Title and Rights

Judicial Review of Coastal GasLink Pipeline Filed

MEDIA RELEASE

December 18, 2014
For Immediate Release

Judicial Review of Coastal GasLink Pipeline Filed

Dakelh Territory, Prince George. Today, Nadleh Whut’en and Nak’azdli First Nations, both of which are members of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, filed for judicial review of B.C.’s decision to issue an Environmental Assessment Certificate for TransCanada’s Coastal GasLink Pipeline Project. The decision to litigate was only arrived at by the Nations after they exhausted all other possible options to work with B.C. to ensure that their concerns about the Project’s impacts to their respective territories would be addressed.

The Project would cross approximately 200 km of the Nations’ unceded lands and waters, and create a new corridor in an area already heavily impacted by development. The Nations, and other Carrier Sekani member Nations, have serious concerns about how the Project and other regional development will impact fish and wildlife already in decline in CSTC territory. These concerns were raised, but not addressed, during the environmental assessment. Rather than working with the Nations on a government-to-government basis to address these and other concerns that were being raised by them, the Project was instead rushed through a defective and inadequate environmental assessment process. In doing so, B.C. also failed to meaningfully consult and accommodate the Nations.

Chief Martin Louie of Nadleh commented that the decision to litigate was not arrived at lightly: “We took every step possible to make our concerns known to B.C. and to work with the province to have our concerns addressed. Unfortunately, B.C. rushed the Project through the environmental assessment process and left us with no other option.” Chief Fred Sam of Nak’azdli stated: “We provided the Ministers with four expert reports that show how the Project could impact our territories, and our Aboriginal title and rights. The Ministers ignored the reports and issued the Certificate for the Project without even talking to us. That is not honourable.”

“We are not against development”, added Chief Sam. “Industry is just as frustrated as we are with how B.C. is managing its relationships with First Nations, especially after the Supreme Court’s decision in the Tsilhqot’in case this year. The B.C. environmental assessment process has failed us again.”

CSTC and its other member Nations fully support the Nations’ decision to file the judicial review. Tribal Chief Terry Teegee stated, “CSTC and its member Nations have been raising serious concerns about the environmental assessment of this and other natural gas pipelines being proposed in CSTC territory. B.C. has refused to address those concerns in any way. Those environmental assessment processes have merely provided our member Nations with an opportunity to “blow off steam” on the way to a predetermined outcome – an approval of yet another major project in our territory without any meaningful regard to our Nations’ concerns. This approach is putting the entire LNG play in B.C. at risk. We would look forward to an opportunity to work with B.C. to ensure that our concerns are meaningfully addressed.”
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Contact:
Chief Fred Sam, Nak’azdli First Nation. Cell: 1-250-996-3772. Chief Martin Louie, Nadleh Whut’en. Cell: 1-250-570-7759. Tribal Chief Terry Teegee, Carrier Sekani Tribal Council. Cell: 1-250-640-3256.
Link to related CSTC Media Releases: http://www.carriersekani.ca/news/cstc-responds-to-cglp-ea-certificate-issuance
Link to BCEAO CGLP site: http://a100.gov.bc.ca/appsdata/epic/html/deploy/epic_project_home_392.html
Map of CSTC Territory and Natural Gas Projects Proposed in Northern BC

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CSTC is calling for a fully independent review of the Babine Mill disaster

MEDIA RELEASE
January 17, 2014
CSTC is calling for a fully independent review of the Babine Mill disaster (PDF Version)

Dakelh Territory, Prince George, B.C. – The Carrier Sekani Tribal Council (CSTC) is disappointed to learn that no one will be accountable for the explosion in 2012 that killed Lake Babine First Nation member Carl Charlie and Stellat’en First Nation member Robert Luggi Jr. (Stellat’en is a member of the CSTC). The two victims were among many other workers who suffered injuries at the Babine Forest Products Sawmill accident that was deemed preventable by WorkSafe BC. On January 10, BC Crown Counsel released its Clear Statement that no charges will be approved against Babine Forest Products (BFP). After a two year investigation the families of those who lost loved ones, or were injured, while on the job, are left wondering if there will be any justice and assurances that such an accident will never happen again.

Tribal Chief Teegee stated, “Our thoughts are with the families who will continue to grieve. The Luggi and Charlie families have deep roots with the Carrier Sekani peoples.” He added, “The CSTC will continue to support the families in their time of need.” Robert Luggi Jr. was the husband of former Chief Maureen Luggi of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation, who also was a board member of the CSTC.

