B.C. Liberal MP Joyce Murray introduced a private members bill Tuesday that, if successful, would kill Enbridge's proposed $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline project.
Unlike an NDP-led successful motion in Parliament last week which called for a similar ban, and is non-binding, Murray's bill would become federal law if it passed.
The private member's bill would, however, need to pass a lengthy process to become law, including a vote in Parliament.
There is some speculation that the Conservatives might call an election next spring. Any draft laws on the books die when an election is called.
Murray said that Bill C-606 would entrench former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's 1972 moratorium on oil tankers in the northwest waters of Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound.
Even if the risk of an oil tanker spill is low, accidents do occur, both human-caused and by equipment failure, Murray, the MP for Vancouver Quadra, told The Citizen. "A spill like that would change Canada forever," said Murray, pointing to the importance of the northwest coastline to the environment and people.
She argued 56,000 fishery and tourism jobs rely on a pristine coastline, a hundred times the amount of jobs promised by the Enbridge pipeline project.
The federal Conservative government has maintained there is no formal ban on oil tanker traffic off B.C.'s coast, and therefore oil tankers can, and do, travel the province's inside waters.
Prince George-Cariboo Conservative MP Dick Harris criticized both the federal Liberals and the NDP for not supporting economic development projects like the pipeline.
Harris noted that northwest B.C., in particular, would benefit from the jobs from the pipeline project and marine terminal. Murray might be fine in Vancouver's economy, but people in northwest B.C. need good-paying jobs to pay their mortgages and feed their families, said Harris.
The 1,170-kilometre pipeline, which would pass just north of Prince George, is meant to open up new markets in Asia for crude from the Alberta oilsands. About 225 oil tankers a year would traverse the Douglas Channel on their way to Kitimat.
Harris argued that engineering has advanced and that the doubled-hulled tankers and the pipeline would be "virtually indestructible."
The Enbridge project has faced increasing opposition from First Nations, environmental groups and some municipalities and business groups like fisheries and tourism.
However, Calgary-based Enbridge says the project can be built and operated safely.
On Tuesday, Enbridge president and CEO Pat Daniel told the Calgary Herald he's confident the controversial pipeline project will be approved following a federal regulatory review led by the National Energy Board.
The review, which has just started, is expected to take two years.
