History of the Fight to Stop offshore oil Development
1972 Federal moratorium issued to forbid crude oil tanker traffic and exploratory drilling in Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound due to concerns about negative impacts on BC fisheries.
1981 Provincial moratorium on offshore drilling is reaffirmed.
1982 Petro-Canada and Chevron corporations lobby the federal government for exploratory permits for BC's coastal waters and produce an "Initial Environmental Evaluation" (IEE) for their proposals.
1984 The BC and federal governments appoint the "West Coast Offshore Exploration Environmental Assessment Panel" to conduct a review of the IEEs. Social and environmental scientists, along with the public, request further research and information, at which time Petro-Canada withdraws from the public process. Chevron continues its efforts.
1984 The Panel issues its report and recommendations. Federal and Provincial governments begin, but never complete, cost and profit sharing negotiations.
1989 The Exxon Valdez crashes into a reef, rupturing its hull, and spills 11,000,000 gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sounds, Alaska. It is an environmental, social, and economic catastrophe.
1996 BC NDP government commissions the Canadian Oceans Frontiers Research Foundation to review the findings of the West Coast Offshore Exploration Environmental Assment Panel. It gave a cautionary green light to development.
1997 North Coast Oil and Gas Task Force, a business lobby group from Prince Rupert, is established to push forward their agenda of having the drilling moratoria lifted.
1997 Canadian taxpayers shell out $710 million to develop Hibernia, an offshore oil drilling operation on Canada's East Coast. A total of 92 minor spills have been reported.
1999 BC NDP government appoints Northern Development Commissioner John Backhouse who intitiates a private canvass of persons, groups and organizations along the northern coast in regards to the possibility of opening up offshore oil and gas exploration.
2000 BC Premier Dosanjh says NDP will maintain the moratorium, citing the potential of earthquakes and oil spills and the need to safeguard our coastal waters.
2001 The new BC Liberal government rejects the July 2001 Backhouse Report recomendation for extended public hearings, appoints a scientific panel to report in early 2002 and increases its push towards quickly lifting the moratorium despite growing opposition.
