OOGRG's Purpose
About
REM		 SFU
This report is undertaken in response to a request from Turning Point Initiative, which is a cooperative organization representing Coastal First Nations, to complete a review of issues related to offshore oil and gas development (OOGD) in British Columbia. The content of this study relative to the federal scientific study (Royal Society of Canada - RSC) and the B.C. study (B.C. Scientific Review Panel - B.C. SRP) is summarized below. As indicated by this table, this study is more comprehensive than the federal (RSC) and provincial (B.C. SRP) scientific reviews because it includes a review of social, economic, regulatory, jurisdictional, legal, and environmental issues. The federal and B.C. studies were restricted to assessing only technological and environmental issues. This study also develops and utilizes explicit decision-making criteria for assessing OOGD based on international best practices.

COMPARISON OF B.C. SRP, RSC AND SFU STUDY CONTENTS

TOPIC B.C. SRP RSC THIS STUDY

TOPIC
B.C. SRP
RSC
THIS STUDY
Environmental
Yes
Yes
Yes
Social
No
No
Yes
Economic
No
No
Yes
Jurisdictional
No
No
Yes
Legal
No
No
Yes
Regulatory
No
No
Yes
Explicit Evaluation Criteria
No
No
Yes

This study was completed by an interdisciplinary team of nine researchers from the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University. The methodology used by the research team was to review primary and secondary data relevant to B.C. OOGD. The reviews were divided into the following thematic areas: environmental, socioeconomic, legal, jurisdictional, and regulatory. International best practices for OOGD were identified and used to evaluate the current B.C. OOGD management and moratorium review process. A draft report was then prepared and sent to OOGD experts in government, industry, academia, and nongovernmental agencies (NGOs) for review, and revisions were made to the report based on the reviews.