Prince George, B.C. – The Joint Review Panel Hearings on the proposed Enbridge  Northern Gateway twin pipeline project held a Saturday session in Prince Rupert, a session which saw the Panel receive an invitation to experience first hand  the flavor and  life on the coast.

 

Marty Bowles brought platters of food to the hearing,   food that had been caught in the waters,  or hunted in the region. “We have crab dip. We have smoked salmon. We have whitetail deer garlic sausage. We have moose pepperoni… All of the seafood is food that we’ve gathered. There’s also some sushi here, and the crab dip is in the middle”. 

 

But the food wasn’t all he brought, he underscored his offering with some clear mountain waterfall water  “My daughter got quite a kick out of watching me stand under the waterfall to gather it for you. So I hope you do get a chance to actually eat this bit or drink this.”

 

Bowles then relayed his experiences  on the water, of catching fish, of watching whales, and presented an open invitation for the Panel to share that experience “The only way you could understand what happened is if you experience it for yourselves. I want that to happen for you. To facilitate that opportunity, my offer to you is take — to take you aboard Wild Abandon,(the name of his boat)  to sail our pristine waters where you can fish, crab, prawn, beach comb and relax in the clear air while we feed you food that no five-star restaurant could prepare. I’ll take you for a week to 10 days. You just have to get to a spot; I’ll get the boat there and we’ll look after your expenses from then on. I’d like you to do this sometime before you make your final decision. I know you’re busy people. I know you’re going to be criss-crossing all over the place, but I’m going to give you my card with our contact information. If you can make the commitment, and I know you can’t now but at some point in the future, I will be there.”

 

The Panel acknowledged his information, but made no commitment to accept the offer.

 

The Saturday session also heard from members of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union. One member, Henry Clifton, told the panel of the dangers of rogue waves in Hecate Strait “Heckett Strait is the third — it’s on record, the third most dangerous body of water to be on earth. And that’s no word of a lie.”

 

Clifton also relayed concerns about oil tankers using GPS, and relayed an incident which questioned the accuracy of that technology  “When I was travelling down Douglas Channel and I looked at it, I was in a confined area, I just passed some rocks and I seen the speed I was going. Holy smokes, boy I’m pretty happy, everybody wants to go fast. I was going 52 knots  according to this technology and my boat, on the chart, was on the rock.  Holy smokes. Of course it was foggy out and I had questioned it. Before I never had this technology, now I’m questioning myself. So, I take it out of gear and I run outside, look around, see exactly where I am and I slap myself in the face, ‘You dumbass.’"

 

The technology was wrong.

 

 

The resolution states that the regional district is opposed to any expansion of bulk crude oil tanker traffic as well as bitumen export in Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound in British Columbia, and that it will petition the federal government to establish a legislated ban on bulk crude oil tanker traffic through those waterways.

 

 

Last Wednesday ,the Lax Kw’alaams announced they would boycott the hearings with Chief Councillor Garry Reece calling the hearings “a complete sham.”

 

In a published statement, Reece said the integrity of the whole process is in question because the Federal Government has already made it clear it supports. “We have no interest in supporting the hearings in our traditional territory on a process that is so flawed and for a project that we will never support.”

 

The Joint Panel Review hearings resume on the 28^th of February and will be held in Old Masset, at the Old Masset Community Hall.  Two days have been set aside for the hearings in that community.