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e-3303 (Environment)

E-petition
Initiated by Anna Barford from Vancouver, British Columbia

Original language of petition: English

Petition to the Government of Canada

Whereas:
  • Canadians care deeply about the health of the ocean, and depend on a thriving ocean ecosystem;
  • In 2019, over one million cruise ship passengers travelled off British Columbia on their way to Alaska;
  • These ships generate significant amounts of pollutants that are harmful to human health, aquatic organisms and coastal ecosystems;
  • Canada’s regulations under the Canada Shipping Act addressing the discharge of sewage and greywater are much less stringent than those in US Pacific coastal states;
  • Canada permits sewage to be discharged with 18 times greater fecal coliform counts than does Alaska;
  • Canada does not require that ships built before 2013 treat greywater discharges;
  • 22 of the 25 cruise ships sailing off British Columbia in 2019 were built before 2013;
  • The Salish Sea in Washington State is a no-discharge zone prohibiting the discharge of sewage in order to protect public health, water quality, and sensitive marine resources;
  • Canada has zero no-discharge zones off British Columbia;
  • Canada does not require third party independent observers on board cruise ships as is required by Alaska; and
  • Canada’s less stringent regulations encourage cruise ships to discharge their waste off British Columbia.
We, the undersigned, concerned citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:
1. Set standards for cruise ship sewage and greywater discharges equivalent to or stronger than those in Alaska;
2. Designate no-discharge zones to stop pollution in marine protected areas, the entirety of the Salish and Great Bear Seas, and in critical habitat for threatened and endangered species; and
3. Require regular independent third-party monitoring while ships are underway to ensure discharge requirements are met.
Open for signature
March 31, 2021, at 9:55 a.m. (EDT)
Closed for signature
April 30, 2021, at 9:55 a.m. (EDT)
Presented to the House of Commons
Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni)
May 13, 2021 (Petition No. 432-00965)
Photo - Gord Johns
Courtenay—Alberni
New Democratic Party Caucus
British Columbia