The federal Conservative government's position on a tanker exclusion zone off of British Columbia's coast, which has implications for Enbridge's proposed $4.5 billion pipeline, appeared in question earlier this month.
During question period in the House of Commons, in response to questions from the NDP over the Gulf of Mexico offshore drilling disaster, Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis said no oil tankers are allowed in the Inside Passage. Paradis stated: "That is the way it is, and it will not change."
Tankers carrying oil from the proposed Enbridge pipeline terminal in Kitimat would travel the waters of the Inside Passage.
Paradis' comments appeared to contradict the Conservative government's earlier position: There is no blanket moratorium on tanker traffic on B.C.'s inside coastal waters.
For more, see The Citizen.