Clans Gathering Delivers Formal ‘No’ On Enbridge
Clans gathering at the Nak'azdli Reserve to formally reject Northern Gateway Project photo courtesy Yinka Dene Alliance
Fort St. James, BC – First Nations of the Yinka Dene Alliance have provided their formal reasons for opposing the Enbridge Northern Gateway project to representatives of the federal government, saying the potential risks to water and salmon are critical concerns.
The alliance is a coalition of First Nations whose ancestral territories comprise approximately 25-percent of the proposed pipeline route. Yesterday, approximately 200 heredity and elected leaders, elders and youth held an all-day clans gathering on the Nak'azdli Reserve in Fort St. James to deliver their reasons for rejecting the project to a team of federal officials, including the official responsible for First Nations consultation on the Enbridge proposal.
"We examined the project, we didn't just automatically says 'No'," says Nak'azdli Heredity Chief, Pete Erickson. "A lot of people made the assumption that the second we heard 'oil', we said no – and that's not fair. We did examine the project. We looked at everything from the economics of it, to job creation, to the whole thing."
A number of speakers addressed yesterday's gathering, talking about the catastrophic effects a spill would have on their territories. "The risk of a devastating spill from the Enbridge pipeline is real," says Takla Lake First Nation Chief, Anita Williams. "If a spill enters our waters, there is no effective way to clean it up. We will not allow our children to pay that cost for Enbridge."
The Alliance has tasked federal officials to deliver message to the prime minister. "We just wanted to ensure that our message was clear, that our decision would be considered as part of the overall process," says Erickson.
Comments
It official, the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline is “dead”!
It’s not just First Nations that will ensure this pipeline dies, the municipalities of Fort St. James, Terrace, Prince Rupert, Smithers, et al… are also behind these First Nations.
Now if we could just get Enbridge to stop with all their TV and radio commercials playing 20 times a day, and their newspaper and magazine ads plastered all over the place. I, for one, am getting sick and tired of them!
Another group missinformed by NGO’S.
Hey peeps don’t watch then. Can you refute the adds? Hey get big green to cough up some dough with counter ads.
I say all the freebee hand outs should be dead also then.
Maybe their “pipeline” of cash from Ottawa should be stopped, too. See how that goes over.
As an aside, the word “clan” is used. Scotland has clans. Africa has tribes. Canada has Nations. Israel had 12 tribes. What’s in a word, eh?
The natives are mad because all it comes down to is money its not about traditional values or traditional lands its all about the dollar figure.
And the race card comes out. How original. How sad.
People#1, if you think Nothern Gateway is dead I have some prime swampland to sell you.
Keep Saying NO, its the only way to go, NO is NO . Northern Gateway can absolutely stop bs ing the people .
First Nations Keep the Fight Going, I’m with you 100% . NO to Northern Gateway!
Keep protesting!!!!
http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/#!/content/1.2608295
Oops!
And!
http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/#!/content/1.2608129
Bad day for Oil in the news!
Posted by: NoWay on April 12 2014 3:59 PM
http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/#!/content/1.2608295
Oops!
And!
http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/#!/content/1.2608129
Bad day for Oil in the news!
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So, have you given up your car? Your computer? Your grocery bags? Everything else in your life that is an oil based product?
Didn’t think so.
It’s not a bad day for oil until we stop using it. But no one has the balls to take a real stance; it’s all just a bunch of hot air. Rhetoric is easy to spout from the comfort of our oil based homes.
Yet, axman, the pipeline has not been built and doesn’t exist at present. Nevertheless, we still have oil and gas to run our cars and heat our homes. So, the pipeline is not needed for us to do that. What was your point, then, about building a not-needed-for-current-consumption pipeline?
Posted by: ammonra on April 12 2014 5:09 PM
Yet, axman, the pipeline has not been built and doesn’t exist at present. Nevertheless, we still have oil and gas to run our cars and heat our homes. So, the pipeline is not needed for us to do that. What was your point, then, about building a not-needed-for-current-consumption pipeline?
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The world’s population is increasing every day; do you deny them the same luxuries that you have simply because their wants are adding to the environmental harm your wants are creating?
