VANCOUVER - British Columbia Premier David Eby and coastal First Nations have signed a declaration calling on the federal government to maintain an oil tanker ban off the province's north coast.

Eby said Wednesday that one oil spill in the area would destroy billions of dollars in economic activity along the coast, with no technology available to clean it up.

"We call on the federal government to recognize what generations of leaders have. We need to protect our coasts in order to grow our economy," he said.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wants the tanker ban to be repealed as part of her government's proposal to build an oil pipeline to the B.C. coast.

Chief Marilyn Slett, president of the Coastal First Nations, said the ban is a result of 50 years of advocacy by coastal communities a

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