Ottawa, Regina – On April 16, Saskatchewan Senator Denise Batters put out a call asking for people to testify as witnesses before the Senate Transport committee is currently travelling the West to hear from witnesses regarding the Anti-West Coast Tanker Bill C-48.
In an email on April 16, her office noted, “Initially, the Trudeau-appointed "Independent" Senators on this committee only wanted to travel to British Columbia for this legislation's study. After public outcry led by Conservative senators' pressure about this limited travel, the committee was forced to reconsider and added travel to Alberta and Saskatchewan - the heart of Canada's oil industry. Given that the oil that goes on these west-coast tankers comes from Alberta and Saskatchewan, it was absurd that the independent and Liberal senators thought it was sufficient to only travel to BC. As such, this is a victory -- so that the Senate Transport Committee will hear from those people dramatically affected by Bill C-48 in Alberta and Saskatchewan face-to-face.”
Speaking to the Senate’s Internal Economy Committee on April 11, Senator Batters said, “I understood at one point Estevan, Saskatchewan, was also potentially going to be a location to be travelled to as well, because it’s only a two-hour drive from Regina. It’s known as ‘The Energy City’ is like ‘oil town’ in Saskatchewan and is a microcosm of Calgary.
“It’s a small city that’s been hit very hard by the oil downturn. I think it would have been a perfect place to provide an illustration, and also hear from people that might not have otherwise been able to be heard from.”
She noticed she practiced law in Estevan for a short time.
The email Senator Batters’ office said, “As a compromise, the Senate Transport Committee has stated that the committee will add extra time to its Regina committee hearings (on Wednesday, May 1st) to accommodate witnesses from Estevan, if sufficient numbers of witnesses mandate this additional time.”
“Senator Batters feels that it’s important to get this message out as soon as possible, so that time can be added in Regina and people from Estevan have the opportunity to be heard on this important issue.”
If you live and/or work in Estevan/the surrounding oilpatch area, and want to be heard by the Senate Transport committee about Bill C-48, please contact both of these people as soon as possible: Transport Committee Chair: Senator David Tkachuk: david.tkachuk@sen.parl.gc.ca and Committee Clerk: Joelle Nadeau: joelle.nadeau@sen.parl.gc.ca.
