New Democrats overwhelmingly passed a resolution opposing any attempt to do away with the coastal oil tanker ban when they met in Winnipeg this past weekend to elect Avi Lewis as the new leader of the federal wing of the party.
Sponsored by the New Democratic Party’s electoral district association for the federal riding of Skeena-Bulkley Valley and co-sponsored by the association for the Nanaimo-Ladysmith federal riding, the resolution would have the NDP join with First Nations on the coast to oppose any move to “weaken, overturn or temporarily suspend” the ban.
The resolution does not mention an oil-carrying pipeline directly, but does refer to the agreement signed by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith last year outlining a framework whereby one could be constructed.
The resolution states a tanker spill “would devastate the environment and communities relying on the ocean for food, work, and culture.”
The move toward a tanker ban grew in the last decade as Enbridge advanced plans for its Northern Gateway pipeline to carry oil from Alberta to an export terminal at Kitimat.
Although Enbridge quietly walked away from the project in 2015 following intense opposition, federal Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formalized an informal tanker ban with legislation in 2019.
Sarah Zimmerman, the president of the Skeena-Bulkley Valley NDP association, in introducing the resolution, noted that the legislation “ensures that oil products travel further away from the coast, where the waters are safer and less treacherous.”
“It’s not anti-development, it’s a safer, better way to do business,” she said.
Zimmerman also reminded convention delegates of the efforts made that resulted in the legislation.
“While this moratorium was codified in 2019, it reflects more than 50 years of efforts to protect this unique area and promote a conservation economy,” she said.
“While Liberals and Conservatives seek to divide us, we can’t fall prey to the divisive pipeline politics.”
The provincial wing of the New Democratic Party has yet to meet to discuss the potential for an oil pipeline, but NDP Premier David Eby has consistently said there is nothing to discuss, as no one has presented any sort of project plan.
First Nations on the coast have signed a declaration in opposition.
The leadership convention drew 2,000 party members.
Lewis was one of five leadership candidates, drawing 39,734 votes for a first ballot victory of 56 per cent.
The leadership convention was made necessary after the April 2025 federal election in which the NDP elected just seven Members of Parliament, losing official party status in the House of Commons. Then-leader Jagmeet Singh lost his own seat and resigned.