The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that the mayor of Vancouver is not the only one concerned about Canada's ability to respond to a major oil spill. The Globe's Gary Mason writes that authorities in Washington State have also been raising alarms about the ruinous impact a big leak could have on the waters of Puget Sound and beyond. Mr. Mason says documents obtained by The Globe are extraordinary in the level of blunt disapproval aimed at Canadian bodies responsible for responding to spills. The slow reaction of the Canadian Coast Guard to the bunker fuel discharged in English Bay recently only confirmed United States officials' worst fears about Canada's spill-response capabilities. An observation made in a briefing note to the state's governor stands out for its jaw-dropping assessment at how our standards stack up against those used by our neighbours to the south, "B.C. lacks authority over marine waters and their federal regime is probably a couple of decades behind the system currently in place in Washington State." Mr. Mason does not think we have heard the end of U.S. concern about the threat expanded oil pipelines in B.C. pose to the sanctity of shared Canada/U.S. coastal waters.