Month: August 2018

For the third time in the past four years, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board has granted a one-year extension to Corridor Resources exploration licence on the Old Harry prospect in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and waived the $1 million deposit required for a licence extension. This extension was granted because the board has not conducted the public and Aboriginal consultations required as part of the environmental assessment for this project. For the past two years, the board has dragged its heels despite numerous inquiries asking when and how these consultations will be carried out. It says it will announce plans for consultations “at a later date.” Does the board intend to keep on delaying the consultations indefinitely and continue to give Corridor Resources free licence extensions?…Given the failure of the NL Board to act in a responsible manner, Save Our Seas and Shores P.E.I. is calling on the federal and Newfoundland and Labrador governments to remove the board’s mandate pertaining to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Leader of the Green Party of Canada, Elizabeth May is standing alongside local community leaders to denounce the decision of provincial and federal regulators to give Corridor Resources Inc. a free pass for the third time at the Old Harry site, a proposed deep water oil well in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. “This is a free pass to the oil and gas industry, and a slap in the face to fishermen, Aboriginal communities, and the local tourism industry, which all rely on the health of the Gulf of St. Lawrence,” concluded May. “This licence should never have been extended, much less for free.”

The Canada – Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLPB), with the approval of both federal and Newfoundland Natural Resources ministers (James Carr and Siobhan Coady), extended Corridor Resources’ exploration licenseon the Old Harry site for an extra year, a license that was set to expire last Friday January 15. This favour was granted without even requiring the mandatory one million dollars drilling deposit to obtain an extension. It is the third time in four years that Corridor obtained such a special privilege, a situation that is strongly denounced by the St. Lawrence Coalition.The Board justifies this exploration license extension by saying it is necessary in order to hold public as well as First Nations consultations. Yet, ex-Environment Minister Peter Kent had already asked the Board in August 2011, over four years ago, to hold such “extensive public consultations”. The Board did set up an inter-provincial consultation in September 2011, to be under the direction of Commissioner Bernard Richard, but it was canceled in February 2012 by the Board, without justification, a few days before it officially started. “The required consultations have still not been held. And now the Board dares to say that the extension is needed to perform consultations that they have been pushing forward for the last four years. This is disrespectful to all the citizens, scientists, fishermen, First Nations, who, for many years, have had deep concerns about the dangers of such offshore drillings” says Sylvain Archambault, biologist (SNAP Québec) and spokesperson for the St. Lawrence Coalition.

It seems like Corridor Resources has some well connected friends. On Friday, January 15, the oil and gas company received yet another extension to its Old Harry exploration lease in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This time, federal ministers and their provincial counterparts in Newfoundland ratified the existing Atlantic Accord legislation, so that Corridor can sidestep the $1 million it would have earlier had to pay to extend and secure this lease. Article by Miles Howe, Halifax Media Coop, and audio interview with Mary Gorman, spokesperson for Save Our Seas and Shores Coalition.

Sierra Club Canada Foundation and the Save Our Seas and Shores (SOSS) Coalition are deeply disappointed that a third extension has been granted for Corridor Resources’ exploration lease in the Gulf of St. Lawrence by federal and provincial natural resources ministers. The junior oil company was obliged to pay $1 million dollars to extend its […]

The Canadian Press Jan 15, 2016 2:05 pm EST ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Environmental activists who want a drilling moratorium in the Gulf of St. Lawrence weren’t impressed Friday as regulators extended an oil exploration licence for the Old Harry site by another year. Corridor Resources Inc. (TSX-CDH) of Halifax had until Friday to offer […]

By Konrad Yakabuski MONTREAL — The Globe and Mail Dec. 10, 2015 Excerpts: Blame Al Gore. No sooner had the former-U.S.-vice-president-turned-enviro-evangelist praised a beaming Philippe Couillard’s “incroyable” efforts to combat climate change than the Quebec Premier lost it when a reporter confronted him with an inconvenient truth: His government is putting up most of the […]

CTVNews.ca Staff Tuesday, November 24, 2015 1:06PM EST   Four-time Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke says he considers Nova Scotia’s Mi’kmaq people to be his “neighbours,” and that they’ve inspired him to support a moratorium on drilling for oil and gas in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. “You know, I have a place up in […]

Our answer: Of course.

