Campaign promises often fall by the wayside once politicians make it to office, but not for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Less than a month after his election, Canada's head of state has put his pledge to ban oil tanker traffic into motion.
In a letter published Friday, Trudeau asked his Minister of Transportation to "formalize a moratorium on crude oil tanker traffic on British Columbia's North Coast," the Calgary Herald reports.
Such a ban could potentially shut down the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline, in which crude oil from Alberta would be piped up to north to British Columbia and then shipped overseas. A coalition of environmental groups and aboriginal advocates funded by American progressives applauded Trudeau's decision.
Canada, by a small margin, has a positive trade balance. But of the $438B in exports, $111.7B of it is petroleum based. That's one quarter of the entire economy on the export front. Looks like Canada is trying to commit economic suicide. |