Bill C-264 Repeal Shipping Restrictions
C-264 An Act to Repeal Certain Restrictions on Shipping
Bill Type: Private Member’s Bill
Bill Sponsor: David McKenzie (Calgary Signal Hill)
What is the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act?
The Oil Tanker Moratorium Act was passed in 2019. It bans crude oil tankers carrying more than 12,500 metric tonnes of oil from stopping, loading or unloading at ports along British Columbia's northern coast — from the BC-Alaska border down to the northern tip of Vancouver Island. The ban was put in place to protect the Great Bear Rainforest, the Haida Gwaii coastline and some of the most ecologically sensitive marine habitat in the world. This Bill repeals that ban entirely, in a single sentence.
What the moratorium does not address — and what this Bill does not mention — is that the Port of Prince Rupert on that same northern BC coastline is already one of the largest COAL export terminals in North America. Bulk carriers loaded with coal move through the same corridor today with no equivalent restriction.
Status: 2nd Reading — placed in Order of Precedence March 19, 2026. This Bill hasn't passed yet.
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WHO GAINS POWER
- The shipping and oil industries regain the ability to move crude oil by tanker along BC's northern coast with no moratorium in place
- The federal government retains existing environmental assessment and navigation safety authorities but loses the blanket prohibition as a tool
WHO LOSES POWER
- ⚠️ No replacement protection is provided — repealing the moratorium removes the prohibition with nothing written into this Bill to replace it
- Indigenous nations along BC's northern coast, including the Haida Nation, lose the Legislative protection the moratorium provided without any consultation process identified in this Bill
- ⚠️ Parliament loses the ability to point to a specific law protecting BC's northern coast from oil tanker traffic — existing environmental laws apply but none provide the same targeted prohibition
WHO GAINS MONEY
- Oil producers in Alberta gain a potential new export route via BC's northern coast
- Shipping companies gain access to northern BC ports for crude oil transport
- Proponents of the Northern Gateway pipeline corridor gain a Legislative opening
WHO LOSES MONEY
- BC's fishing, tourism and coastal industries face increased risk from oil spills with no moratorium protection in place
- ⚠️ A single major spill in the Great Bear Rainforest or Haida Gwaii would cause economic damage that cannot be quantified — the moratorium existed precisely because the risk was considered unacceptable
THE CATCH
- ⚠️ This is a one-sentence Bill that repeals seven years of environmental protection — there is no transition plan, no replacement framework and no consultation requirement written into the Legislation
- ⚠️ No environmental assessment is required before tanker traffic resumes — existing Federal Environmental Laws apply but the moratorium's targeted prohibition is gone the moment this Bill passes
- Indigenous consultation is not addressed anywhere in the Bill — the Haida Nation and other First Nations along the coast were central to the original moratorium and are not mentioned here
- ⚠️ Repealing this Act without consulting Indigenous nations along BC's northern coast may trigger a constitutional challenge under Section 35 — the duty to consult is a legal obligation that applies when government action has the potential to adversely affect established or asserted Indigenous rights, and a one-sentence repeal with no consultation process may not meet that standard
- ⚠️ The Bill title says "certain restrictions on shipping" — it does not say "oil tanker moratorium" — the full scope of what is being repealed is not visible from the title alone
- Existing tanker safety regulations under the Canada Shipping Act remain in place but do not replicate the moratorium's geographic prohibition