The Mikisew Cree First Nation took their case to the Supreme Court of Canada this month, arguing that they have a right to be at the table for legislation relevant to their treaty rights, particularly environmental assessment, fisheries and navigable waters protection.

If successful, this precedent would forever change the way that Canadian governments consult First Nations. The reconciliation process hinges on respect for the sovereignty of First Nations, and legislating national policies absent First Nations leadership is a denial of that sovereignty.

As we continue to ask Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to keep the promise to make our environmental assessment process credible again, this court case reminds us that environmental assessments have never been adequate in terms of Reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous Peoples.

It’s like a bad dream that you can’t wake up from. The company that has wanted to drill in the Gulf of St. Lawrence for nine years, the same company responsible for seismic testing while the endangered blue whale was migrating, wants a new license.

This in spite of numerous calls for a moratorium on all oil and gas development in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and an historic statement from the Chiefs of the Mi’qmawei Mawiomi calling for a 12-year moratorium on oil and gas in The Gulf.

We need to wake up from this nightmare. It is up to the federal Minister of Natural Resources, Bill Carr and the Newfoundland and Labrador Natural Resources Minister Siobhan Coady to make this stop, and they will receive your comments and letters until October 17th in response to this request for a new license.

The Gulf of St. Lawrence is one of the most precious marine ecosystems we have. Given the federal government’s commitment to better environmental regulation and protection of our oceans, it’s time to declare the Gulf of St. Lawrence off limits to oil and gas and to start making good on promises.

Please send your letter  today! 

Thank you for taking action.

Gretchen Fitzgerald – National Program Director
Sierra Club Canada Foundation

Defenders of the Gulf of St. Lawrence who live on Prince Edward Island are telling James Carr, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, and his provincial counterpart in Newfoundland and Labrador Siobhan Coady that it is time to pull the plug on the C-NLOPB.

This action follows the publication of Ellie Reddin’s Jan 27th article in the Journal Pioneer and PEI’s The Guardian, which pointed out a series of irresponsible, biased decisions made by the C-NLOPB over the past several years, including their recent decision to provide Corridor Resources a third extension on their exploration license for the Old Harry prospect in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In her followup letter to the Ministers, Reddin wrote: “Citing regulatory factors as its reason, the [C-NLOPB] also waived, for the third time in four years, the $1 million deposit required for a licence extension. The “regulatory factors” the Board referred to is the requirement for public and Aboriginal consultations which the Board must hold as part of the environmental assessment for this project.”

“Decisions, including the recent free extension of Corridor Resources licence, appear to have been rubber-stamped by the federal and NL Ministers of Natural Resources. Only NL benefits from oil and gas exploration and development in the Gulf, while the other four Gulf provinces share the risks. The protection of marine species and the rights of the First Nations, fishers, and other residents of the Gulf provinces to protect the Gulf ecosystem and pursue their livelihoods are being ignored.”

In light of the failure of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board to act in a responsible manner, SOSS PEI is calling on it’s members to write to the Ministers to demand that the federal and Newfoundland and Labrador governments to remove the Board’s mandate pertaining to offshore oil and gas exploration and development activities in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

See SOSS PEI full letter to federal Minister James Carr, and NL Minister of Natural Resources Siobhan Coady here.

