🌊⛅ When the Waves Touch the Walkway: A Warning From Kitsilano
Why B.C.’s Coast Cannot Afford More Tankers
By Tina Winterlik / Zipolita
Today in Kitsilano, the ocean pushed up higher than I’ve seen in a long time.
The wind tore across the water, waves crashed over the seawall, and right where my murals live — that walkway we all love — seawater splashed up and across it. The land, the art, the people walking by… everything felt suddenly small in the face of this storm.
Down at Vanier Park, another boat washed ashore.
Another one.
Over the years, I’ve watched so many boats lose their anchors in storms — tossed around like toys — ending up smashed on beaches, tangled in logs, or half-sunk in the tide line.
And of course, we all remember that massive English Bay barge that ran aground a few years ago. It sat there for months like a shipwreck from a forgotten world. And that wasn’t the only one — another almost washed up too.
These aren’t rare events.
They’re warnings.
🌬️🌊 If small boats and barges can’t hold in these storms… how will tankers?
This is the part that scares me:
While the coastline becomes more unpredictable, more politicians want MORE oil tankers — and to run them through some of the most dangerous waters on Earth.
Inside passages between Vancouver Island, Haida Gwaii, and the Mainland.
Narrow channels.
Storm zones.
Wild currents.
Areas where a single mistake becomes a disaster that can never truly be cleaned up.
We’re talking about places that are culturally sacred, ecologically priceless, and economically essential — salmon, orcas, tourism, fisheries, beaches, communities.
And it’s not like experts haven’t warned us.
🔍 What People Need to Understand — Fast
🔒 1. There is a tanker ban — for a reason.
In 2019, Canada passed the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, banning tankers carrying more than 12,500 tonnes of crude oil from stopping or loading on the north coast — including Haida Gwaii, Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait, and Queen Charlotte Sound.
That law exists because:
- These waters have extreme storms, often with 10–20 metre waves.
- The region is remote — meaning spill response is slow at the best of times.
- One major spill would permanently destroy ecosystems and communities.
🛑 2. We’ve had protection zones for decades — because it’s dangerous.
Since 1985, a Voluntary Tanker Exclusion Zone has kept large tankers 50 nautical miles offshore along parts of B.C.’s coast. Haida Gwaii also has a voluntary 50-mile buffer to keep big ships away from the fragile western shore.
Why?
Because these waters can rip anchors loose.
Because the currents pull vessels where they don’t want to go.
Because a rescue tug often can’t reach a ship in time during a storm.
⚠️ 3. Experts say B.C. is still unprepared for a major spill.
Despite modern equipment, spill-response reviews continue to warn that B.C. is “alarmingly unprepared” for a catastrophic tanker accident in remote or storm-heavy regions.
Storm delays…
Hard-to-access coastlines…
Limited daylight in winter…
Millions of birds, salmon, shellfish, kelp forests, sea otters, and whales…
Some things cannot be cleaned up.
Some things cannot be replaced.
❤️🌍 This Isn’t Anti-Development — It’s Pro-Life, Pro-Coast, Pro-Future
People living in Vancouver, Kitsilano, Vanier, the Sunshine Coast, Haida Gwaii, and Vancouver Island see what is happening with their own eyes:
- Higher tides
- Stronger storms
- More boats breaking loose
- More erosion
- More unpredictability
If a barge can end up on our beach for months…
If sailboats wash up every year…
If seawater is already spilling onto walkways…
Then tankers have no business in our inside passages.
This isn’t ideology.
It’s common sense.
💔🚫 What We Must Say — Clearly, Together
Our coastline is not disposable.
No tankers through dangerous inside waters.
Protect Haida Gwaii, the Great Bear Sea, Vancouver Island, our fisheries, our beaches, our murals, our communities, our future.
We cannot let short-term political games destroy what generations rely on.
When the waves touch the walkway, that is the ocean speaking.
And we would be fools not to listen.
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