Major marine vessel casualty risk and response preparedness in British Columbia

The society’s vision is to ensure the long-term health of the ocean and coastal communities on the Pacific Coast of Canada. [...] It has been recent vessel and barge accidents in British Columbia that have caught public attention to both oil spill risk and the problem of addressing sunken ship wrecks; notably the 2006 sinking of the Queen of the North ferry in Wright Sound, and the 2007 LeRoy Trucking Barge equipment dumping into Johnstone Strait. [...] There should be a legislative requirement for a party responsible for a marine casualty to report the allocation of funds during the course of the incident to assess what amount are being held- back as a contingency compared to the amount allocated to impact mitigation. [...] The federal government should undertake a comprehensive comparison of the US and Canadian regimes for both oil spill and vessel casualty response to ensure fair and equitable reciprocity. [...] Harmonizing the The 1981 An Understanding between Canada and British Columbia Concerning Federal and Response Provincial Responsibilities in Oil and Hazardous Material Spills (1981 Spill Agreement) needs to be rescinded, as it does not serve the interests of the province, First Nations, Local Government Paradigms of or industry who seek an integrated response to a marine vessel casualty - whether