The Gulf needs your support. Add your voice to SOSS PEI’s by sending a short email message to the Ministers – here’s is a sample message you could copy and paste, or personalize as you wish:

Dear Ministers:

I am writing to express my support for the letter you recently received from SOSS PEI regarding the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. As outlined in the letter, the C-NLOPB has shown by its actions and decisions over the past several years that it is failing to carry out its responsibility to protect the Gulf environment. As Ministers responsible for the C-NLOPB, please act to remove the Board’s mandate pertaining to oil and gas exploration and development activities in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

(Your Name)
(Your home community and province)

Email addresses for the two Ministers are:
Minister.Ministre@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca and siobhancoady@gov.nl.ca

Opponents say it’s about time the federal government intervened to protect the area.
By Ian Bickis

The Canadian Press
Sept. 16, 2016

CALGARY—A regulator’s proposal to give more time to an energy company that wants to drill in the Gulf of St. Lawrence is provoking anger from opponents who say it’s high time the federal government intervene to protect the area.

The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board said Friday it is proposing to grant Corridor Resources a new four-year exploration licence in an area known as Old Harry because there isn’t enough time to complete consultations and an environmental assessment before its current licence expires Jan. 14.

“We’re reeling, absolutely reeling,” said Mary Gorman, co-founder of the Save our Seas and Shores Coalition, which has been pushing against the Halifax-based company’s drilling plans for the nine years it has had a licence for exploratory drilling in Old Harry.

“It’s like ‘Groundhog Day.’ You’re stuck in some kind of time warp that keeps repeating itself.”

The Save Our Seas and Shores Coalition and other environmental and First Nation groups have been calling for a moratorium to prevent offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of St. Lawrence over concerns of the potential effects a spill would have on the area’s sensitive ecology.

“I would say to the honourable prime minister, ‘Where’s the beef?’” Gorman said. “What are you actually doing to protect the East Coast. … You got every seat out of us. Where are you for us now?”

The federal government could not immediately be reached for comment.

The board, which regulates Newfoundland’s offshore oil industry, said its proposal would give it the time needed to conduct a review of drilling in Old Harry. The proposal requires the approval of the provincial and federal governments.

Provincial Natural Resources Minister Siobhan Coady said in a statement that the government will take time to consider it.

“Our decision will be informed by evidence, including feedback from stakeholders, as well as our social licence,” Coady said. “We support responsible economic development, protection of the environment, and worker health and safety in Newfoundland and Labrador’s offshore.”

Corridor Resources did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The federal government has estimated that the Gulf and surrounding areas potentially hold 39 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 1.5 billion barrels of oil.

The Old Harry site is located about 80 kilometres off the southwest tip of Newfoundland.

Source: Toronto Star

September 28, 2016

Hon. James Gordon Carr Minister of Natural Resources

Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0E4

Hon. Siobhan Coady Minister of Natural Resources PO Box 8700

St. John’s NL A1B 4J6

Dear Ministers Carr and Coady:

Re: Proposed Issuance of New Licence (Exploration License 1105-Old Harry to Corridor Resources by Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB).

Save Our Seas and Shores (SOSS) is a coalition of fishermen, First Nations, coastal landowners, NGOs and environmentalists formed in the late 90’s to protect the Gulf of St Lawrence from offshore oil and gas development.

Gulf NS Herring Federation represents over 400 licensed fish harvesters in Gulf Nova Scotia.

We have been volunteering to protect this highly sensitive marine region for 20 years due to its high sensitivity and because it provides approx 50,000 sustainable jobs and multi-billion dollar fishery and tourism industries to five provinces in Canada. Six and a half times smaller than the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of St. Lawrence is a fragile, landlocked, semi-enclosed body of water that completely exchanges its water with the Atlantic Ocean only once a year. In 1973, Dr. Loutfi of McGill University described it as the most productive marine region in Canada that should never be placed in harm’s way. According to him, because of its circular, counter clockwise currents, any oil and gas contamination would be widespread along the Gulf coastlines of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Today, SOSS is writing in response to the proposed issuance of a New License to Corridor by the Canada-Newfoundland Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) for the Old Harry license in the Laurentian Channel. It is outrageous that the C-NLOPB is attempting to start this licensing process all over again. This proposed new license must NOT be approved.

