What: The Council of Canadians is hosting a boat tour of the Lunenburg Harbour to highlight the potential impacts offshore drilling may have on fisheries, local economies, and communities. BP was recently granted approval to conduct exploratory offshore drilling in Nova Scotia as early as this spring. The Council is also organizing a series of public town halls taking place in Halifax and on the south shore from March 20-22.
When: 11 a.m., Thursday, March 22, 2018.
Where: Inshore Fishermen’s Wharf, Bluenose Drive, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Media are invited to park at the museum and walk down Bluenose Drive to the first wharf on the right side. (Map)
Who: Antonia Juhasz, author of Black Tide: The Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill, will be available for comment on BP’s new project and its corporate history of negligence leading to the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, as well as the current push to keep offshore drilling out of the U.S.’s Atlantic waters for fear of impacting the multi-billion dollar fishery.
Colin Sproul, fifth generation fisherman and Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association board director, will be available for comment on the impact that an offshore spill would have on fisheries and fishing communities across Nova Scotia.
Peter Puxley, economist, former CBC journalist, and a policy researcher will be available to comment on the influence that the oil and gas industry has had on energy regulation in Canada, with specific attention on the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board and Environment and Climate Change Canada, both of which have regulatory duties pertaining to BP’s project.
Members of the Council of Canadians and the Campaign to Protect Offshore Nova Scotia will be available for comment about the speaking tour, and the broader effort to stop offshore drilling in Nova Scotia.
-30-
Contact:
Robin Tress, Council of Canadians, 902-223-8526
Dylan Penner, Council of Canadians, 613-795-8685
