Federal Liberal leader Justin Trudeau said Monday his mind is closed to oil tankers plying the waters of northern B.C. but open to shipping of liquefied natural gas as well as increased oil tanker traffic through Port Metro Vancouver — on the condition proper reviews are conducted.

In an interview with The Vancouver Sun, Trudeau said that the Harper Conservative government could have saved everyone a lot of time and trouble by nixing the Enbridge Northern Gateway project, emphasizing “the Great Bear Rainforest is not a place for an oil pipeline.”

He said some 20,000 British Columbians make their living on the water on the north coast, a “fragile ecosystem that needs to be respected and protected and the impact of a fishing boat is very different from the impact of a supertanker.”

While oil shipping holds the prospect of massive environmental damage, LNG is seen as a safer alternative, including by First Nations people.

Trudeau said he recently visited Hartley Bay at the mouth of Douglas Channel, where native leaders opposed to Northern Gateway told him they understand the need for economic development and have fewer concerns with LNG.

Trudeau added that Vancouver and its surrounding waters have a long industrial past and that it’s important for Canada to transport its resources to market. “This has always been a working harbour and there’s always going to be a certain amount of economic activity that is essential. People have to decide where that balance lies.”

He said the key is for the government to ensure a fair and open process that allows British Columbians to properly weigh the economic and environmental risks and reach a decision in the collective best interest — something not happening under the Harper government.

The Liberal environmental platform unveiled Monday promises to modernize and “rebuild trust” in the National Energy Board and to ensure that environmental assessments are “evidence-based and allow the public to meaningfully participate.”

Said Trudeau: “People need to see that government is establishing a level playing field and a process whereby concerns will be aired and addressed and a decision, when it’s ultimately taken, will be viewed ... with integrity at the end of the line.”

Karen Wristen, executive director of the Living Oceans Society, said the NEB review of Kinder Morgan’s planned twinning of its Trans Mountain pipeline will be “largely concluded” by the Oct. 19 federal election, which raises the welcome prospect of reopening that process should Trudeau get elected. About five double-hulled tankers ship oil out of Kinder Morgan’s Westridge terminal each month in Burnaby. That number would increase to 34 tankers a month.

Wristen noted that oil shipping in the Salish Sea puts endangered resident killer whales at risk in their critical habitat, while LNG shipping in the north poses a threat to marine species such as threatened fin whales. “Wherever it is, more traffic means more noise and disruption,” she said.

Recalling how he used to sail in English Bay as a 13-year-old, “weaving in and about the tankers,” Trudeau also pledged to increase Canada’s coastal marine protected areas from 1.3 per cent to five per cent by 2017 and 10 per cent by 2020.

Trudeau reiterated his commitment to reopen the Kitsilano coast guard base to better assure public safety.