This exploration Licence No. 1105 was issued on January 15, 2008 for the Old Harry prospect in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, located mid-way between the Magdalen Islands and the west coast of Newfoundland. This four-year licence was extended in 2011, 2013 and most recently on January 4, 2016. In January 2017, Licence No. 1105 will reach the maximum non-renewable term of nine years. Please note that the C-NLOPB waived the $1 million deposit required for a licence extension each and every time until it exhausted all legal extensions.

The attempt by the C-NLOPB to start this process all over again by issuing a brand new license confirms what SOSS has been saying for decades, which is, that Canada’s offshore regulatory structure needs to be reviewed. As it stands now, it has become an abuse of the public interest that is neither, protecting worker safety or the environment.

Further, we are very disappointed that the recently announced environmental review of Canada’s environmental processes do not yet include a review of Canada’s Offshore Accords Acts. Especially since the current offshore regulatory structure in the Gulf of St. Lawrence does NOT protect the public interest.

Let us explain why. The problem stems, in part, from the offshore regulatory structure itself which is fundamentally flawed. 1. As it exists right now, five Gulf provinces have or will draw on man-made maps that provide artificial jurisdictional boundaries for undersea hydrocarbon exploitation, as if our Gulf were five separate bodies of water. Of course, it is not and the problem is, fish and oil do not recognize provincial boundaries.

Canada’s Gulf is one natural, irreplaceable ecosystem of magnificent beauty with spawning, nursery and migratory areas for over 4,000 different marine species – lobster, herring, mackerel, crab, to name a few. The Laurentian Channel is home to the largest concentration of krill in the North Atlantic. Our five provinces have shared these same fish stocks that have sustained First Nations, Gaelic and Acadian coastal communities for centuries. We hope to continue to do so for future generations and we trust you agree. Our children deserve no less.

May we remind you that these same fish swim across all provincial boundaries. As it stands now, the Right whale, Blue whale, leatherback turtle, piping plover and harlequin duck are endangered; while Atlantic salmon, cod, fin whale, and humpback whale are in trouble – a disgraceful indicator that in only fifty years, our generation has taken for granted and degraded our Gulf’s natural, renewable resources. We have allowed unfettered industrial development and pollution with little regard for the precautionary principle and ecosystem approaches demanded by the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity and a fundamental element of Canada’s Environmental Act and Fisheries Act.

This brings us back to the unworkable jurisdictional quagmire we find ourselves in. With all due respect, nothing exists in isolation. It is neither workable nor acceptable for our five Gulf provinces to be functioning through the National Energy Board and potentially, five separate offshore petroleum boards.

These separate bodies fail to consider the ecological, economic and social impact these deepwater wells could pose on all our shores. Furthermore, for citizens and stakeholders to have to deal with potentially 5 separate Boards for this same body of water is ridiculous and an abuse of the public trust.

The regulatory processes for approval of seismic blasting are so slack, they are basically a green light for the petroleum industry regardless of the lack of knowledge of species and the ecosystem.

A glaring example occurred in October 2010 when the C-NLOPB, allowed seismic blasting to proceed while endangered blue whale and cod were migrating through, even AFTER having been advised by whale experts against such irresponsible conduct.

As well, the current regulatory structure permits offshore petroleum boards to undermine federal and international obligations to protect wildlife threatened or endangered with extinction. This must not continue.
2. These petroleum boards have irreconcilable mandates as both promoters of extraction and protectors of our environment who allow the oil industry to monitor their own environmental requirements. After the BP oil spill, the US government finally recognized this inherent conflict and has separated these two functions. Newfoundland’s Wells Report also recommended a separate agency for environmental and safety be set up after the Cougar helicopter crash and deaths of 17 workers.

