BC Fought Hard for This Protection. Here's the Story.
The tanker ban didn't just happen. Fishing crews, First Nations, plant workers, and coastal residents spent years fighting for it. They showed up at hearings, signed petitions, and made their voices heard — and it worked. Here's how it happened.
Here's a brief timeline:
1
2006
Enbridge proposes the Northern Gateway pipeline to Kitimat, bringing supertankers onto the North Coast for the first time.
Coastal First Nations, fishing communities, and local governments begin organizing to stop it.
2
2010
Enbridge Northern Gateway hearings begin: Fishing crews, First Nations, and coastal residents spent years speaking out against tanker routes.
That pressure slowed the project.
3
2016
The Nathan E. Stewart runs aground in Heiltsuk territory.
The Northern Gateway Pipeline proposal is rejected a month later.
The Federal government commits to formalizing a North Coast oil tanker ban.
4
2019
Oil Tanker Moratorium Act (Bill C-48) became law.
It keeps heavy crude tankers off the North Coast and protects the waters that support fishing, tourism, and coastal transport.
5
2025
Alberta pushes new export schemes with multinational partners.
The question is whether the coast can hold the line again.
This was ordinary people protecting their livelihoods. Fishers, plant workers, harbour crews, and coastal families who knew what was at stake — and refused to back down.
"Our coastal communities depend on a healthy environment, and an oil spill in the north coast could devastate coastal economies and communities that depend on the ocean's resources."— Shoreworkers local 31 president Arnold Nagy, in a 2010 declaration by the United Fisherman and Allied Workers Union backing the tanker ban.The union said the fishing industry contributes more than $135 million to the central and north coast regions, the single largest private employer in the area, which includes many remote First Nation communities.
Sources for this page
Open Case Studies
The Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines: Reconciling Interests
Is it possible to reconcile the competing interests between the project proponent and those First Nations communities who oppose the project on the one hand and the conflict between First Nations - where some communities oppose the project and others are in support of it?
