NDP renews call for changes to the Coast Guard to be reversed, following fuel spill
Posted April 14, 2015 12:06 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It’s a call that’s been getting louder and louder, and the fuel spill in English Bay is giving politicians an argument for making it again.
Just like the federal Liberals, NDP MPs are now renewing their call to reverse changes to protections on BC waters.
They’ve launched a petition, calling on the Conservatives to re-open the Kits Coast Guard Station, re-open a communications centre in Ucluelet, and keep centres in Vancouver and Comox open.
Fin Donnelly argues last week’s spill shows why we’re unprepared to respond to similar incidents.
“Even the Auditor General, back in 2010, said we are not prepared for a major oil spill, let alone one of these small spills,” he says.
“I don’t know what it’s going to take to get them to reverse their position but I think we have to keep fighting, keep fighting the strong fight, to say that British Columbia matters, that marine safety matters.”
Communications on the coast are set to all happen out of upgraded centres in Victoria and Prince Rupert.
Both the NDP and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau say they’ll reopen Kits Base if they form government.