Yeah axman, it’s funny how many spout on about the evils of corporations and ‘Big Oil’ when they gladly accept the comfort and standard of living it provides. Hmm…
“Kinder Morgan pipeline protest in Burnaby attracts hundreds.” Hundreds,eh? Wow! That’s enough convincing I need. How many zeros on the right side of the decimal point is that with at least a couple of million folks living down there? Sure hope they rented a shuttle bus to get there. Cut down on their carbon footprints, so to speak.
Yes indeed, the pipelines purpose is not to provide oil to us at all, and comments suggesting we should stop using cars and so on is just a red herring. It has nothing to do with it and is irrelevant, but makes a good, snappy remark. Out of context, but snappy.
The purpose of the pipeline is to deliver Alberta bitumen to other countries so Alberta can get more income and the oil companies can make more money, and lets not kid ourselves, this is all about the money oil companies can make and not about cars for people in other countries. Unfortunately, there are no practical guarantees (as compared to theoretical) that this can be done safely. I am not opposed to shipping oil nor companies making profits, that makes the world go round. However, I am opposed when it is at the cost of the pristine environment the pipeline has to go through should there be a break in the pipeline and a spill.
Of course, First Nations can set what conditions they want. It is their land, after all. If they want more money, good for them. If they want guarantees of no environmental damage, even better for them. Snide anti-First Nations remarks have no place in this debate, none at all.
Axman! Oil will still be refined and sold in North America without the Northern Gateway tar line. So we won’t have to give up our toys.
Yeah Harb, it seems that many people are ‘opposed’, but not so much that they show up in any numbers for a protest. Hey, it’s cold outside, ya know! These are the same mostly anonymous commenters who say they’ll stand in front of bulldozers, etc.
First Nations folks like their money from Ottawa and so does the province of Keebec. That money has to come from somewhere. Not like the US who wears out printing presses every year.
axman wrote: “The world’s population is increasing every day; do you deny them the same luxuries that you have…… “
It is not about denying them the luxuries. It is our oil. It comes from our land. If they want it, they will need to pay us enough for it.
As I see it, it is as they say about prostitution. Once you decide there is nothing wrong with it, it then comes down to the dollars. How much are you willing to pay.
As far as I am concerned, BC is not getting enough for putting a pipeline across our land. So, the payment for prostituting ourselves is not enough yet.
Like $ome of the Fir$t Nation$, $how u$ more dollar$. We’ll tell you when it i$ enough.
thanks to the person who used the $ sign to replace the esses! Very nice. ;-)
Harbinger wrote: “As an aside, the word “clan” is used. Scotland has clans. Africa has tribes. Canada has Nations. Israel had 12 tribes. What’s in a word, eh?”
You have never hear of the “bear clan” the “eagle clan” etc.?
That is what “doodems” anglicized as “totems” are about. They show the animal based clan names.
The same as in Scotland, they are kinship groups. The Macintosh clan. The bear clan.
Interesting how societies on this earth that developed more or less separately have similar ways of defining their heritage.
Love the posters like JB and Axe who figure the way to do ANYTHING is via use of fossil fuels. So dinosaur. The future economy, (and maybe sooner than you think) will not be run by oil. Plastic can be made from hemp oil for pete’s sake. The Saudi solar program is worth 100s of billions, why would that be?? because all of their electric power was at one time generated by burning oil, and they want to retain more production for export and quick dollars. Saudi heads have admitted to a a fear not of running out of oil, but running out of MARKET. A few people need to get out of the oil paradigm, because there are some pretty exciting things happening out there.
Posted by: excusemebut2 on April 13 2014 7:05 AM
Love the posters like JB and Axe who figure the way to do ANYTHING is via use of fossil fuels. So dinosaur.
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Not at all; I’m not sure where you got that idea from. All I’m saying is that there is a demand worldwide for oil based products that we ourselves are partly responsible for creating. Most people want our plastic world yet they don’t don’t want to deal with the damage it’s creating.
I’m not going to say “oil’s bad” while I continue to enjoy the luxuries oil has created.
