Increased oil tanker traffic controversy spills into B.C. election campaign

VANCOUVER – Controversy surrounding increased oil tanker traffic British Columbia’s coastal waters is an issue that isn’t going away with just over a week to go in the provincial election campaign.

NDP leader Adrian Dix is calling on Premier Christy Clark to clarify her position on proposed projects that would see more tankers transporting heavy oil to Asia.

Dix says he wants Clark to spell out what he calls her unclear position on the proposed Kinder Morgan and Enbridge pipeline projects.

Dix made the call a Saturday rally at Vancouver’s Kitsilano beach.

He says his party does not support projects that would lead to what he calls a radical transformation of the ports of Metro Vancouver and Kitimat.

But Liberal Environment Minister Terry Lake says it’s Dix’s stance that needs clarification, saying the New Democrat has been has been clear as mud when it comes to the proposed Kinder Morgan project.

The company wants to expand its existing Trans Mountain pipeline that delivers oil from Alberta to the Port of Vancouver.

Initially Dix said he would wait for Kinder Morgan to file its application before committing himself, but earlier in the election he stated his opposition to the project and an increased tanker traffic it would bring.

The issue of oil pipelines and the environment was debated in the leaders’ debates last month.

B.C. voters go to the polls in 10 days.