Calls are on for extension of Georges Bank moratorium
“Nova Scotians want resource development to be balanced with strong protection for the environment.” Patricia Jreige Communications advisor for the N.S. Department of Natural Resources and Renewables
Unlike others, Ronnie LeBlanc didn't have a ‘No Rigs on Georges' bumper sticker back in the day. But he and others were opposed then, and remain opposed now, to any oil and gas exploration in the lucrative Georges Bank fishing area.
With the most current Georges Bank moratorium set to expire at the end of this year, LeBlanc and others are pushing the provincial and federal governments to extend it once again.
LeBlanc – a former fisherman, a former Clare municipal warden, and now the MLA for Clare –hopes to see an indefinite extension, as opposed to putting a timeframe on it.
“It's very important for me and for southwest Nova, without question,” he says. “The fishing industry is the major economic driver for this region. In my mind, you have to protect it all costs.”
“It's what is supporting our coastal communities. Many of our businesses and spinoff companies depend on the fishery for survival,” LeBlanc says, saying oil and gas exploration in the waters off Nova Scotia is just too risky from an environmental and economic standpoint. “Especially when we have an industry that is providing billions of dollars and thousands of good paying jobs,” he says.
The moratorium on oil and gas exploration is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2022. LeBlanc and the Liberal party are calling on the Tim Houston government to extend the moratorium during the 2022 spring legislative session.
“Dec. 31 is coming quickly. Decisions have to be made and there is a lot of work involved,” says LeBlanc. “There is a review process that has to be done. I just want to make sure it doesn't get lost and we get to the deadline and the work hasn't been done.”
Georges Bank is a biologically-productive ecosystem that supports important commercial fisheries and provides habitat to a wide range of marine fish, mammals, corals and other organisms.
“Nova Scotians want resource development to be balanced with strong protection for the environment. All levels of governments are committed to development of the offshore while ensuring protection of the environment,” says Patricia Jreige, communications advisor for the N.S. Department of Natural Resources and Renewables.
She calls the Georges Bank moratorium a good example of this commitment.
“This government has stated that it is committed to maintaining the moratorium and continues to work with our federal counterparts to ensure that we are able to make an informed decision on the extension of the moratorium in advance of the deadline on Dec. 31, 2022,” Jreige says.
As part of the decision process, legislation requires an environmental and socioeconomic review of Georges Bank. The federal and provincial governments hired the consulting firm Stantec to prepare the independent study, which is complete.
“We have shared the report with stakeholders that have expressed an interest in the area and are giving an opportunity for these groups to provide ministers with any additional information to inform their decision,” says Jreige. “Our goal is to make a decision early 2022.”
She says legislation currently only allows for renewal or extension of the moratorium for periods of no more than 10 years at a time.
John Davis, co-chair of the Offshore Alliance and director of the Clean Action Ocean Committee, has also been busy pushing for extension of the moratorium. He says they've reached out to every municipal unit from Annapolis around to Chester and the consensus is not only do they want to see the moratorium continue; they hope it becomes permanent.
“There's no municipal unit that isn't in favour of seeing this moratorium continued for the minimum 10 years,” he says.
About the socio-economic report that's been prepared, Davis says, “Stantec, the company that always works with the oil and gas companies doing environmental assessments and so forth – and are really just an arm of the oil industry – got chosen to do the report,” he says. He calls the report “basically a neutral statement.”
“We don't give it much credence,” he says. “The only thing that had to happen was that the report be completed because that's part of the legislation. The report is now done so we are now telling government to get to work and finish the task. It's very straightforward.”
Davis says they are anxiously awaiting action by the government. He says the offshore alliance met with provincial environment minister Tim Halman and says he is behind the moratorium. “He has been talking with Natural Resources and Renewables Minister Tory Rushton and he has indicated he is total support of the moratorium going forward, so we just want to see it get done,” Davis says.
Davis says he expects to see the moratorium extended the minimum 10 years. Still, as the saying goes, he and others need to see it in writing.
“There has been no offshore activity since 2018 in Nova Scotia. There have been active lease sites. BP and Equinor have now allowed their leases to lapse so officially now there is no one with an open lease with regards to potential to drill for oil,” says Davis. “I couldn't be any happier.”
And like LeBlanc, he says the fishery can't be put at risk.
“The fishery supports over 25,000 jobs. It's the golden goose,” says Davis. “It contributes annually $2 billion in export value. It's a substantial portion of the provincial GDP and to put it at risk just isn't sensible.”