Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table e-petition 6675, signed by petitioners primarily from Union Bay, British Columbia.
They highlight that the B.C. Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy conducted a study in Baynes Sound. They found discharges of effluent with toxins, of both acute and chronic concentration, exceeding the provincial water guidelines. The petitioners highlight that copper, lead and zinc all surpassed the chronic levels set out by the guidelines, with copper at 23,950% above, lead at 1,200% above and zinc at 7,320% above chronic levels. A pollution abatement order was issued in January 2024.
The petitioners call on the Department of Environment and Climate Change and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to use their mandate to enforce section 36 of the Fisheries Act in order to help stop the pollution in Baynes Sound from unregulated ship recycling. They call on the government to develop enforceable federal standards to reduce the negative environmental and social impacts of unregulated ship recycling that meet or exceed those set out in the Hong Kong and European Union conventions for the safe recycling of ships.