Volunteers, individual citizens and First Nations should not be required to unilaterally protect this precious body of water indefinitely, without support from federal agencies such as EC and DFO. Yet, this is exactly what has transpired for decades because of Memorandums of Understanding signed by DFO and EC deferring their powers of protection to unelected provincial petroleum Boards.

3. Mi’gmaq, Innu and Maliseet have called repeatedly for a moratorium on offshore oil and gas development in the Gulf of St Lawrence, in July 2014 at the AFN annual assembly in Halifax and at the Mi’gmaq Water Ceremony in October 2015 (See link to video below).

Therefore, we respectfully request, that you do NOT approve this new license for Corridor and that you exercise your federally-legislated powers to impose an immediate moratorium on any and all oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of St. Lawrence for now and in the foreseeable future.

We request that you restore vital federal powers to the Environment Act and Fisheries Act to protect Canada’s vulnerable oceans and especially, the Gulf of St Lawrence from offshore oil and gas development.

Sincerely yours,

Mary Gorman Save Our Seas and Shores Coalition P.O. Box 47 Merigomish, NS BOK 1GO

Tel: 902.926.2128

Greg Egilsson Chairman – Gulf NS Herring Federation PO Box 1803 Pictou Nova Scotia B0K 1H0

902.485.1729

Drilling licence proposal for Gulf of St. Lawrence provokes anger

Mi’gmaq Water Ceremony calling for moratorium in Gulf St Lawrence

Cc: Catherine McKenna Dominic LeBlanc Sean Fraser Mark Eyking Rodger Cuzner Andy Filmore Bill Casey Wayne Easter Lawrence MacAulay Sean Casey Carolyn Bennett Premier Dwight Ball Elizabeth May Linda Duncan

Charlie Angus

January 25, 2016

Hon. James Gordon Carr Minister of Natural Resources

Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0E4

Hon. Siobhan Coady Minister of Natural Resources PO Box 8700

St. John’s NL A1B 4J6

Dear Ministers:

Re: Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board and the Gulf of St. Lawrence

I am writing of behalf of the Prince Edward Island chapter of Save Our Seas and Shores (SOSS PEI). SOSS is a coalition of fishing organizations, environmental and tourism groups, coastal landowners, First Nations organizations, and individuals who are concerned that the ecologically rich and diverse Gulf of St. Lawrence, home to over 4,000 marine species, is particularly sensitive to any disturbance caused by seismic surveys, exploration and drilling for oil and gas.

As you know, for the third time in the past four years, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (the NL Board) has granted a one-year extension to Corridor Resources exploration licence on the Old Harry prospect in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, located mid-way between the Magdalen Islands and the west coast of Newfoundland. Citing regulatory factors as its reason, the NL Board also waived, for the third time in four years, the $1 million deposit required for a licence extension. The “regulatory factors” the NL Board referred to is the requirement for public and Aboriginal consultations which the Board must hold as part of the environmental assessment for this project.

In August 2011, the NL Board contracted with former New Brunswick Ombudsman Bernard Richard to carry out an independent review of the Old Harry project, then in February 2012 terminated his contract, without justification, before any public consultations were held. Since then, the NL Board has dragged its heels despite numerous inquiries asking when and how these consultations will be carried out. Even now, the NL Board in its January 15, 2016 news release, says it will announce plans for consultations with Aboriginal groups and the public “at a later date”, not sometime soon. Does the Board intend to keep on delaying the consultations indefinitely and continue to give Corridor Resources free licence extensions?

The current licence extension for Corridor Resources is just one in a series of irresponsible, biased actions and decisions on the part of the NL Board. In 2012, the Board contracted with AMEC Environment and Infrastructure to update the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the Newfoundland portion of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The purpose of the SEA was to assist the Board “in determining whether further exploration rights should be offered in whole or in part for the Western NL Offshore Area.” During the time the SEA was being conducted, the NL Board issued a call for bids for licences, including licences within the Gulf. Clearly, the Board assumed that further exploration rights would be offered in the Gulf, regardless of the findings of the SEA.

