Leaders of a First Nation on British Columbia’s northern coast say they met Friday with Alberta’s minister of Indigenous relations to express opposition to any changes to Canada’s tanker ban to service a potential new pipeline.

The Gitga’at First Nation says in a statement that they presented Rajan Sawhney with scientific and historical evidence affirming there is no proven method for recovering bitumen spills on B.C.’s north coast, which it says has some of the highest tidal ranges on Earth.

Chief councillor of the Gitga’at First Nation Bruce Reece says in the statement that the nation remains opposed to any removal or weakening of the oil tanker moratorium that has been in place for more than 50 years and that the nation will uphold its responsibility to safeguard marine ecosystems.

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