Ignatieff wants to ban oil tankers off BC coast

[notyoueither]

1 quatloo on 'no'

[Ben Kenobi]

Are you aware that a tanker has nothing to do with drilling?

You are aware that the moratorium was put in place in response to the Exxon Valdez?

You know, that almost makes sense.

When it's a drilled oil well that bursts, you ban oil tankers.

When it's the oil tanker that leaks, you ban offshore drilling.

[Asher]

I'm making the point that you're an idiot.

Ignatieff isn't talking about drilling (which is banned), he's talking about banning tankers (which are not banned).

[Ben Kenobi]

Well I'm sure he'd be banning drilling if he could, so he just hits at the next best thing.

If it's got something to do with transporting oil, he's agin it.

Why are we arguing? We are on the same side of the issue here, Asher.

[Asher]

We're arguing because you are an idiot.

You seem to have conceded you were an idiot and you still won't formally say it and retract.

[Ben Kenobi]

I think you don't like the fact that we actually agree on something here.

[Asher]

You repeatedly claimed Ignatieff is an idiot because we already have a moratorium on drilling.

You're an idiot because this has nothing to do with drilling.

Idiot. You are an idiot.

You.
Are.
An.
Idiot.

Idiot, you are.

[notyoueither]

2 quatloos.

[notyoueither]

It seems you're actually both wrong, sort of.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Ignatieff+vows+formalize+moratorium+tanker+traffic/3182760/story.html?cid=megadrop_story

Ignatieff vows to formalize B.C. moratorium on oil tanker traffic

By Scott Simpson , Vancouver Sun June 21, 2010

VANCOUVER — The federal Liberals would formalize a moratorium on crude oil tanker traffic in British Columbia's northern coastal waters, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff announced Monday.


A moratorium on oil tanker traffic was first imposed for Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound by the Pierre Trudeau Liberal government in 1972 — but it is informal at this point and would be brushed aside if a plan is approved to build a new pipeline from Alberta to the B.C. coast at Kitimat.


The National Energy Board is in the process of hearing an application from Enbridge Inc. to build a pipeline as well as a deep sea oil terminal at Kitimat where internationally bound tankers would be filled with crude oil from Alberta's oilsands.


B.C. First Nations have said they oppose the project and a recent Mustel poll found that 80 per cent of British Columbia residents support a ban on crude oil tanker traffic on the B.C. coast.


Oil tankers have been moving through southern coastal waters for a half century, carrying oil from a Kinder Morgan pipeline terminal in Burnaby at Burrard Inlet without a major spill.


Kinder Morgan contends in letter to the NEB that their own plans for pipeline expansion to their Burnaby terminal render Enbridge's project superfluous.


Ignatieff, in Victoria to announce Liberal policies to "protect" oceans and coastal communities, noted that some petrochemical traffic already operates through the Port of Kitimat but said his party would not allow that traffic to expand.


The moratorium would be formalized either through regulation, or legislation, "or both," the party said in a policy statement released by Ignatieff.


Some environmental groups reported that Ignatieff, in response to media questions Monday morning, agreed that the Liberal policy would make it impossible for Enbridge to proceed with its plans.


"The Liberal Party does not . . . support an increase in this traffic along the coastal waters of the Pacific North Coast, nor do we support crude oil tankers traversing these waters," the party policy document states.


"Fully opening B.C.'s coast to crude oil tankers creates the risk of a major spill, endangering wildlife and the livelihoods of dozens of communities who live in and around the coastline. To prevent an oil spill from ever occurring in the coastal waters of the ecologically sensitive Pacific north coast, a Liberal government would not allow an increase in tanker traffic in this region."

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

[Asher]

That is explicitly mentioned in the OP:

The Liberals said they would formalize a tanker moratorium enacted in 1972. Enbridge disputes this moratorium, citing a 2005 letter by then Liberal transport minister Jean Lapierre to Liberal David Anderson. The letter noted a ban on tanker traffic from Alaska to the southern United States, but added that tankers originating in ports such as Kitimat weren’t banned.

[Asher]

http://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/050/document-eng.cfm?document=39962

Many comments submitted on the draft Agreement focused on the issue of marine traffic and the perception that there is a moratorium on tanker traffic in the coast waters of British Columbia (B.C.). It is the Government of Canada’s position that there is presently no moratorium on tanker traffic in the coast waters of B.C. Tanker traffic currently exists in the Ports of Vancouver, Kitimat and Prince Rupert.

[notyoueither]

You said something about tankers not being banned.

They are, sort of (or at least more of them) in certain places.

[Asher]

Not according to the Government of Canada, who I would deem the authority on the subject.

[notyoueither]

You are questioning the Calgary Herald.

Heretic!

[Asher]

I'm not a big fan of the Herald.