Oil spill response

For all my friends and relatives in Alberta, I do not mean to offend you. I know Alberta jobs are needed and should the pipeline proceed it will be great for your province.  However, we have a huge fishing industry here that could be devastated.  Our former Conservative government made huge cutbacks to the Coast Guard.  My concern is should there be an bitumen oil spill, do we have the resources to clean it up?  Right now the answer is NO!  Kinder Morgan wants to greatly increase the delivery of crude bitumen through the pipeline that runs right through communities east of Vancouver and terminates at the east end of Burrard Inlet.  Tankers will go right through the Port of Vancouver under the Lions Gate and Ironworkers Memorial Bridges to get to the Kinder Morgan terminal.  All we are asking for is assurance any spill can be contained and cleaned up without hurting fish, birds and whales!  They say we will get upgrades to what is in place now, but nothing is confirmed to date.  Our Prime Minister is for the pipeline to proceed but will not confirm the funding needed to be ready for a future spill.

Our Premier said:
Horgan's NDP government announced it is looking at rules to limit any increase in the import of diluted bitumen until an independent panel can better analyze whether the system is safe and can adequately deal with a spill disaster — a move that could delay construction on the federally-approved Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion project.

Here is the definition of bitumen:
Crude bitumen is a thick, sticky form of crude oil, so heavy and viscous (thick) that it will not flow unless heated or diluted with lighter hydrocarbons such as light crude oil or natural-gas condensate. At room temperature, it is much like cold molasses.

From the CBC:
A year after the cargo ship MV Marathassa spilled several thousand litres of bunker fuel into Vancouver's English Bay, concerns remain about the region's ability to put together a coordinated clean-up response.  "I don't think we as a region are ready for a major spill, says Vancouver city manager Sadhu Johnston.  He says last year's spill, which was limited to the fuel from a cargo ship, was actually fairly small compared to what could happen if an oil tanker passing through the harbour were to run into trouble.

"The fact of the matter is West Coast Marine Response Corporation still doesn't have the capacity to clean up the quantities of a spill like that."  Delays in the federal governments' response to the Marathassa spill provoked widespread condemnation from both city and provincial officials.  A review of Marathassa spill concluded that miscommunication and uncertainty over roles delayed containment and clean-up.  Johnston notes while the city is working with federal and provincial officials on a better response plan, a year later there is nothing in place yet.  "We still don't have a region response plan. It is still under development and will be in place later this year, but it is still not done," say Johnston.  "One of the biggest frustrations that we had last year was that there really wasn't a plan.  The coast guard just really didn't have a spill response plan.  As a result we were really just in reaction mode."

"The truth is if we have a diluted bitumen spill, we are done. A recent study by the National Academy of Sciences show that bitumen sinks. We have no means if cleaning it up. If we have a diluted bitumen spill, our coast will never be the same."

Note how far into Vancouver Harbour the ships will carry oil