Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc  — responsible for protecting our oceans —  is caving in to pressure from Big Oil. 

After multiple meetings with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, LeBlanc and his team want to allow oil and gas exploration in 80% of a proposed Marine Protected Area in the Laurentian Channel.[1-2]

Marine Protected Areas (MPA) are ecologically significant parts of our oceans that the government shelters from man-made threats, so species can recover, and oceans remain clean and healthy. 

The Laurentian Channel is a narrow strip of deepwater ocean that runs from the Gulf of St. Lawrence into the Atlantic. It's slated for protection because it’s home to vast concentrations of unique sea life, and is a critical migratory route for endangered species, like whales and leatherback turtles.

Allowing oil & gas companies to drill, blast, and disrupt habitats in conservation areas poses a huge risk to sea life and flies in the face of the very purpose of protection.

The good news is that plan isn’t final and together we can stop it. LeBlanc set up a special email inbox for the public to comment on his plan. He’s barely advertised it because he knows a huge public outcry will force him to backpedal. We’re counting on you to help blow the whistle —and we’ve got a simple tool that lets thousands of us flood the inbox with messages.

Don’t let Minister LeBlanc sell out our oceans to help out his friends in Big Oil.  Will you send a message to LeBlanc calling on him to ban oil exploration in the Laurentian Channel MPA ? The inbox closes next week, so we have to act fast.

Sources
Trudeau government proposes opening St. Lawrence marine protected area to oil exploration
Environmental groups slam government plans to allow oil and gas drilling in proposed marine protected area
Canada Gazette, Laurentian Channel Marine Protected Area
Seventh right whale death in Gulf of St. Lawrence
Right Whales on the Brink of Extinction