“The central argument that we’re advancing is that those permits are expired and the federal government has unlawfully kept them alive and on the books for more than 40 years,” said Ecojustice staff attorney Ian Miron, who is repressing the two plaintiffs.
“We certainly think that the threat of oil and gas exploration… is not an abstract one.”
Miron pointed to the Bay du Nord offshore oil project approved this year off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador as an example of how the government is still approving major extraction projects despite its climate commitments.
The permits cover an area spreading out over 5,840 square kilometres in the Hecate Strait Glass Sponge Reefs Marine Protected Area and the Scott Islands Marine National Wildlife Area off the northwest coast of Vancouver Island.
