Trudeau plans to further open the Gulf of St. Lawrence to oi

[Oscar]

Trudeau plans to further open the Gulf of St. Lawrence to oil and gas exploration

[ https://canadians.org/blog/trudeau-plan ... xploration ]

June 27, 2017 - 8:38 am

The Laurentian Channel is a critical migration route for humpback whales.

The Trudeau government is seeking public comment on its regulations to allow oil and gas exploration in a marine protected area it plans to establish in the Laurentian Channel (a deep underwater trench between Newfoundland and the Maritimes), where the Gulf of St. Lawrence meets the Atlantic Ocean.

The marine protected area would be divided into two management zones.

The Globe and Mail reports, "The proposed regulations would prohibit oil and gas activities within smaller, particularly sensitive sectors but allow it with some restrictions in most of the protected area. Seismic activity, which uses acoustic waves to detect oil and gas formations, would be prohibited from Aug. 1 to Nov. 30 to protect certain species 'during sensitive life-cycle periods'."

That news report adds, "A study in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, released last week, concluded that intense acoustic signals used in oil and gas exploration cause significant damage to zooplankton [floating marine organisms] populations that are critical elements of the marine food chain."

The zone where oil and gas exploration would be allowed comprises about 80 per cent of the marine protected area.

The Weather Network notes, "The new regulations ban commercial and recreational fishing activities, but allow oil and gas exploration in most of the territory. The government says the effect of exploration and production on sea life is 'considered reversible due to the species’ behaviour'."

Radio Canada highlights, "The Laurentian Channel is a critical migration route for some of our most endangered whales, including humpback and minke whales, as well as endangered blue whales and endangered North Atlantic right whales, and oil and gas exploration and extraction threatens them with noise pollution, habitat disturbance and physical injury from seismic blasting..."

CBC adds, "The channel is home to the endangered leatherback sea turtle, various species of shark, the Northern wolfish, coral, as well as the highest population and only pupping grounds of black dogfish in Canada."

Regulations were released on June 23 starting a 30-day consultation period.

The government notice on this says [ http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2017/ ... g2-eng.php ], "Interested persons may make representations concerning the proposed Regulations within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be addressed to Christie Chute, Manager, Marine Conservation Programs, Integrated Oceans Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, 200 Kent Street, Room 12W127, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0E6 (email: Oceans-NL@dfo-mpo.gc.ca)."

The area in question is located about 150 kilometres away from the 'Old Harry' site in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This past January, the Trudeau government approved a four year extension on a licence for Halifax-based Corridor Resources Inc. for deepwater oil and gas exploration in that area.

The federal government has estimated that there might be as much as 39-trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 1.5-billion barrels of oil in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The Globe and Mail has previously reported, "The three Indigenous nations whose territory borders the Gulf (Innu, Maliseet and Mi’kmaq) have all called for a moratorium on oil and gas exploration in the Gulf."

The Council of Canadians has opposed plans to drill for oil and gas in the Gulf of St. Lawrence since November 2010 on the basis that it threatens to pollute the ocean, puts marine life at risk, further contributes to climate change, and violates Indigenous rights.


Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]

[Oscar]

Trudeau's oil & gas agenda in the Gulf of St. Lawrence threatens whales

[ https://canadians.org/blog/trudeaus-oil ... ens-whales ]

August 29, 2017 - 10:54 am

The Council of Canadians has opposed plans to drill for oil and gas in the Gulf of St. Lawrence since November 2010 on the basis that it threatens to pollute the ocean, puts marine life at risk, further contributes to climate change, and violates the rights of the Innu, Maliseet and Mi’kmaq who have called for a moratorium on oil and gas exploration in the Gulf.

The federal government has estimated that there might be as much as 39-trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 1.5-billion barrels of oil in the Gulf - and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants to allow oil and gas exploration in the Laurentian Channel (a deep underwater trench between Newfoundland and the Maritimes), where the Gulf of St. Lawrence meets the Atlantic Ocean.

Radio Canada highlights, "The Laurentian Channel is a critical migration route for some of our most endangered whales, including humpback and minke whales, as well as endangered blue whales and endangered North Atlantic right whales, and oil and gas exploration and extraction threatens them with noise pollution, habitat disturbance and physical injury from seismic blasting..."

The area in question is located about 150 kilometres away from the 'Old Harry' site in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This past January, the Trudeau government approved a four year extension on a licence for Halifax-based Corridor Resources Inc. to conduct deepwater oil and gas exploration in that area.

Earlier this month, the Canadian Press reported, "The federal government is ordering large vessels to slow down in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, as it tries to protect right whales who frequent the waters. Ten of the endangered mammals have died in the gulf since early June -- at least some after colliding with ships. ...[Transport minister Marc] Garneau said vessels of 20 metres or more will be required to slow to 10 knots -- or about 19 kilometres per hour -- while travelling in the western Gulf of St. Lawrence, from the Quebec north shore to just north of Prince Edward Island." That article adds, "The speed limit is meant to reduce the frequency and fatality of ship strikes, [the Transport minister] said."

