Offshore oil an issue in B.C.

The Conservative candidate for the Skeena-Bulkley-Valley riding on B.C.'s north coast says he would push for offshore oil and gas drilling if his party forms the next government.

A federal moratorium on drilling off the B.C. coast has been in effect since the early 1970s. And the B.C. government has been lobbying Ottawa to lift the ban on offshore exploration.

• FROM MARCH 1, 2005: B.C. lobbying for offshore drilling, again

Now, Conservative candidate Mike Scott promises, that if elected, he would push for offshore oil exploration to determine what's below the ocean floor.

"So that would involve drilling as part of the exploration. That's how you actually prove whether the resource is there or not. You've actually got to get out in the field and determine what's there."

• FOR THE RECORD: Conservative candidate Mike Scott speaks about offshore drilling.

But NDP incumbent Nathan Cullen says ocean drilling just doesn't make business sense.

"As an MP, I met with at least 20 different oil companies in my time in Ottawa. And I didn't have a single company express an interest in being offshore.

"They run at least 10 times the cost to put a well in. They know it's environmentally sensitive out there. They also know there's a whole dispute surrounding First Nations and whose actual territory it is.

• FROM JAN. 13, 2006: Former environment ministers issue green challenge

Meanwhile two Conservative hopefuls in Greater Victoria say they want to maintain the ban on drilling.

Victoria candidate Robin Baird says he is worried about lifting the moratorium, as is his counterpart in the neighbouring riding of Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, Troy de Souza.

"I think the science hasn't been proven yet that that sort of exploration can be done safely, securely," said de Souza.

He says if the Conservatives are elected next week, they'll have to discuss this within caucus and with the public before deciding how to proceed.

But the party did adopt a policy on offshore drilling last year. It says a Conservative government will promote exploration and environmental assessment of offshore natural resources on both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.

• LINK: Conservative platform, which deals with offshore exploratation on page 24 (.pdf)

Ken Wu of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee says it's clear a Stephen Harper government would lift the moratorium.

"They don't say it directly like that, but when they say the support oil exploration on the Pacific coast, that means the moratorium would have to be lifted.

Wu warns that if that's the case, the Conservatives will be in for a "hell of a fight."