In 1972 the Government of Canada imposed a moratorium to prevent tankers
carrying Alaska crude oil from traveling through B.C. waters. The moratorium was extended to include
exploration and development of offshore oil and gas reserves.
The B.C. Provincial Government put its own moratorium in place because of a dispute with the federal government over who had control of the waters between Haida Gwaii and the north end of Vancouver Island.
In the early 1980s the Canadian and B.C. governments reviewed the offshore oil and gas moratorium. A subsequent report recommended 92 conditions to be met for the moratorium to be lifted.
Later in the '80s, both levels of government were considering lifting the tanker moratorium when two devastating oil spills changed their minds. In 1988 a fuel barge spilled 875 tonnes of bunker oil off the coast of Washington State. Currents carried the oil to beaches along the west coast of Vancouver Island. Thousands of seabirds were destroyed and the raptors that fed on their oily carcasses were injured; herring spawn, crabs and shellfish also suffered. The next year, the infamous oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, spilling approximately 11 million gallons of oil. More than 15 years later the clean up continues.
Since coming into power in 2001, the B.C. Liberal Party has pressured the federal government to lift its moratorium on offshore oil and gas. In 2003, the provincial government created the Offshore Oil and Gas Team to promote an offshore oil and gas industry in B.C. In 2004 the province approved $17 million to support their work.
In 2003, the federal government held public hearings on the moratorium. Over 3,700 people took part, many work and live on the coast. Seventy-five percent said they wanted the moratorium on offshore oil and gas maintained. The government also interviewed 70 B.C. First Nations. All of them supported for the moratorium.
B.C. cannot develop an offshore oil and gas industry without the support of the federal government. In a briefing to the province, the federal government said between five and seven years of research were needed to fill the gaps in information before taking a decision on the moratorium. That research has not been done.