Cullen to host townhall in Prince George Friday regarding supertanker ban

Opposition Finance Critic Nathan Cullen will be in Prince George Friday to encourage area residents to pressure MPs Dick Harris and Bob Zimmer to get onside with British Columbians who want to ban oil supertankers from North Coast waters.

“We’ve set ourselves a goal of 100 days to collect 100,000 signatures to convince 10 BC Conservative MPs to support this proposed legislation that would put a full and final stop to the Enbridge Northern Gateway project,” Cullen said. “Enbridge will absolutely be a B.C. ballot box issue in 2015 and Conservative MPs hoping to keep their jobs really need to be thinking about doing what their constituents want, instead of what Mr. Harper wants.”

Cullen is hosting a town hall in Prince George tomorrow night as part of his B.C.-wide Take Back our Coast tour about the private member’s bill he introduced in Parliament last month to ban oil supertankers from the Pacific Northwest. The Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP’s proposed legislation would put into law for the first time a moratorium to fully protect the region.

“Conservatives have arrogantly refused to listen to the concerns of people in the Northwest and across British Columbia,” said Cullen. “That spans the gamut from the risks of crude tankers in our northern coastal waters, to shutting communities out of the process, to failing to consider the impact on value-added jobs.”

Cullen’s bill also seeks to give communities a stronger voice in pipeline reviews and better consider the impacts of projects on value added jobs. His proposed legislation is scheduled for a vote in Parliament in January or February 2015.

Tomorrow’s event (Friday, Oct. 24) runs 7-9 pm in CNC Room 1-306.

Cullen invites people to find event information and sign on to the campaign to defend the Pacific Northwest at www.takebackourcoast.ca.