The federal government has maintained the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act after the House of Commons defeated Conservative Bill C-264 on October 28, preserving restrictions on tankers carrying more than 12,500 tonnes of crude oil or persistent oils at ports along B.C.’s North Coast. Conservatives argued that repealing the legislation would support Canadian energy exports to Asian markets, including a proposed 250,000-barrel-per-day crude-by-rail export project through Prince Rupert. The Liberal government maintains that the proposed Pacific Link pipeline in southern B.C., with a potential capacity of one million barrels per day, can achieve export diversification instead. The decision reinforces existing North Coast protections while leaving the broader debate over energy export infrastructure, Indigenous interests and Pacific market access unresolved.