The SEA update report from AMEC discussed: numerous risks to marine species and the fisheries and tourism industries, the presence of many sensitive areas and endangered species, important data gaps, and the complex and deteriorating state of the Gulf. The lack of social acceptability was apparent from the results of the public consultations held in the five Gulf provinces. Of 597 written submissions and verbal comments, 582 expressed concerns regarding continued petroleum exploration in the Gulf. The logical conclusion, based on the findings in the report, would have been that the known risks outweigh the potential benefits. Instead of the normal procedure in which the authors of a report write the conclusions, the NL Board made the bizarre decision to write the conclusions itself. (This fact is no longer obvious in the final report on the Board’s website, perhaps due to criticism the Board received for writing its own conclusions.) Predictably, the NL Board concluded that “petroleum exploration activities generally can be undertaken in the Western NL area using the mitigation measures identified in the document.”

In addition, the Board concluded that suggestions that petroleum exploration activities in the Gulf should cease were policy decisions not within its mandate, despite the fact that the purpose of the report was, as noted above, to assist the Board in deciding whether to continue offering exploration rights in the NL portion of the Gulf.

As you know, to date only two of the five Gulf provinces have set up Offshore Petroleum Boards: Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. The Nova Scotia Board ceased any activity in the Gulf after a public review panel responded to public and Aboriginal concerns in 1999. If the NL Board did not have a pro-petroleum industry bias, it would also cease all activity in the Gulf.

The roles of the NL Board are to facilitate the exploration and development of hydrocarbon resources in the NL Offshore and to protect the environment and worker safety. As noted in the Wells Report of 2010, these are conflicting roles. Clearly, the NL Board shows by its actions and decisions that protecting the Gulf ecosystem is not a priority.

We believe that the federal and NL governments have abrogated their responsibilities to oversee the decisions of this appointed body. Decisions, including the recent free extension of Corridor Resources licence, appear to have been rubber-stamped by the federal and NL Ministers of Natural Resources. Only NL benefits from oil and gas exploration and development in the Gulf, while the other four Gulf provinces share the risks. The protection of marine species and the rights of the First Nations, fishers, and other residents of the Gulf provinces to protect the Gulf ecosystem and pursue their livelihoods are being ignored.

In light of the failure of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board to act in a responsible manner, SOSS PEI is calling on the federal and Newfoundland and Labrador governments to remove the Board’s mandate pertaining to offshore oil and gas exploration and development activities in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Sincerely, Ellie Reddin

Past-Chair, Save Our Seas and Shores-PEI Chapter (SOSS PEI)

c. Hon. Lawrence MacAulay, MP Hon. Wayne Easter, MP Sean Casey, MP Robert Morrissey, MP Hon. H. Wade MacLauchlan, Premier of Prince Edward Island Hon. Robert Mitchell, Minister of Communities, Land and Environment Hon. Paula Biggar, Minister of Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy Hon. Alan McIsaac, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries

Greg Wilson, Manager, Environmental Land Management

“Is the Trudeau government attuned to the threats to marine species in the Gulf of St. Lawrence from seismic surveys and drilling,” asks Michael Harris in this week’s iPolitics article, “How the federal government is doing wrong by North Atlantic right wales.”

“Or Is it all political and bureaucratic razzle-dazzle while the beat from the Harper era goes on?

“Are Canadians getting a new car or just a paint-job?”

Harris asks what motivates the Trudeau administration to continue to abide the influence of offshore petroleum boards in approval processes for oil and gas exploration. What an important question!

Lobster fisherman wary of Gulf of St. Lawrence oil drilling FRAM DINSHAW STAFF REPORTER Published May 10, 2016 – 6:25pm

Last Updated May 11, 2016 – 8:55am

As lobster season gets underway Tuesday in Cape Breton, a top local fisherman is warning that oil exploration and drilling in the Gulf of St. Lawrence could wreak havoc on local marine life.

