The indigenous First Nations of Canada, along with
environmentalists and civil society groups, are gearing up for
an epic battle as the oil giant Enbridge continues to press for
its 'Northern Gateway' pipeline that would transport tar sands
oil from Alberta to the coast of British Columbia. The
fight against the Keystone XL has won at least a temporary
victory in the United States, but its Canadian counterpart,
despite vocal opposition by environmentalists and community
members along its westward route, has been largely championed by
the ruling conservative government in Ottawa.
Kitimat, upper right, would be the western
termination point of the Northern Gateway pipeline. Some
Canadians are worried about the pipeline's effect on the coastal
environment. (Darryl Dyck / Canadian Press / January 10, 2012)
The Los Angeles Times
reports:
The $5.5-billion Northern Gateway project, which would
carry 525,000 barrels a day of crude 731 miles from a town
near Edmonton through the Rocky Mountains to a new port on
the British Columbia coast, has long been in the works as a
companion to Keystone XL.
But with Keystone's recent turmoil in the U.S., Northern
Gateway has risen to new prominence as a defiant Plan B for
a nation increasingly aggressive in combating international
hurdles, whether it's greenhouse gas treaties, low-carbon
fuel standards or U.S. presidential politics.
"There has always been very strong support by the Harper
government, by the province of Alberta and by the oil
industry for the Northern Gateway pipeline. But there's no
question that for all three of those entities, that urgency
increased dramatically with the apparent defeat of Keystone
XL," said George Hoberg, a political scientist and professor
of forestry at the University of British Columbia. [...]
Canada's Harper-run government has lobbied hard on behalf of
both the Keystone XL pipeline and Northern Gatway. First Nations
and local municipalities, however, have refused to back down
from their opposition. The Globe and Mail
reported recently:Kitimat,
upper right, would be the western termination point of the
Northern Gateway pipeline. Some Canadians are worried about the
pipeline's effect on the coastal environment. (Darryl Dyck /
Canadian Press / January 10, 2012)
More than 60 B.C. First Nations and aboriginal
organizations have signed a declaration opposing the plan to
build a 1,177-kilometre twin pipeline from Alberta to the
northwest B.C. port of Kitimat, where huge oil tankers will
ship oil to Asia and the United States.
The Union of B.C. Municipalities also voted against the
oil pipeline at their meeting last fall. Terrace announced
its opposition at a council meeting [last] week.
"Debate is especially intense here in British Columbia,"
according to the Los Angeles Times'
Kim Murphy, who was in the town of Fort St. James for her
report:
Although some residents are eager for the tax revenue and
thousands of local jobs the pipeline could bring, many who
live along the corridor and in many First Nations
territories, homelands of Canada's aboriginals, are
mobilizing to fight it.
Crucial are the streams and tributaries of the Fraser and
Skeena rivers that lie in the pipeline's path — possibly the
greatest salmon rivers on Earth.
Along the coast, there are fears that piloting more than
200 oil tankers a year through the fiords of Douglas Channel
and then southward could jeopardize the spectacular
coastline of the famed Great Bear rain forest, full of azure
waters and rocky waterfalls.
"It's going to be a war," said
Tribal Chief Jackie Thomas of the fight ahead. "The only
question is, who's going to draw the first blood?"
"We truly live in one of the most beautiful places on
Earth. We live right at the start of the Fraser River
watershed, and if we have a spill, it will devastate
everything from here straight to the Pacific Ocean in
Vancouver," said Bev Playfair, until recently a municipal
councilor in Fort St. James, where a hearing on the pipeline
this month was preceded by dozens of townspeople marching
down the main street with signs such as "Say No to
Enbridge."
The most formidable opposition comes from the First
Nations of British Columbia, most of which, unlike those in
other provinces, have never signed treaties with the federal
government and thus have never relinquished title to their
historic lands.
"We have the ability to go to court in Canada and say,
'What you are proposing violates the Constitution of
Canada.' And that's the trump card in all of this," said Art
Sterritt, director of the Coastal First Nations' Great Bear
Initiative.
On the Saik'uz Reserve, near the town of Vanderhoof,
schoolchildren spent part of the afternoon before the
pipeline hearing making signs and sitting quietly as tribal
leaders explained the project and why it must be stopped.
"You've got to understand that it's a huge,
multibillion-dollar project that they're trying to put
through our lands. And it's going to be a tough fight,
because they have so much money. They probably have 10
lawyers to our one," Geraldine Thomas-Flurer, the Saik'uz
First Nation's liaison on the Northern Gateway issue, told
the students.
Tribal Chief Jackie Thomas has held meetings and written
letters pointing out Enbridge's record on accidents,
including the spill of 810,000 gallons of oil from a
pipeline in Michigan in 2010, much of which flowed 30 miles
downstream into the Kalamazoo River. Enbridge has spent $700
million so far and workers are still trying to clean it up.
"It's going to be a war," she predicted of the fight
ahead. "The only question is, who's going to draw the first
blood?"
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