kitimat and that channel is deep. If something wrong should happen in that channel, there is no way it can be recovered. His reply was, “good.”
I feel the Conservative promises are just lip service considering it is an election year.
Larry Seminoff
Vernon
