Saskatchewan Senator Denise Batters has put out a call, asking for people to testify as witnesses before the Senate Transport committee, which is currently travelling the west to hear from witnesses regarding Bill C-48, which would ban oil tankers from docking off the northern coast of British Columbia.
In an email on April 16, her office noted, “Initially, the Trudeau-appointed ‘Independent’ senators on this committee only wanted to travel to British Columbia for this legislation's study. After public outcry led by Conservative senators' pressure about this limited travel, the committee was forced to reconsider and added travel to Alberta and Saskatchewan – the heart of Canada's oil industry.
“Given that the oil that goes on these west-coast tankers comes from Alberta and Saskatchewan, it was absurd that the independent and Liberal senators thought it was sufficient to only travel to B.C. As such, this is a victory – so that the Senate Transport Committee will hear from those people dramatically affected by Bill C-48 in Alberta and Saskatchewan face-to-face.”
Speaking to the Senate’s Internal Economy Committee on April 11, Batters said, “I understood at one point Estevan, Saskatchewan, was also potentially going to be a location to be travelled to as well, because it’s only a two-hour drive from Regina. It’s known as ‘The Energy City,’ is like ‘oil town’ in Saskatchewan and is a microcosm of Calgary.
“It’s a small city that’s been hit very hard by the oil downturn. I think it would have been a perfect place to provide an illustration, and also hear from people that might not have otherwise been able to be heard from.”
She noted she practised law in Estevan for a short time.
An email from Batters’ office said, “As a compromise, the Senate Transport Committee has stated that the committee will add extra time to its Regina committee hearings (on Wednesday, May 1st) to accommodate witnesses from Estevan, if sufficient numbers of witnesses mandate this additional time.”
“Senator Batters feels that it’s important to get this message out as soon as possible, so that time can be added in Regina and people from Estevan have the opportunity to be heard on this important issue.”
If people live and/or work in Estevan or the surrounding oilpatch area, and want to be heard by the Senate Transport committee about Bill C-48, they are asked to contact Senator David Tkachuk, the transport committee chair, by emailing him at david.tkachuk@sen.parl.gc.ca, and committee clerk Joelle Nadeau at joelle.nadeau@sen.parl.gc.ca.
