Protecting Georges Bank - QP
CLADIA CHENDER: My question is for the Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables. As the minister knows, the moratorium on drilling for oil and gas on Georges Bank expires at the end of 2022. That moratorium has been in place for over three decades because successive governments have recognized that this lucrative, multi-species fishing ground must be protected from any possible pollution from oil and gas activities.
Mr. Speaker, many Nova Scotians are asking for clarity on this question. My question to the minister is: Will the minister commit to legislating a permanent moratorium on oil and gas activities on Georges Bank?
HON. TORY RUSHTON: It’s a very important fishing ground, we know that. There is a moratorium that exists, but as I brought up in the House yesterday, it’s a federal and a provincial level discussion that has to take place to even extend that process that is going on right now. I did commit to the House yesterday that I certainly am going to look into those details and I’ll be happy to share that as soon as those conversations do take place.
CLAUDIA CHENDER: With respect, we’re asking again because that assurance does not seem sufficient. We’re asking for the minister to press the case of a permanent moratorium with whomever he needs to speak to at the federal level.
To go further, as mentioned earlier in this session, Nova Scotia is a mega-sponsor for an oil and gas conference taking place in Morocco this Spring. That conference explores geology that formed before Nova Scotia and Morocco separated millions of years ago.
In Nova Scotia the two areas of relevance for oil and gas in those geological formations are Sable, which we know is done, and Georges Basin, which the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board recently referred to as “underexplored.”
Mr. Speaker, Georges Basin sits beneath Georges Bank. My question to the minister is: Does the minister really believe that we can protect the Bank while ushering in exploration in the Basin?
TORY RUSHTON: I’ll reaffirm that we’re committed to making sure that moratorium stays. I’m committed to having those conversations at the federal level and if the member opposite is curious about the sponsorship for the process that is going on in Morocco, we may ask the previous government, as it was a commitment in 2020, not in 2021.