By putting safety first, the Government’s plan for Responsible Resource Development is ensuring that Canada’s vast resource wealth can be developed and transported to market responsibly, creating jobs and economic growth for all Canadians. The Government of Canada will not proceed with any natural resource project unless it is proven to be safe for Canadians and safe for the environment.
The government will ensure federally regulated pipeline safety systems are world class and remain so in the future – by implementing the targeted changes announced today and continuing to work with industry, Aboriginal peoples, regulators and provincial governments.
Pipelines are a safe, efficient and reliable way to move Canadian oil and natural gas products to market. Between 2008 and 2012, more than 99.999 percent of crude oil on federally regulated pipelines was transported safely.
The Government of Canada is striving to improve this impressive safety record even further by implementing a suite of measures to strengthen incident prevention, preparedness and response, and liability and compensation, as outlined below.
- Building on companies’ unlimited liability under common law (when at fault or negligent) by implementing “no fault” or absolute liability for all pipelines, up to $1 billion in the case of major oil pipelines;
- Implementing a government financial backstop to ensure funds are available to the NEB for spill-clean up, should it be required to assume control of incident response, in exceptional circumstances; and
- Expanding NEB authority to recover costs incurred for incident response from industry, in exceptional circumstances.
The Government of Canada is committed to protecting both the safety of Canadians and the environment. No development will proceed unless rigorous environmental and regulatory reviews have indicated they are safe for Canadians and the environment. These goals are part of the Government’s plan for Responsible Resource Development, which aims to create high-quality jobs, economic growth and long-term prosperity for all Canadians.
Alexandra Lemieux
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister
Natural Resources Canada
Ottawa
613-996-2007
or
Media Relations
Natural Resources Canada
Ottawa
613-992-4447
