18 hours to save The Gulf of St. Lawrence

Take Action RIGHT NOW to Protect Blue Whales and The Gulf of St. Lawrence!

We are in the last stretch here.

On January 14th, unless we hear from our federal or provincial leaders, the decision made by the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board to issue a new license to Corridor Resources in the Gulf of St. Lawrence will stand.

So far the silence from our leaders regarding a new license in the Gulf of St. Lawrence has been deafening.

Many of you have asked what more can I do to help. And there is more to do!

Given the short amount of time left to speak up against the new license for Corridor, we have constructed an open letter denouncing the license and urging decision makers to protect the Gulf of St Lawrence from future oil and gas exploration.

Our plan is to collect as many individual and organizational signators to this letter as possible before 9:00 AM Thursday, Jan 12th. Midday on Thursday the letter will be posted online and released to the press with the full list of coalition and individual supporters.

Please add your name to the growing list of people who want the Gulf of St. Lawrence to remain free of oil and gas development and safe for the blue whale and the many other creatures that live there.

Please add your name to the letter today!

If you are signing on as an organization, please contact me directly by email.

Thank you for taking action.

Gretchen Fitzgerald - National Program Director
Sierra Club Canada Foundation
gretchenf@sierraclub.ca

The letter *

To: 
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Minister Jim Carr - Natural Resources
Minister Dominic LeBlanc - Fisheries and Oceans and The Canadian Coast Guard
Minister Catherine McKenna - Environment and Climate Change
Minister Siobhan Coady - Natural Resources - Newfoundland and Labrador
Scott Tessier, Chair & CEO of the CNLOPB

On December 15th, 2016, in spite of receiving thousands of letters of concern from Canadians, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board announced its decision to grant a new license to Corridor Resources in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The federal and provincial governments have until January 14th to veto the C-NLOPB’s wrong-headed decision. We are now in the final week.

Corridor Resources has already been granted three free extensions on its license in the Gulf. The Atlantic Accords Act only allows a company to hold onto a license for up to nine years. Issuing a new license to Corridor Resources is contrary to Canada's obligation to respect the rights of indigenous peoples, to the intent of the Accords Act, and to Canada’s commitment to expand protection of Canada's ocean spaces.

Their time is up.

Scientists have recommended the Gulf of St. Lawrence remain off limits to oil and gas development because it is a highly productive, diverse, semi-enclosed sea home to thousands of species. The Old Harry license being issued to Corridor is located in the migratory pathway of the endangered blue whale.

In 2014, Chiefs of Innu, Maliseet and Mi'kmaq communities bounding the Gulf called for a 12-year moratorium on oil and gas development in the area. Their repeated calls to have their traditional territory in the Gulf acknowledged and their right to consultation have been ignored.

The counter-clockwise currents in the Gulf could carry oil spilled there to the coasts of five of Canada's ten provinces. Seismic blasting and pollution from oil and gas development threaten thousands of jobs and multi-billion dollar tourism and fishing industries.

As far back as 2001, the all-party Parliamentary Committee on Fisheries and Oceans recommended a full environmental assessment occur before oil and gas proceed in the Gulf. This has never taken place.

The Committee reports states: “it may be prudent to consider placing this region under an oil and gas exploration moratorium similar to that on the Georges Bank until the fishermen and their communities can be assured that the risks of exploration and development are minimal.” The Committee reaffirmed Minister of Fisheries and Oceans is responsible for expanding marine protection, protecting endangered marine life, and integrated ocean management. This responsibility is being undermined.

We are committed to working together to ensure a moratorium on oil and gas exploration and development is established in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

We are calling on the Governments of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador to act immediately act to veto the license issued to Corridor by the CNLOPB.

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