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B.C. and Coastal First Nations Urge Ottawa to Keep North Coast Tanker Ban as Alberta Presses Pipeline

The declaration forces Ottawa to clarify whether its new fast‑track program could supersede the 2019 tanker law.

An oil tanker anchors in Strait of Juan de Fuca as a man walks to his car along the grounds of Royal Roads University looking towards Esquimalt Lagoon following snowfall in Victoria, Friday, Dec. 9, 2016.
A drone picture shows an LNG (liquid natural gas) carrier ship docked at LNG Canada's export facility on Canada's Pacific coast in Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada August 19, 2025. REUTERS/Jesse Winter
B.C. Premier David Eby stands with the leaders from coastal nations after together signing a declaration to protect the province's North Coast from oil tankers.
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Overview

  • Premier David Eby joined coastal Indigenous leaders to sign the North Coast Protection Declaration urging the federal government to maintain the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act.
  • Bill C‑48 bars tankers carrying more than 12,500 metric tons of crude or persistent oil from a defined stretch of British Columbia’s northern waters.
  • Alberta’s government wants the ban repealed to enable a west‑coast bitumen pipeline, arguing federal trade powers apply while it seeks a proponent and Indigenous co‑ownership.
  • Ottawa has not committed to repealing the ban, and its Building Canada Act fast‑track process—with promised Indigenous consultations—has raised concerns it could override existing protections.
  • Eby and coastal leaders warn a spill would devastate livelihoods and ecosystems, note growing LNG marine traffic, and emphasize there is currently no route, proponent or financing for Alberta’s proposed pipeline.