The Minister of Natural Resources is studying the effects of increased tanker traffic on the west coast whereas Senator Maria Cantwell feels that a supertanker oil spill near our shores would threaten the thriving coastal economy and thousands of jobs.

He said: Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce a bill that would ban oil tanker traffic in ecologically sensitive waters, and I appreciate the seconding of this bill by the member for Edmonton—Strathcona, who does so much for the environment.

Iraq's large reserves of oil and natural gas remain largely unexploited (problems include aging infrastructures and outmoded techniques, lack of transparency, looting and trafficking), while heavy dependency on oil revenues makes the country very vulnerable to external economic factors.

1. Stresses the need for effective and urgent action to ensure maritime safety and prevent ecological accidents, which unfortunately also have serious environmental and socio-economic consequences and regularly highlight the vulnerability of Community coastlines in the face of the growing risks posed by increased oil tanker traffic;

98. Stresses the need for effective and urgent action to ensure maritime safety and prevent ecological accidents, which unfortunately also have serious environmental and socio-economic consequences and regularly highlight the vulnerability of Community coastlines in the face of the growing risks posed by increased oil tanker traffic;

Naturally, much of the decline in activity at the Community's shipyards can be attributed to objective factors: - the sharp worldwide decline in seaborne shipping since the late 1970s, including a 25% drop between 1979 and 1984; - the establishment of production plant in the newly industrializing countries; - the emergence of heavy industries close to raw material sources in developing countries; - energy savings and the growing share taken by nuclear energy, at the expense of oil and fossil fuel shipments; - greater self-sufficiency in food crops, which has reduced cereal exports, particularly to certain regions; - the shift away f ...[+++]rom physical commodities throughout the economy: new, electronically-based technologies obviate the need for a wide range of manufactured goods.