All's well that ends well.
Unless you're Nathan Cullen.
The MP for Skeena-Bulkley Valley and the NDP's finance critic in Parliament seems disappointed that the Russian cargo ship didn't run aground on Friday on Haida Gwaii. If it had, he really would have had something to go after the federal Conservatives about and he could have put the final nail not only on the Northern Gateway pipeline coffin but also on LNG development, off-shore oil development and all other commercial tanker traffic off B.C.'s North Coast for a generation or longer.
To listen to Cullen, it was like he was hoping for the Canadian version of the Exxon Valdez, so he and the NDP could score major political points, just in time for next year's federal election.
To his chagrin, what really happened was not "blind luck" but what occurs when a vessel, regardless of its size, runs into trouble. In this case, the Russian ship Simushir was in international waters, not Canadian, so unless Cullen and the NDP are willing to extend Canada's jurisdiction over the open seas off its coast line, there's nothing they can do on that front.
What happened next was the standard marine reaction for a vessel in distress. All other ships in the area able to provide aid are compelled to do so. Cullen seems to think it's a travesty that a U.S. tugboat hauled the disabled and drifting Simushir to shore but there's nothing unusual about a ship that normally travels between Whittier, Alaska and Prince Rupert providing maritime aid. It could just as easily have been an American cruise ship providing assistance.
As the Canadian Press reported, a Canadian Coast Guard vessel that arrived before the U.S. tug had its tow line to the Simushir break three times but it still managed to move the ship away from Haida Gwaii until the U.S. tug showed up. The stormy seas made the job extremely difficult for everyone involved, so full marks to the crews of all three vessels for their professionalism.
Still angling for political points, however, Cullen went after the Conservatives for cutting $20 million and 300 employees from the Coast Guard. There's no way to prove those extra resources would have made the Coast Guard response in this situation any better. Furthermore, those Coast Guard cuts were even more deeply felt off Canada's Atlantic coast than they were in B.C., so the criticism doesn't hold as much water as it looks.
The irony is that if Cullen wants more tugs and other large vessels available to keep the North Coast safer from these types of rare incidents, he should be encouraging the development of Northern Gateway and LNG export facilities. All of those proposals contain emergency reaction plans to respond to the exact kind of scenario that happened Friday, along with the resources and manpower to implement those responses. In other words, increased industrial shipping on the North Coast would provide greater capacity, not less, to respond to maritime emergencies.
Cullen's take is standard NDP doctrine - the private sector can't be counted on to do the right thing and only government can save the day. That's why the disaster that didn't happen is so upsetting to Cullen because it was the private sector - and the American private sector, no less - working with the public sector that dealt with the crisis.
To be fair to Cullen, there are some worthwhile sparks behind all the smoke he's fanning, although they were mostly articulated by Mary Polak, B.C.'s environment minister, who stated the obvious. What happened Friday was exactly the kind of scenario government needs to be prepared for and the response was good but less than ideal, even if there had been calm waters instead of stormy seas and high winds.
Cullen is right that Friday's crisis could have ended much worse and it exposes flaws that should be addressed. Unfortunately, his desire to embarrass the Harper government seems stronger than his willingness to suggest solutions to address future problems with disabled cargo ships in international waters off B.C.'s coast.
