Published in the Victoria Times Colonist May 25, 1999
By
Ottawa is taking an unprecedented step in Canadian history. It is now expropriating
hundreds of
square kilometres of B.C. so the U.S. Navy will be free to bring nuclear
warheads into the Georgia
Strait.
Say again? Canada? On the side of nuclear weapons? Seizing a piece of British Columbia?
Shocked? Concerned? We should be.
Since April, B.C. has been negotiating with Ottawa for a new lease agreement
for Nanoose Bay,
north of Nanaimo. The lease expires this September.
Ottawa wants Nanoose Bay for testing military hardware, primarily
by the U.S. Navy. We want fair
compensation, stronger environmental protection and no nuclear warheads.
B.C. negotiators put
these positions, including no nuclear warheads, on the negotiating table
at their first meeting with
Ottawa.
On May 5, negotiators signed principles of agreement. Clause 7 of the principles
said there would be
"a provision confirming that no nuclear warheads will be present at any
time within the licence area."
Then Ottawa checked with the Pentagon.
Canada wouldn't prohibit nuclear warheads. The federal government backed
away from the signed
agreement. Our deal was torpedoed.
Ottawa immediately took unilateral action. On May 14, the federal government
began expropriating
Nanoose Bay.
The very morning of Ottawa's expropriation announcement, senior B.C. federal
minister David
Anderson claimed that he wanted to "see this solved on the basis of the
initialed agreement." I let
Mr. Anderson know that B.C. shared that commitment and stood by the signed
principles of
agreement. Mr. Anderson still went ahead with expropriation. Despite his
public statements, he had
no intention of honouring the May 5 agreement.
Ottawa has flip-flopped on more than this deal. The agreement by federal
negotiators to prohibit
nuclear warheads is consistent with federal policy. Just last month the
federal government
said,"Canada reaffirms its goal of a world free of nuclear weapons." We
expected Ottawa to live up to
this principle when it came to B.C. waters.
B.C.'s concern over nuclear weapons isn't new. Nanoose Bay is in the heart
of the Georgia Strait,
within kilometres of millions of British Columbians.
In the 1970s, when a nuclear submarine base was proposed by the U.S. Navy
for Bangor,
Washington, British Columbians strongly objected, including David Anderson.
In 1992, B.C.'s
Legislative Assembly officially declared our province a nuclear weapons
free zone by a vote of 51 to
1.
Nanoose Bay is the first practical opportunity for B.C. to put that declaration
into action. We have
no constitutional clout to keep our waters nuclear-free but we do own the
Georgia Strait seabed (the
Supreme Court of Canada said so in 1984). Ottawa wants the Nanoose Bay
seabed. So does the
U.S. Navy. It's not hard to figure out why.
On average 500 to 800 air, ship and submarine-launched torpedoes are tested
each year on the
Whiskey Golf test range of Nanoose Bay. The unique water depth and seabed
make for easy retrieval
of torpedoes, unlike ranges in Hawaii and California. In 1996, the U.S.
Navy said it had saved $2
billion over 30 years by using Nanoose Bay. It's worth noting that British
Columbians have been
paid $1 per year since 1989 for leasing the seabed.
How can we fight expropriation and stop nuclear warheads in Nanoose Bay?
The government of
British Columbia is reviewing steps it can legally take. But our first
task is to file our objection to
the expropriation. Under federal law, members of the public can also object.
Hearings will be held
here in B.C.
Expropriation of B.C.'s lands is an unprecedented misuse of federal power.
We must press Ottawa to
abandon this expropriation and stop riding roughshod over the rights of
British Columbians.
We must press Ottawa to stand by the principle of no nuclear weapons in B.C. waters.
Abandonment of this principle is a disturbing example of a federal government
that has lost touch
with Canadian values and is now prepared to put U.S. interests ahead of
those of British
Columbians.