2004/64c

BACKGROUNDER

Public Hearings on the Offshore British Columbia Oil and Gas Moratorium

The moratorium on oil and gas activities offshore British Columbia, in place since 1972, is now under review. The Report of the Public Review Panel on the Government of Canada's Moratorium on Offshore Oil and Gas Activities in the Queen Charlotte Region of British Columbia is one of three elements of the arm's-length federal review process, which also included a review of the state of science by the Royal Society of Canada and a First Nations engagement process. The Public Review Panel held public meetings in ten coastal communities in order to obtain views of British Columbians on matters relevant to the federal moratorium on oil and gas activities. Meetings were held in Prince Rupert, the Village of Masset, Bella Coola, Queen Charlotte City, Kitkatla, Kitimat, Port Hardy, Alert Bay, Victoria and Vancouver.

Roland Priddle, who has extensive experience in energy regulation and policy making, led the arm's-length, three-member review panel. He was joined by Dr. Diana Valiela and Don Scott.

The report contains the opinions of approximately 3,700 British Columbians who took the time to share their views with the panel. These opinions were gathered through oral and written submissions as well as petitions. Almost half of all participants were involved by way of the petition process.

The panel has presented four options for moving forward to the Government of Canada for consideration. These options are as follows:

• Keep the moratorium.
• Keep the moratorium or defer the decision while undertaking numerous activities to fill biophysical and socio-economic knowledge gaps, to identify and address First Nations issues, to identify and delineate marine protected areas, and to define regulatory and fiscal arrangements.
• Lift the moratorium and undertake numerous activities (as outlined in option 2) prior to accepting any applications for oil and gas activity.
• Lift the moratorium.

For more information, media may contact: