Green Party leader Elizabeth May broadcasts false information about the danger of oil spills off the north coast of BC

[blackbird]

Elizabeth May said that there is no chance there will ever be an oil tanker up in B.C.'s north coast.  Then she goes on to make false claims about the hazards of Hecate Strait.  She falsely claimed the tides are 10 to 30 metres.  You heard it, 10 to 30 meter tides.  That is a blatant falsehood.  I just googled the tides in Hecate Strait and the high tides are 6.35 metres.  Then she said the bare ocean is exposed because of these tides.  That would be along the shoreline, not out in the ocean of Hecate Strait where an oil tanker would travel.  In fact, the depth of Hecate Strait is 140 to 240 meters.  So actually the tides do not have any real bearing on ships that are out in the Hecate Strait far from the coast.  What she is saying is false and not where tankers would be travelling. There is not much chance a tanker would be running aground in those depths of ocean.  The width of Hecate Strait is 48 kilometers.  That is a wide body of water.  So what Elizabeth May is doing is fear-mongering and trying to create more political opposition to oil tankers to ship oil from Alberta to Asia and world markets via the Prince Rupert deep sea port.

Oil tankers have operated in and out of the Vancouver area and through the Georgia Strait and Burrard Inlet for around 100 years with very few serious spills.  The tides in Georgia Strait are 5.05 meters, not that much less than the tides in Hecate Strait on the north coast.  Most spills are relatively minor.  The claim that tankers travelling out of the north coast would be a major risk that would destroy the coast which covers thousands of square kilometers is a complete exaggeration and falsehood.   Any spill would likely be very rare first of all and secondly, it should be able to be managed and cleaned up quite well.  Extensive precautions would be taken such as there will be marine traffic control to control the exact movement of the tankers and tankers would be required to meet certain construction standards.  They may even be required to be accompanied through coastal areas by large sea-going tugs.  Then there are spill response ships that would be available. This would mitigate the risk of oil spills caused by running aground on the coast.  All of man's life on earth entails certain risks to the environment.  The idea is to mitigate those risks as much as possible, not ban humans from having the benefits of modern civilization.

Here is the approximately one minute video clip of her giving her misinformation.

'No chance’ oil tanker will ever enter northern B.C. coast: Elizabeth May | Watch

Currently there are a number of measures that are taken to mitigate the possibility of an oil spill caused by tankers in and out of Vancouver/Burnaby seaport.

This includes the use of sea going tugs.

quote

An important marine safety practice for all large deep draft commercial vessels, escort tugs help minimize the risk of collision or grounding if a vessel becomes disabled for any reason.

Local tug escort services support tanker transit and other large commercial ships within the Port of Vancouver per the requirements of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.

Outside the Port of Vancouver, tug escorts are another requirement mandated by PPA for laden vessels carrying liquids in bulk. Under current regulation, an escort tug accompanies the vessel from the jurisdictional boundaries of Vancouver Harbour until the vicinity of Race Rocks, an ecological reserve west of Victoria. When passing through Boundary Pass (East Point on Saturna Island) and Haro Straight (Brotchie Ledge), the escort tug is tethered to the ship to ensure safe passage. The tug must be able to steer and stop the ship to minimize the risk of grounding or collision if the vessel cannot function.  unquote

Trans Mountain - Marine Safety

I think it is fair to say the same type of safety measures would be taken on the BC north coast, which Elizabeth May never mentioned at all.

 

Edited November 19, 2025 by blackbird

[herbie]

No she doesn't.

YOU DO!

Want another pipeline? Build it along TMX and a big terminal at Roberts Bank. YOU want a new pipe, then YOU take on the risks. 

[taxme]

2 hours ago, blackbird said:

Elizabeth May said that there is no chance there will ever be an oil tanker up in B.C.'s north coast.  Then she goes on to make false claims about the hazards of Hecate Strait.  She falsely claimed the tides are 10 to 30 metres.  You heard it, 10 to 30 meter tides.  That is a blatant falsehood.  I just googled the tides in Hecate Strait and the high tides are 6.35 metres.  Then she said the bare ocean is exposed because of these tides.  That would be along the shoreline, not out in the ocean of Hecate Strait where an oil tanker would travel.  In fact, the depth of Hecate Strait is 140 to 240 meters.  So actually the tides do not have any real bearing on ships that are out in the Hecate Strait far from the coast.  What she is saying is false and not where tankers would be travelling. There is not much chance a tanker would be running aground in those depths of ocean.  The width of Hecate Strait is 48 kilometers.  That is a wide body of water.  So what Elizabeth May is doing is fear-mongering and trying to create more political opposition to oil tankers to ship oil from Alberta to Asia and world markets via the Prince Rupert deep sea port.

Oil tankers have operated in and out of the Vancouver area and through the Georgia Strait and Burrard Inlet for around 100 years with very few serious spills.  The tides in Georgia Strait are 5.05 meters, not that much less than the tides in Hecate Strait on the north coast.  Most spills are relatively minor.  The claim that tankers travelling out of the north coast would be a major risk that would destroy the coast which covers thousands of square kilometers is a complete exaggeration and falsehood.   Any spill would likely be very rare first of all and secondly, it should be able to be managed and cleaned up quite well.  Extensive precautions would be taken such as there will be marine traffic control to control the exact movement of the tankers and tankers would be required to meet certain construction standards.  They may even be required to be accompanied through coastal areas by large sea-going tugs.  Then there are spill response ships that would be available. This would mitigate the risk of oil spills caused by running aground on the coast.  All of man's life on earth entails certain risks to the environment.  The idea is to mitigate those risks as much as possible, not ban humans from having the benefits of modern civilization.

Here is the approximately one minute video clip of her giving her misinformation.

'No chance’ oil tanker will ever enter northern B.C. coast: Elizabeth May | Watch

Currently there are a number of measures that are taken to mitigate the possibility of an oil spill caused by tankers in and out of Vancouver/Burnaby seaport.

This includes the use of sea going tugs.

quote

An important marine safety practice for all large deep draft commercial vessels, escort tugs help minimize the risk of collision or grounding if a vessel becomes disabled for any reason.

Local tug escort services support tanker transit and other large commercial ships within the Port of Vancouver per the requirements of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.

Outside the Port of Vancouver, tug escorts are another requirement mandated by PPA for laden vessels carrying liquids in bulk. Under current regulation, an escort tug accompanies the vessel from the jurisdictional boundaries of Vancouver Harbour until the vicinity of Race Rocks, an ecological reserve west of Victoria. When passing through Boundary Pass (East Point on Saturna Island) and Haro Straight (Brotchie Ledge), the escort tug is tethered to the ship to ensure safe passage. The tug must be able to steer and stop the ship to minimize the risk of grounding or collision if the vessel cannot function.  unquote

Trans Mountain - Marine Safety

I think it is fair to say the same type of safety measures would be taken on the BC north coast, which Elizabeth May never mentioned at all.

 

Who is Elizabeth May? Is she that communist in the NDP party? I believe that only buffoons and idi0ts will listen to her lies and bull chit. 👎 

[eyeball]

19 hours ago, blackbird said:

Any spill would likely be very rare first of all and secondly, it should be able to be managed and cleaned up quite well.

Sure...I recall the Nestucca spill around 1984. Long Beach was littered with 20 - 40 foot wide pancakes of oil congealed into that shape by a fortuitous cold snap. The pancakes stayed like that waiting to be rolled up like burritos and hauled off the beach. For nearly two weeks of cold flat perfect calm weather authorities dithered and seduced the canine lost in a moral panic about allowing local excavators and dump trucks onto their precious beach.

Finally they said go for it and that very night a storm blew in and within a day 5 m waves smashed all the pancakes into pieces the size of a dime that you can still find to this day. It blew hard like that for two weeks and the clean up that finally followed was so late it was essentially pointless.

I was there, I saw it with my own eyes.

[herbie]

18 hours ago, taxme said:

Who is Elizabeth May? Is she that communist in the NDP party? I believe that only buffoons and idi0ts will listen to her lies and bull chit.

Someone demonstrating such a level of political ignorance calling others bufoons.... as funny as Trump calling someone else Piggy...

[WestCanMan]

22 hours ago, blackbird said:

Elizabeth May said that there is no chance there will ever be an oil tanker up in B.C.'s north coast.  Then she goes on to make false claims about the hazards of Hecate Strait.  She falsely claimed the tides are 10 to 30 metres.  You heard it, 10 to 30 meter tides.  That is a blatant falsehood.  I just googled the tides in Hecate Strait and the high tides are 6.35 metres.  Then she said the bare ocean is exposed because of these tides.  That would be along the shoreline, not out in the ocean of Hecate Strait where an oil tanker would travel.  In fact, the depth of Hecate Strait is 140 to 240 meters.  So actually the tides do not have any real bearing on ships that are out in the Hecate Strait far from the coast.  What she is saying is false and not where tankers would be travelling. There is not much chance a tanker would be running aground in those depths of ocean.  The width of Hecate Strait is 48 kilometers.  That is a wide body of water.  So what Elizabeth May is doing is fear-mongering and trying to create more political opposition to oil tankers to ship oil from Alberta to Asia and world markets via the Prince Rupert deep sea port.

What are you trying to say? That enviro-tards are liars? 

So what? Do you think it matters to herbie, eyeball, ex-flyer, MH etc if May/Trudeau/Carney/Singh and the CBC lie? 

Watch and learn

[taxme]

2 hours ago, herbie said:

Someone demonstrating such a level of political ignorance calling others bufoons.... as funny as Trump calling someone else Piggy...

All lieberals and NDP Marxist buffoons are buffoons. That is not being ignorant. That is telling the truth, buffoon. 🤡

[blackbird]

quote

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May’s baseless denial that oil tankers will ever navigate the B.C. north coast completely ignores the decades of safe shipping in the area, a reality made even more secure by modern navigation technology.

Green Party MP Elizabeth May warned reporters on Wednesday against the possibility of oil tankers navigating Hecate Strait, citing its dangerous conditions to justify a controversial “tanker ban” in the area.

“The inner waters between Haida Gwaii and the coast of Canada is something called the Hecate Strait,” May told reporters. “You should look it up.”

A brief search would show that Hecate Strait, a critical maritime passageway between Haida Gwaii and the mainland of British Columbia, has been a route for various types of maritime traffic—including oil tankers—for centuries.

“The water that flows through the sea has waves and currents that are extraordinary,” May further claimed. “They sometimes go down so low that they expose the ocean floor. That is why there has been a tanker moratorium on our North Coast.”

While the Hecate Strait is indeed known for being a dangerous body of water due to severe weather, strong winds, and rough waves, especially during winter storms, this claim is false and misleading and modern seafaring in the area is frequently conducted safely.

Indigenous peoples, particularly the Haida, Tsimshian, and Nisga’a nations, have also long navigated the Hecate Strait as part of their extensive maritime networks using canoes. The Haida, for instance, used it as a key navigational body of water, often relied upon when raiding coastal areas to capture slaves.

The arrival of European explorers in the late 18th century, such as Jacinto Caamaño and George Vancouver, further demonstrates the strait’s navigability. These early mariners charted the area despite its challenges, paving the way for fur trade routes and later commercial shipping.

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As for the “tanker moratorium on our North Coast,” May’s comments, again, do not tell the full story.

The so-called “moratorium,” initially established as a “commitment” by the Pierre Trudeau government in 1972, was extended to include offshore oil and gas activities but has never been an absolute ban on all maritime traffic.

The Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, enacted more recently, specifically targets crude and persistent oil shipments, but only those exceeding 12,500 metric tonnes, allowing smaller vessels to continue operations and navigate the strait.

May’s comment that Hecate Strait is “the most dangerous body of water on the Canadian coastline, according to the government of Canada,” is also inaccurate.

True North could find no direct evidence that “the Canadian government,” specifically Environment Canada, has officially stated that the Hecate Strait is “the most dangerous body of water on the Canadian coastline.”

While secondary sources, such as articles by paddling enthusiast magazine writers and environmental reports, have described it as highly hazardous, these claims are not directly attributed to an official government ranking or document.

True North reached out to the Green Party for clarification on the source for May’s claim, but our calls were not returned.

Despite May’s warnings about the dangers posed by the strait’s conditions, historical records and current maritime operations indicate that oil tankers have safely navigated, and continue to navigate, these waters for decades, particularly those associated with the transportation of crude oil from Alaska to U.S. refineries.

