To the editor,
We are shocked that the NDP government has moved away from its staunch opposition to drilling for oil and natural gas on Georges Bank.
Bill Estabrooks (Minister of Energy) has repeatedly stated that consideration of lifting the moratorium is worth looking at given advances in technology. Sterling Belliveau (Minister of Fisheries and Environment) has had a difficult time in the House of Assembly answering questions on this issue. He was strongly opposed to drilling and is well known and respected for his views as a former fisherman. Belliveau can’t reconcile his personal opposition with his party’s stance.
We’d hope that the events in the Gulf of Mexico would give a clear lens to any idea that technology had improved enough that the risk of a catastrophe is negligible. The fact is, technology in the offshore industry hasn’t changed much in the past few years, and certainly hasn’t changed since the NDP came to power less than a year ago.
Georges Bank is one of the richest fishing areas in the world. Those riches resulted in the development of communities like Yarmouth, Pubnico, and all along Digby Neck. The bank continues to sustain fishing and tourism industries in the region and internationally. Today, the direct fishery on Georges Bank is worth $200 million to the Canadian economy. That’s in addition to revenue associated with fisheries which survive as an indirect result of the riches of Georges, and tourism revenues from activities like whale watching.
We should look to our neighbours to the south. While the U.S. government recently opened the possibility of inshore and offshore oil and gas exploration in U.S. waters, President Obama specifically excluded Georges Bank. In fact Georges Bank is effectively excluded for exploration on the U.S. side until 2017. We try to work with the U.S. government on management decisions involving the fishery. While we don’t always agree, there is good co-operation. This is clearly an issue on which we should be aligned.
Maybe one day there will be some oil and gas exploration, and an extraction method that is so safe and so proven that there would be no risk. That day is not today, and it’s not likely to happen in the next few years.
If oil and gas exists in commercial quantities on Georges Bank it’s not going anywhere. There is no lost opportunity in taking the cautious approach and continuing the moratorium.
Some things in life just aren’t worth the risk. Drilling and exploration activities on Georges Bank fall into that category.
Andrew Younger – Liberal Energy/Environment Critic
Harold Theriault – Liberal Fisheries / Tourism Critic
