Premier Clark calls on Ottawa to ban coal exports after softwood lumber duties
SURREY, B.C. — Premier Christy Clark is taking aim at the American coal industry in the wake of the United States imposing hefty tariffs on British Columbia’s softwood exports.
Clark wrote a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking Ottawa to ban the shipment of thermal coal through B.C. ports, the bulk of which comes from the United States.
The B.C. Liberal leader made the announcement Wednesday at a paper products company in Surrey while campaigning for the May 9 provincial election, saying an impasse over softwood lumber “gives us the freedom to do what I think is unquestionably the right thing.”
Thermal coal is dirty, she said. “It fouls the air. It fouls the oceans. It’s terrible for the environment.”