Contrary to May’s claims, those tankers continue to operate and are often considered a crucial energy lifeline to those living in coastal communities.

While no major nautical disasters involving oil tankers have resulted in significant spills directly in Hecate Strait, the broader British Columbia north coast region has experienced a few incidents and “near-misses” with petroleum vessels.

Most recently, an American articulated tug-barge, the Jake Shearer, which transports fuel, separated from its fully loaded 80,000-barrel fuel barge during stormy weather in Hecate Strait, about 25 nautical miles southwest of Bella Bella. The barge drifted for several hours before being reconnected, but no grounding occurred, and no oil was spilled.    unquote

Elizabeth May’s claims on B.C.’s north coast ignores centuries of maritime history

I also found that some websites claim tankers do not travel through Hecate Strait.

But another website says in fact American tankers do travel through Hecate Strait.  

So who is telling the truth?  You be the judge

[eyeball]

7 hours ago, blackbird said:

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May’s baseless denial that oil tankers will ever navigate the B.C. north coast completely ignores the decades of safe shipping in the area, a reality made even more secure by modern navigation technology.

I'd rather see her stick to pushing for keeping the oil in the ground in the first place and putting the billions it'll take to develop more fossil fuels into alternative technologies and energy that we can export...like nuclear SMRs.

You can ship as many of those thru Hecate Strait as you like AFAIC.

Edited November 22, 2025 by eyeball

[blackbird]

43 minutes ago, eyeball said:

I'd rather see her stick to pushing for keeping the oil in the ground in the first place and putting the billions it'll take to develop more fossil fuels into alternative technologies and energy that we can export...like nuclear SMRs.

You can ship as many of those thru Hecate Strait as you like AFAIC.

I love oil and we need to extract and ship as much as possible.  Make Canada prosperous again.

[taxme]

On 11/20/2025 at 12:01 PM, herbie said:

Someone demonstrating such a level of political ignorance calling others bufoons.... as funny as Trump calling someone else Piggy...

So, i will now call you Ms Piggy. So, now what? Cry maybe, lieberal? If Trump calls someone the word "Piggy", why do you care? I thought that it was funny. LOL. 

I know that lieberals like you always go into a tantrum and start to cry when someone like Trump calls someone a piggy or some other name. Are you now offended by Trump calling some lieberal reporter "piggy", who no doubt probably deserved it anyway. Stop trying to pretend that you really care, when in reality, you do not care at all.

You are such a crybaby lieberal and lieberals like you do not care about anything or anyone except for themselves. I have lieberal friends and they are exactly like a typical lieberal. They have a it's all about me attitude. At least conservatives show that they care. 🤡

. 

[taxme]

On 11/22/2025 at 1:56 PM, eyeball said:

I'd rather see her stick to pushing for keeping the oil in the ground in the first place and putting the billions it'll take to develop more fossil fuels into alternative technologies and energy that we can export...like nuclear SMRs.

You can ship as many of those thru Hecate Strait as you like AFAIC.

Are you still daft? Pretty much everything we use today uses oil. Without oil, pretty much cannot get done. May is just another NDP communist who wants Canada and Canadians to go back to the stone age or to the good old days of the Native Indians and how they use to live hundreds of years ago in Canada. Only buffoons and id0ts keep listening to her Marxist crazy in the head babble.

It still amazes me as to how the NDP communist party keeps getting approx. 17% of the vote during a federal election. And during the provincial elections in BC, especially on Vancouver Island, the NDP commies, receive about 80% of the vote and they just keep on winning elections. There sure appears to be one hell of a lot of commie noodle heads living on Vancouver Island. Just like in Canada, the federal lieberals keep winning way too many elections, the NDP here in BC keeps on winning elections. 

This is why Canada will never be able to reach and see it's full potential because we have way too many lieberal and NDP communists supporters in Canada that would prefer to see Canada go woke and broke and bankrupt rather than do the right thing for a change and vote conservative and make Canada great again. 

So, like i say all the time? The hell with Canada. Canada is dead and needs to go RIP. My opinion of course. 😁

[herbie]

1 hour ago, taxme said:

So, i will now call you Ms Piggy. So, now what? Cry maybe

One day you'll accept the fact that some people you loathe are way smarter that you on certain subjects. Hard lesson most people learn by the time they're 4 or 5.