“It could ruin our industry,” said Jordan MacDougall, president of the Inverness South Fisherman’s Association.

He warned that any oil spill would settle on the seabed — prime lobster habitat — and devastate their populations.

“You wouldn’t be able to sell your product and it would probably give Canada a negative name for that product from other areas,” said MacDougall.

His comments come just four months after regulators granted a one-year extension on an oil exploration licence for Corridor Resources Inc. at the Old Harry site off the western coast of Newfoundland, in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.

But some warn that drilling for oil at Old Harry may detonate a ticking time bomb.

According to the David Suzuki Foundation, a 10,000-barrel oil spill at Old Harry in winter would hit the coasts of Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Les Iles de-la-Madeleine, which belong to Quebec. Simulations at other times of year also predict oil hitting the west and southern coastline of Newfoundland.

The areas that would be worst-affected by any spill would likely vary between seasons, but the Gulf of Saint Lawrence’s prevailing current runs anti-clockwise, which would push oil away from the open Atlantic and potentially endanger all five provinces bordering it.

“The Gulf of Saint Lawrence should be off-limits for drilling because it’s an extremely valuable marine area in terms of fisheries — lobster, tuna, snow crab, as well as herring,” said federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May.

She also said the gulf was home to several species of endangered whales. The Species at Risk Public Registry lists blue whales as living in the gulf. The Alternative Journal also listed belugas as endangered in late 2014 after their numbers in the Saint Lawrence estuary and gulf dropped below 1,000.

“It’s really critical that we have protection of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence,” said May.

But she said that needed environmental protections were stripped away by the former Conservative government when it passed C-38 in 2012, an omnibus bill that reduced protections for Canadian fisheries and fish habitats. Protection is now limited to only commercial, recreational or First Nations fisheries. Furthermore, the new law forbids only the killing of fish or the permanent altering of their habitats.

C-38 also included a new Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, replacing a stricter law that was passed in 1992, according to the Environmental Law Centre (ELC).

The 2012 act removed the requirement for a federal environmental assessment for all development projects. Even in cases when a project is designated by regulation, C-38 allows the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency to determine that an assessment is not required.

Secondly, the federal government may decide not to conduct its own environmental assessment of a designated project on the basis that the project is being assessed provincially, which the ELC maintains is a delegation of federal power and jurisdiction to the provinces.

This leaves provincial agencies such as the Canada-Newfoundland & Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (CNLOPB) and the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum board free to conduct their own assessments without referring to the federal cabinet, according to May.

“The rest of Canada is not paying attention to these smaller agencies that got power to do environmental assessments under Harper,” said May, who added that C-38 had to be repealed by the present Liberal government.

May also criticized the renewal of Corridor Resources Inc.’s oil exploration licence for free in January.

“It’s the fourth year they’ve gotten it for free,” said May.

However, the CNLOPB said that environmental protection was a top priority when reviewing applications for oil drilling in areas like Old Harry.

“The Canada-Newfoundland & Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board delivers world-class regulatory oversight with safety and environmental protection as our top priorities.

“A comprehensive strategic environmental assessment update was completed for the Western Newfoundland Offshore Area in 2014, and a project-specific environmental assessment would also be required prior to authorization of a drilling program under the board’s jurisdiction,” said board spokesman Sean Kelly in an email.

He added that other obligations had to be met regarding installations, training and competency, emergency response plans, financial capacity and the industrial benefits of a proposed program.

The Herald tried contacting both Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Corridor Resources Inc.’s CEO Steve Moran for more information but was unable to reach them by late Tuesday afternoon.

Source: Chronicle Herald  (Links added – not contained in original article.)

