Castanet

Distraction is the order of the day to keep us from seeing the real battle and issues going on.
First the coast belongs to BC a given, some years back the Provincial Government banned a
missile test program off the coast of Vancouver Island. The Feds stepped in and took possession
of the area to keep the tests operating. As I recall the property was quietly returned to BC at
a later date.
As for what is really going on, the Premier of BC is looking for an issue to save her hide and that
of the government in the next election which is falling on the Liberals harder than Chicken Little's
Sky. It turns out most mainstream British Columbians don't want the pipeline period and they are
also opposed to exporting the materials off shore. We could peel the layers back even further
but it would reveal the same old political nonsense. BC wants to export the raw material from
another province and demand royalty sharing from Alberta, Not going to happen, its a crazy idea
and leaves us open to future situation we might not like. The Feds under estimated BC people.
They went to Asia and made deals and promises without consulting the citizens who have now
changed their mind about these kinds of deals. Now they have to wipe the egg off their face.
Chisti Clarke in an air head, and Harper is an arrogant pest at best. They are going to have a rough
ride at the hands of BC Voters in the future.

damngrumpy wrote:First the coast belongs to BC a given, some years back the Provincial Government banned a
missile test program off the coast of Vancouver Island. The Feds stepped in and took possession
of the area to keep the tests operating. As I recall the property was quietly returned to BC at
a later date.

So, say Canada goes to war with Japan......is it BC's responsibility to protect it's coast? Or will we expect Canada as a whole to protect it.....so...in actuality, whose coast is it? We are a federation of provinces.....belonging to one country.....and that country takes ownership of it's coastlines....in my opinion. We all call this coast...the west coast of Canada The coast guard and navy do not protect the coast of BC, they protect the west coast of Canada.......

In the case of war in Canada the matter is Federal under the writ of the "War Measures Act.
Other wise the coast belongs to BC that is the Supreme Court Ruling some years ago. It is
also recognized for off shore minerals and oil deposits and a host of other activities.
Fisheries for example is Federal at sea however the regulation of fish farms and so on are in
the realm of Provincial law.
The court case as I recall came about during the Glen Clark era. He refused to allow the
missile tests in some minor dispute with the Feds. Can't remember what that was. At any
rate the Feds took possession of the coast and sea bed in question. Very quietly later, the
courts determined they belonged to the province and returned the area in question to the
Province of BC.

damngrumpy wrote: It turns out most mainstream British Columbians don't want the pipeline period and they are
also opposed to exporting the materials off shore.

I'm not so sure you can make that statement with any authority other than a cpl of non scientific polls. And even those polls do not show any overwhelming opposition. Add in the error margins and you really have nothing and that does not even address who was taking the polls and how the questions were posed. I actually think this issue is merritarious (sp?) of a provincial referendum in conjunction with the provincial election.

damngrumpy wrote:In the case of war in Canada the matter is Federal under the writ of the "War Measures Act.
Other wise the coast belongs to BC that is the Supreme Court Ruling some years ago. It is
also recognized for off shore minerals and oil deposits and a host of other activities.
Fisheries for example is Federal at sea however the regulation of fish farms and so on are in
the realm of Provincial law.
The court case as I recall came about during the Glen Clark era. He refused to allow the
missile tests in some minor dispute with the Feds. Can't remember what that was. At any
rate the Feds took possession of the coast and sea bed in question. Very quietly later, the
courts determined they belonged to the province and returned the area in question to the
Province of BC.

The situation you are talking about was the torpedo testing range in Nanoose Bay. I know that the province put up a fight to NOT allow the federal government to expropriate the seabed in that case..but the expropriation went through. Here are a couple of quotes from:

http://publications.gc.ca/Collection-R/ ... b998-e.htm

Generally speaking, the federal government can expropriate provincially owned property, provided it does so for a valid federal purpose. Peter Hogg notes that "federal legislative power will extend to bind the Crown in right of a province, and there have been cases in which the federal Parliament has validly expropriated provincial Crown property,"(25) and refers to several cases where this proposition has been upheld.

Perhaps the only safe conclusion to be drawn with respect to the intended expropriation of the CFMETR seabed is that such action appears both legally justifiable and politically controversial.

........and in Re Strait of Georgia the Supreme Court of Canada took pains to point out that the provincial powers of ownership of the seabed are limited.

And, from what I can find, Canada completed it's expropriation of the seabed in Nanoose Bay in 1999 and renewed it's agreement with the US Navy for testing......we've tested torpedoes from our "subs" this year there.....