Federal Government

In 2004, the federal government asked British Columbians their views on the moratorium through public hearings and First Nations interviews. The public review involved the participation of 3,700 individuals, many of who work and live on the coast of B.C. Seventy-five percent of the participants told the federal government they wanted the moratorium on offshore oil and gas maintained. The First Nations review involved 70 nations in B.C. and all of them expressed support for the moratorium.  Many coastal residents made written submissions to the Priddle review panel. Click here to view some of the submssions.

Despite the pubic opposition to lifting the moratorium, the federal government has not publicly announced it will respect these wishes. This silence is giving the provincial government the opportunity to continue advancing their pro-development agenda. To let the federal government know your support for maintaining the moratorium click here.

In a briefing to the province, the federal government said between five and seven years of research was still needed to fill the gaps in information before taking a decision on the moratorium. As of January 2005, none of this research had been undertaken.