Update: Victory on tanker ban motion a victory for the coast

VANCOUVER – Environmental groups are praising the December 7th vote in the House of Commons in support of a legislated tanker ban for Canada’s Pacific North Coast. The motion was put forward by Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen whose riding includes the Great Bear Rainforest and thousands of coastal jobs that depend on a healthy [...]

First Nations and coastal industries join forces to push for Pacific tanker ban

OTTAWA – An unprecedented delegation of First Nations, commercial fishing, tourism representatives and environmental groups from Canada’s Pacific North Coast called on Ottawa Tuesday, calling on the federal government to ban oil tankers from the region. The federal government is currently considering allowing over 200 oil tankers per year to travel through some of the [...]

Land & sea conservation linked on Canadian West Coast

Occasionally, governments get it right. In June 2010, the Canadian Minister of the Environment and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, Jim Prentice, tabled an amendment in Parliament to the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act to formally establish the Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area Reserve and Haida Heritage Site. Located about 100 kilometers from [...]

Obama announces creation of National Ocean Council

U.S. President Barack Obama announced the creation of a National Ocean Council, charging it with developing policy goals and balancing commercial and recreational requirements. The Council, consisting of 24 officials from various federal agencies, is the result of a year-long study by Obama’s ocean policy task force and will not have the ability to generate [...]

Parties Do Little For Threatened Ocean Species At COP15

The reality of the highly politicized international bureaucratic labyrinth that underscored the CITES Conference Of the Parties in Doha, Qatar has – not surprisingly – resulted in the defeat of several proposals to protect ocean species and habitat.