Panel considers allowing offshore oil and gas exploration in British Columbia

Consulting Engineers of British Columbia (CEBC) is formulating its submission to a panel looking into the question of whether the federal government should allow oil and gas exploration off the Queen Charletto Islands coastal areas in B.C.
CEBC’s Energy & Mines Liaison Committee is developing their position for the Public Review Panel. This April and May the panel is visiting northern and coastal communities to hear the public’s views on the environmental and socio-economic issues of exploration.
On one side there has been considerable public opposition to developing the resources in the past due to environmental and other reasons — hence the federal government’s moratorium. On the other hand, some politicians and the resource industry would like to take advantage of the huge economic potentials of oil and gas resources off B.C.’s coast. They point out that on Canada’s east coast such exploration is allowed.
For those wanting to investigate the issues, the Royal Society of Canada has issued a Report of the Expert Panel on Science Issues Related to Oil and Gas Activities, Offshore British Columbia, which is available at www.rsc.ca.
The Panel will hold its sessions at Masset and Queen Charlotte City on the Queen Charlotte Islands, at Prince Rupert, Lax Kw’alaams, Kitimat and Kitkatla on the North Coast; at Bella Coola on the Central Coast; at Port Hardy, Alert Bay and Victoria on Vancouver Island, and in Vancouver on the Lower Mainland.
Detailed information is available at www.moratoriumpublicreview.ca