Mr. Speaker, in 2011, I asked Transport Canada to study bitumen when I was Islands Trust Council chair. In 2013, Stephen Harper said, “We're going to study bitumen.” The only thing mentioned in the oceans protection plan that was announced last month was, “We are going to study bitumen in the marine environment and we're going to take five years to do it.”
How on earth could the government commit our community to a sevenfold increase in bitumen oil tanker traffic without having done the science? That is not an evidence-based decision.
When the National Academy of Sciences, commissioned by the Washington State government, came up with a study that said that bitumen in the oceans was a very dangerous thing for our region, the National Energy Board refused to hear the evidence. Then government broke its promise to redo the National Energy Board process. Therefore, we do not have access to the science.
We are very worried, and the government has not done its responsibility to look after our coasts.