NEWS RELEASE
June 12, 2019
For immediate release

Cold Lake, AB – The City of Cold Lake joined a growing number of municipalities in Western Canada that are calling on the federal government to scrap Bill C-48 and accept the Senate’s amendments to Bill C-69.

“Our community has suffered a deep, prolonged downturn and our residents have done their best to weather the poor economy and are looking for signs of hope – for signs of a recovery,” Mayor Craig Copeland said. “Our federal government needs to create a competitive environment that will encourage investment. What these two bills are proposing will accomplish the opposite – they amount to kicking us when we are down.”

At its June 11 Regular Meeting, council unanimously passed a motion calling on the Senate to defeat Bill C-48, also known as the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, and to Defeat Bill C-69 if it returns to the Senate without the amendments the Senate originally passed.

Council has recently returned from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) convention, held in Quebec City, where they were able to discuss Canada’s Energy Industry with municipal leaders from across the country. Mayor Copeland told council that the proponents of the bills in question would always stop short of proposing any measures that would negatively affect the economy in their region, but were quick to overlook the negative impacts the bills would have on others.

“It was clear at FCM that the municipal leaders speaking in favour of these bills would not support a single measure that could have an impact on their local economies,” Copeland said. “That’s where their ideology ends: Once it impacts their economy, everything is off the table. Our industry is being singled out and this needs to stop. The Canadian energy industry is home to the most innovative and responsible energy producers around the world. It has created prosperity for people across our nation and it deserves our respect and support. Bills C-48 and C-69 are the opposite of what our industry deserves.”

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