Save Our Seas and Shores, PEI Chapter c/o Voluntary Resource Centre 81 Prince St. Charlottetown PEI

C1A 4R3

September 26, 2016

Hon. James Gordon Carr Minister of Natural Resources

Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0E4

Hon. Siobhan Coady Minister of Natural Resources PO Box 8700 St. John’s NL A1B 4J6

Dear Ministers:

Re: Proposed Issuance of New Licence to Corridor Resources by Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board

The Prince Edward Island chapter of Save Our Seas and Shores (SOSS PEI) protests the proposed issuance of a new exploration licence to Corridor Resources to replace the licence it has held since 2008 (Exploration Licence No. 1105) for the same lands. SOSS PEI urges you to refrain from approving issuance of this new licence to Corridor Resources.

Exploration Licence No. 1105 was issued on January 15, 2008 for the Old Harry prospect in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, located mid-way between the Magdalen Islands and the west coast of Newfoundland. This four-year licence was extended in 2011, 2013 and most recently on January 4, 2016. In January 2017, Licence No. 1105 will reach the maximum non-renewable term of nine years. We note that, for each extension, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (the NL Board) waived the $1 million deposit required for a licence extension.

In its notice in the Canada Gazette (2016-09-17), the NL Board proposes to issue the new licence pursuant to paragraph 61(1)(b) of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act, S.C., 1987, c.3, and paragraph 60(1)(b) of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act, R.S.N.L. 1990, c. C-2. These paragraphs state that the board may issue an interest without making a call for bids where “the board is issuing the interest to an interest owner for the surrender by the interest owner, at the request of the board, of another interest or a share of another interest, in relation to all or a portion of the offshore area subject to that other interest.” In this case, the NL Board is proposing a new licence for “the same lands as those associated with Exploration Licence No. 1105” (as stated in the Canada Gazette), not for “another interest or a share of another interest.” Such a misuse of the provisions of the Act to circumvent the nine year maximum term of a licence should not be permitted.

The notice in the Canada Gazette states that the new licence “will provide appropriate time for a robust review process…” We note that the NL Board has had plenty of time to initiate a robust review process. In August 2011, the NL Board contracted with former New Brunswick Ombudsman Bernard Richard to carry out an independent review of the Old Harry project, then in February 2012 terminated his contract, without justification, before any public consultations were held. Since then, the NL Board has dragged its heels despite numerous inquiries asking when and how these consultations will be carried out. The issuance of a new licence to Corridor Resources to cover for the NL Board’s inexplicable failure to conduct a review or the required public and Aboriginal consultations would be an abuse of process.

We note that, in a Canadian Press article printed in the Charlottetown Guardian on September 17, 2016, the Natural Resources Canada spokesperson is quoted as saying that the government will take into account feedback received through the Canada Gazette process in deciding whether to approve the new licence. We strongly urge you to take our concerns into account and refuse to approve the new licence for Corridor Resources on the Old Harry prospect.

Sincerely,

Colin Jeffrey

Chair, Save Our Seas and Shores-PEI Chapter (SOSS PEI)
SOSS is a coalition of fishing organizations, environmental and tourism groups, coastal landowners, First Nations organizations, and individuals who are concerned that the ecologically rich and diverse Gulf of St. Lawrence, home to over 4,000 marine species, is particularly sensitive to any disturbance caused by seismic surveys, exploration and drilling for oil and gas. cc Sean Kelly, Manager of Public Relations, C-NLOPB Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau Hon. Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Hon. Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Elizabeth May, MP and Leader, Green Party of Canada Hon. Lawrence MacAulay, MP Hon. Wayne Easter, MP Sean Casey, MP Robert Morrissey, MP Hon. H. Wade MacLauchlan, Premier of Prince Edward Island Hon. Robert Mitchell, Minister of Communities, Land and Environment Hon. Paula Biggar, Minister of Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy Hon. Alan McIsaac, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries

Greg Wilson, Manager, Environmental Land Management