But the Toronto Star editorial board argues to save the whales, the federal government must ban drilling in the Gulf. It has written, "Ottawa is easing the way as pressure builds to open the Gulf to oil and gas exploration – a move that would disrupt marine life of all kinds and inevitably lead to more shipping activity, further putting the whales at risk. This is a very bad idea. ...Even short of a spill, the seismic method used to explore for oil and gas carries its own risks. It would involve sending sound waves into layers of underwater rock to determine the best spot for drilling. Scientists warn that can seriously disrupt fish and marine mammals."

The editorial board adds, "The Harper government opened the door for possible offshore drilling in the Gulf in its 2012 budget, which included a measure that underlined the area’s energy potential and made it easier for oil companies to explore for petroleum resources. The Trudeau government has let the process continue by permitting exploration in most of the new marine protection area and allowing a federal-provincial regulator, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, to extend the exploration licence for Coastal Resources for a further four years."

Furthermore, the CBC reported earlier this week that the ocean temperature in the Gulf of St. Lawrence reached record or near-record highs in 2016 (which is most likely related to climate change). That article also noted that zooplankton, the food source eaten by right whales, are moving into the Gulf of St. Lawrence because of the warming water. The article then highlights, "The question is whether the zooplankton are leading the whales into a shipping lane super highway."

It should be noted that the Trudeau government is also pushing for the provisional implementation of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) on September 21. The Globe and Mail has reported that CETA has prompted Maersk Line, a Danish transnational and the world's largest container-ship company, to add new service between Montreal and European ports. The company has seen its Canadian volumes grow by 15 per cent this year and its Canadian operations president Jack Mahoney says CETA should spur even greater growth in marine traffic.

The Council of Canadians calls on the Trudeau government to ban oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, to take further action to eliminate the risk of ships striking whales in the Gulf, and to additionally acknowledge that tanker traffic resulting from the Kinder Morgan pipeline (approved by the Trudeau government in November 2016) threatens orca whales off the coast of British Columbia.


Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]

[Oscar]

Corridor Resources indefinitely suspends its offshore drilling in the Old Harry area of the Gulf of St. Lawrence

[ https://canadians.org/blog/corridor-res ... t-lawrence ]

June 12, 2018 - 8:26 am

(PHOTO: Halifax-based Council of Canadians organizer Angela Giles speaks against offshore oil and gas drilling in the Old Harry area, October 2012.)

The Council of Canadians has opposed Halifax-based Corridor Resources Inc.'s plan to drill for oil and gas at the Old Harry site -- a 17,401 hectare area situated about 100 kilometres off the southwest tip of Newfoundland and about 300 kilometres off the coast of Quebec in the Gulf of St. Lawrence -- since November 2010.

Council of Canadians chairperson Leo Broderick has stated, "Old Harry is a very productive, diverse and important marine environment that is already under great stress from marine shipping, decades of over-fishing, land based pollution and now climate change. We do not need petroleum development in this area with its many environmental problems and the huge potential for an accident like the one in the Gulf of Mexico."

The Canadian Press now reports, "Corridor Resources Inc. says it has suspended exploratory work on the Old Harry project in the Gulf of St. Lawrence for the foreseeable future. In a news release issued Monday, the company says it has completed a geotechnical analysis and has determined that it wouldn’t be 'prudent' to continue with additional capital spending, and as a result is suspending all further technical work and expenditures. The company says it now believes the prospect could be more 'gas prone than oil prone' and the overall quantities could be less than originally estimated."

The company says, "Corridor has determined there is no longer a viable path to drilling an exploration well on the prospect before the current exploration licence on the Newfoundland side expires in January 2021."

Our actions over the years have included:

• launching an online petition against oil and gas drilling at the Old Harry site,
• calling on the Canada-Newfoundland Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board to declare a moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
• participating in a silent march in favour of a moratorium as federal-provincial energy ministers met in Charlottetown,
• issuing a statement of concern about the lack of public consultation,
• denouncing numerous errors in the oil spill simulation submitted by Corridor for its exploration permit,
• speaking at a media conference against offshore drilling at the Old Harry site,
• expressing disappointment that Trudeau's first Fisheries minister didn't meet with opponents when he first visited Prince Edward Island,
• opposing the Trudeau government's approval of a four year extension of Corridor's licence to conduct deepwater oil and gas exploration in the area,
• noting that the Supreme Court's ruling in favour of the Tsilhqot'in title claim suggests consultation and consent is also needed for resource exploration in waters off the coast,
• the PEI, South Shore, Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton chapters calling on the Trudeau government and the Government of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador to veto the licence issued to Corridor Resources by the Canada-Newfoundland Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.

The threat has not completely passed.

CBC notes, "The company plans to ask the Quebec and N.L. provincial governments as well as the federal government, to grant Corridor a new licence for the N.L. side of the structure and clarify the status on the Quebec side. If that is done, the company will continue to look for a partner for the project, [their media] release said."

For numerous blogs over the past eight years on this issue, please click here:
[ https://canadians.org/search/node/%22old%20harry%22 ]


Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]