Indigenous Leaders Want to Halt Oil and Gas Exploration in Gulf of St. Lawrence

Indigenous nations are renewing calls for a halt to oil and gas exploration in one of Canada's most biologically diverse bodies of water. The federal and Quebec governments have been slowly but steadily pushing for oil exploration in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which Ottawa believes could sit on top of 1.5 billion barrels of oil.

Leaders of the Maliseet, Mi'kmaq, and Innu First Nations held a press conference Wednesday to reiterate a demand they made a year ago for a 12-year moratorium on oil and gas exploration in the Gulf. Twelve years is the amount of time it would take to thoroughly research the effects of exploration in the Gulf and consult the public, the Indigenous chiefs said.

The chiefs raised concerns about the potential for an oil spill, which could have disastrous effects on the body of water, and also said companies and governments must consult with First Nations. They want Quebec to declare a moratorium until the effects of oil exploration are fully known.

Last fall, the Globe and Mail reported provincial and federal legislation would allow oil and gas production in the Gulf. In 2011 the federal government agreed to allow Quebec to garner gas royalties from an area of the Gulf called Old Harry.

Last year, oil exploration company Corridor Resources asked for permission to drill in the Old Harry area. Corridor commissioned a study on the effects of an oil spill off the coast of Newfoundland, and found that oil would likely not wash up on shore and any effects would be minimal, CBC reported. However, researchers told CBC the 2012 report's methodology was flawed.

CBC then dropped their own buoys into the Gulf to test the company's findings. Radio-Canada found the buoys reached the shores of Newfoundland within 12 days—faster than the study had claimed.

In 2010, the David Suzuki Foundation released a simulated video of an oil spill in the Gulf, showing that if 10,000 barrels flowed into the body of water over 10 days, it would reach the shores of all five provinces that border the Gulf. The foundation, along with Green Party leader Elizabeth May and other environmental groups, has called for a moratorium on Gulf oil exploration for years.

The Mi'kmaq began fishing and hunting in the Gulf of St. Lawrence 9,000 years ago, according to National Geographic.

When Indigenous chiefs called for the moratorium a year ago, Chief Candice Paul of the Maliseet in New Brunswick said, "The Gulf is a unique and fragile ecosystem. The Innu, Maliseet and Mi'gmaq peoples have depended on the Gulf since time immemorial and we will not stand for its destruction."

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