As gus says, we’re not getting enough in return for the pipeline; in my opinion that’s the only legitimate argument against it. Most of the people complaining about the possible environmental damage are hypocrites; they couldn’t really care less about it.
Here’s an interesting news piece from the BBC.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27008352
Read the comments for a look at how resistant to change people are.
There have been many, many people protesting this pipeline.
I think that we can say that 200 people protesting against it are 200 more than those who are in favour.
Ever notice that those in favour ride along on the Enbridge Wagon, but never put their faces out in public to show their support.
Lets see the pro pipeline group with some signs in their hands showing that they support this pipeline. Should make for some interesting viewing.
Axman..that BBC article is indeed interesting…thanks for posting. I shudder when I run into people who through their comments and actions show that change resistance. What is it, laziness?? insecurity?? I do not think it is always stupidity, but that may sometimes be the case. Whatever. Change is exciting to me and necessary to keep me going. Life is an adventure. I am not sure that your statement that most of the people who are against this pipeline are hypocrites is fair, and I think that what is happening to the environment in NE BBC and northern Alberta is reprehensible, a huge debt to future Canadians. Governments are subsidizing oil development continually, but we still have huge government debts in this country. Now why is that?
Yep, it looks like they’re going to have to go underground if they really want to ship this oil via the west coast. Maybe well out into the ocean too, to get away from the inside passage.
First problem is believing anything the BBC says of which cannot be backed up with facts. The top five sources of temperature data have shown no discernable rise in temperature for almost 20 years now dispite a rise in co2. This is causing a big problem for the grant seeking warmers. The only doom and gloom exists in computer programs not real world data.
The world now is the coolest it’s been for about the last 7000 years. Scientists have really no clue how much natural variability affects climate let alone man’s contribution if any at all.
http://siberiantimes.com/ecology/casestudy/news/forest-fires-arrive-early-as-siberia-sees-record-high-temperatures/
Read this article mut…you are just so blind. Coolest in the last 7000, please back that up. PS note what the Norway and Russian scientists are saying about the sea temperature in the north. Also of note my well informed man is the rate of permafrost loss is mentioned. A documented fact. This also is related to release of methane much higher than before, a gas 20 times more effective as a greenhouse gas than CO2 wow.
Resistance to change is a natural preservation instinct. It is difficult to get rid of. It can be found in everything we do. Some are simply not aware of it.
We build the same housing on patches of 7,500 sf lots strung together on straight or curved roads. We complain about sprawl, don’t want to pay for it, yet most of us continue to support it. I could argue the same as some do with the oil question, want to pay fewer taxes? Use up less space in the community you live in. Space=$
Professionals ranging from foresters to architects/engineers, lawyers, doctors, etc. Like to use known and tested materials and methods when advising their clients. They know what they are getting. Few are ready to go to new ways because their practice is on the line and they want to provide the best advice.
As they say, humans are creatures of habit. Many other animals have habits hard wired into them. It is called instinct. We have a mind which allows us to consider alternatives in the abstract or virtual world. BUT, experience trumps alternatives often until we have no other alternatives to survive.
“If the UN really want to end the use of ‘dirty’ fuel, then it needs to be tackling the corporations and vested financial interests that suppress technology in order to perpetuate their profit flow at the environment’s cost.”
One of the comments on the BBC site.
It is what I call blame the others mindset.
That is the supply side.
If you were making a living by selling widgets to your neighbours, why should you stop making widgets when some think that widgets might actually be bad rather than neutral or good?
Why should those wanting widgets not give up widgets and reduce the demand side?
Put anything into “widgets”. Donuts, beer, cell phones, Cancun vacations …. does not matter.
If society as a whole agrees to reduce the use of widgets and that the “free market” needs to be “infreed” to cause change, then one has to work on as many approaches as possible to be more certain of success.
It is slowly happening. It is like a bell curve of change. We are not even near the top yet where half the people have made a change.
When we have completed one type of change, it will be onto the next weave of change. Wonder what that one will be.
According to some doomsday futurists, it will be massive strife on earth which will get rid of half the population.
We always have a few of those futurists around. ;-)
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