While some Northwest politicians are none too impressed with a Senate committee recommendation to sink the Trudeau government’s North Coast tanker ban bill, one area First Nation applauds the move.
Lax Kw’alaams Mayor John Helin, who recently travelled to Ottawa to speak to Bill C-48, says the legislation would target communities like his that seek to capitalize on potential resource development.
Helin says the tanker ban bill was imposed by Ottawa without consultation with his community would unfairly target Indigenous communities looking to generate economic opportunities and build better lives.
The mayor’s brother, Calvin Helin, is president and CEO of Eagle Spirit Energy Holdings, which wants to develop a $16 billion oil pipeline from Alberta to the North Coast.
The tanker ban would be a direct obstacle to the proposal.
The Senate is expected to decide on the fate of the legislation in the coming days.