[taxme]

21 hours ago, herbie said:

One day you'll accept the fact that some people you loathe are way smarter that you on certain subjects. Hard lesson most people learn by the time they're 4 or 5.

Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me, unless you are a crybaby lieberal, where they will always cry when you call them a name. Pretty soon, with this present day communist lieberal party in power here in Canada, they will be making another commie like hate law that will have someone arrested, charged and thrown in the gulag for the audacity of insulting somebody. 

Hey, and why not. The commie lieberals are now trying to create many new laws that will stifle free speech and create new censorship and hate laws like C-2, C-8, C-9, C-11, C-18 and C-63 or C-68. 

I loathe all things lieberal because in just about every case, lieberals like to lie and bull chit. I have mentioned here many times where lieberals have and still are lying to this day, and you cannot seem to be able to defend their lying.

It would appear as though you have not learned any hard lessons about lieberals and their lies and bs. So, just how old are you, anyway? Just asking. 

Do you even know as to what is really going on in Canada today? Well? 

Edited November 24, 2025 by taxme

[herbie]

3 hours ago, taxme said:

Sticks and stones will break my bones

 

3 hours ago, taxme said:

The commie lieberals

 

3 hours ago, taxme said:

I loathe all things lieberal because in just about every case, lieberals like to lie and bull chit. I have mentioned here many times where lieberals have and still are lying to this day, and you cannot seem to be able to defend their lying.

See what I mean about intellectual ability of children? Not just on a political level either.

[blackbird]

On 11/23/2025 at 5:06 PM, taxme said:

There sure appears to be one hell of a lot of commie noodle heads living on Vancouver Island.

You are correct.  Vancouver Island is a haven for tree huggers and environmental radicals... Eby has gone crazy against a proposed oil pipeline from Alberta to the BC north coast at Prince Rupert.  Premier Eby is so far into the extremist camp that the fed gov't doesn't want to even talk to him about a pipeline to the BC north coast.  He is being left out because the feds and other provinces know it would be a useless conversation.

[eyeball]

1 hour ago, blackbird said:

He is being left out because the feds and other provinces know it would be a useless conversation.

So you support Ottawa forcing a pipeline thru BC?

How about Quebec?

[herbie]

2 hours ago, blackbird said:

Vancouver Island is a haven for tree huggers and environmental radicals...

Tell you what it's not - a miserable collection of cement box dwellers trapped in a concrete jungle and deluded into thinking they'll be a nickel richer by f*cking up someone else's wildlife, property and lifestyle
Let the oil spill all over your backyard, you only need to sprinkle sand and steamroll it. It's called Sealcoat, real good for pickleball courts. And the rain just runs off....

Edited November 25, 2025 by herbie

[BeaverFever]

On 11/19/2025 at 8:23 PM, taxme said:

Who is Elizabeth May? Is she that communist in the NDP party? I believe that only buffoons and idi0ts will listen to her lies and bull chit. 👎 

Dude seriously?  Are you American?

[taxme]

20 hours ago, herbie said:

 

 

See what I mean about intellectual ability of children? Not just on a political level either.

A child may not know as to how to really respond to any political questions because they are just as dumb as you are when it comes to politics. You refuse to reply to any questions that i have asked of you. Therefore, you should equate yourself more with the mind of a child than trying to pretend that you are all grown up. You trying to appear to be an intellectual person yourself is a bloody joke for sure. Just saying. 🤡

 

[taxme]

17 hours ago, BeaverFever said:

Dude seriously?  Are you American?

Dude, i am serious when i say that you are a commie lieberal here. Sadly, i am Canadian and not very proud to say so. What lieberals like you have done to Canada with your lieberal lies and bull crap and lieberalike you have turned this once great country into a 3rd world multicultural hell hole with crime on the increase and having housing problems and high food prices. You have nothing to be proud of, comrade.

You should be ashamed of yourself for supporting a lieberal communist government in Ottawa. Go ahead and prove to me that your lieberal communist government in Ottawa is not a real communist party? I will bet that you cannot, comrade? 

Lieberals are all talk, and no action. 🤮