This morning, on Nov. 5, 2025, Premier David Eby; Chief Marilyn Slett, president, Coastal First Nations; Mayor Garry Reece, Lax Kw’alaams; Jason Alsop, president, Haida Nation; Paula Amos, Indigenous Tourism B.C.; and Clarence Innis, Hereditary Elder, all signed the following declaration:

The North Coast Protection Declaration

“For generations, communities have built and sustained the economy of the North Coast – a legacy that continues today through a multibillion-dollar, sustainable conservation economy that supports thousands of livelihoods in fisheries, tourism, renewable energy and stewardship.

“Protecting our coast is not a barrier to economic prosperity – it is the source of it.

“The Great Bear Rainforest agreements have directly created more than 1,400 permanent jobs and 140 new businesses to date – and counting. In the past 15 years, the conservation economy has generated nearly $2 billion in economic value for British Columbia and for Canada. This is economy that invests back into communities, setting the foundation for ongoing prosperity.

“The oil tanker ban is the result of over 50 years of advocacy from First Nations and coastal communities, and supported by federal and provincial governments of all political stripes. Formalized into law in 2019, the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act did not create this protection – it codified a longstanding commitment that has kept one of the most ecologically and culturally rich marine regions on Earth safe from the threat of crude-oil spills.

“Repealing the tanker ban would risk near-term major projects and cheat B.C.’s economy out of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investments. Over the long term, the consequence of a crude-oil spill in these waters would be generations of lost livelihoods and irreversible ecological damage.

“We urge the federal government to stand firm in its commitment to uphold the tanker ban. Protecting the North Coast is not an item for negotiation – it is a national responsibility, and it is a quantifiable investment in Canada’s treasured marine environment and the economic prosperity of future generations.

“We choose progress.

“We choose protection.

“We choose: Our Economy. Our Coast.”

The declaration will be hosted online at CoastalFirstNations.ca.
For further information, contact:
Caitlin Thompson
Director of Communications
Coastal First Nations
info@coastalfirstnations.ca
604 696-9889