“The CSTC believe there needs’ to be an independent investigation into the Babine Forest Products mill explosion” said Chief Teegee. Teegee added, “For many of the families this decision from the Crown Counsel not to proceed is a miscarriage of justice and many of the families have to endure the pain of their loss once again to see no justice or accountability.” Teegee concluded, “There will be no closure until these families receive answers and justice for an accident that has changed so many lives.” While the Premier has asked her government to look into the incident further, it does not mean it will result in independent results.

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Media contacts: Tribal Chief Terry Teegee: Office (250) 562-6279. Cell: (250) 640-3256

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Listen up: A First Nations message for the oil patch

JEFFREY JONES
CALGARY — The Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Dec. 04 2013, 6:13 PM EST
Last updated Wednesday, Dec. 04 2013, 6:30 PM EST

At a business conference in the Alberta Rockies last week, some of Canada’s heaviest hitters in energy offered their renditions of essentially the same tune.

Market access was the topic, and the consensus among the premiers of Alberta and New Brunswick as well as bosses at the largest pipeline and oil companies was that we as a nation should have it.

That means oil flowing to where it will fetch its highest price, whether that means the coasts of the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico or Pacific. The result: jobs and a stronger economy across the country.

A key reason for snags, they agreed, is opponents have swayed some of the public against their well-backed-up assertions that the oil sands are being developed responsibly, and the industry is bringing all available technology to bear in cutting carbon emissions and transporting the stuff safely.

Then Miles Richardson stood up and abruptly changed the tune with the most important reminder of the day – that any road to riches in Asia for the energy sector passes through numerous First Nations territories, and major long-standing problems need to be solved first. Mr. Richardson knows whereof he speaks. A former president of the Haida Nation on the B.C. coast and a former chief commissioner of the B.C. Treaty Commission, he talks passionately about his people’s ancient connection to the land and how the relationship between B.C. native groups and Ottawa is broken.

Many in the oil patch see native resistance to projects as a soft obstacle to overcome. It’s anything but. It’s a legal problem that could push back by years the Alberta-based industry’s bid for market access, something that has already caused much friction with aboriginals.

So, Mr. Richardson said: Listen up.

Canada has dragged its feet for decades as natives on the coast sought treaties to spell out their relationship with the rest of the country. The absence of settled claims actually gives First Nations rights and title to all aspects of traditional lands, courts have ruled.
His point is that failure to reach deals only makes life messier for companies as they fear economic windows closing before multibillion-dollar projects can get built.

“If there isn’t an agreement with government, First Nations are going to have a view on whether a proposal ought to proceed and, if so, they’ll lay out terms on how it can proceed,” he said in an interview. “If agreement can be reached, great. If it can’t, nothing’s going to proceed.”

Of course, the constitution requires that aboriginal people be consulted on resources projects, something that federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver has acknowledged often. There’s no widespread agreement, though, on what constitutes consultation: Does it mean informing communities or getting support?

Mr. Richardson contends that First Nations have nothing less than veto power.

“I’d make the case that First Nation jurisdiction is every bit as good as the Crown’s. That’s why we need to negotiate treaties and reconcile them so all of society has the same rules,” he said. “In the absence of treaties, which sort these issues out, groups like industry are caught in the middle and are going have to deal with both parties.” So where does this leave the oil patch, as it seeks to get oil and gas to the coast on proposed pipelines such as Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway?

Late to the party, for one thing. Northern Gateway, facing a regulatory decision this month, has been in the works since the start of the last decade, though the B.C. treaty process has plodded along for much longer. Some native leaders have already promised court battles if pipelines are approved.

This week, Doug Eyford, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s special envoy to West Coast First Nations, is due to release a report on strategies for getting aboriginal people to support development projects and share in benefits.

Mr. Richardson said the industry would do well in that regard to back First Nations in their quests for treaties, as opposed to viewing them as hurdles that need to be cleared to proceed with pipelines. “That’s their call, if they want to start over. But the path they’re on is the path to one of the biggest battles we’re going to see in this country, as far as I can see.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/listen-up-a-first-nations-message-for-the-oil-patch/article15772976/

t a business conference in the Alberta Rockies last week, some of Canada’s heaviest hitters in energy offered their renditions of essentially the same tune. Market access was the topic, and the consensus among the premiers of Alberta and New Brunswick as well as bosses at the largest pipeline and oil companies was that we as a nation should have it. That means oil flowing to where it will fetch its highest price, whether that means the coasts of the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico or Pacific. The result: jobs and a stronger economy across the country. A key reason for snags, they agreed, is opponents have swayed some of the public against their well-backed-up assertions that the oil sands are being developed responsibly, and the industry is bringing all available technology to bear in cutting carbon emissions and transporting the stuff safely.

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Alberta/BC Framework Agreement Does Not Meet First Nations Conditions

PDF Version
For Immediate Release
November 6, 2013

Alberta/BC Framework Agreement Does Not Meet First Nations Conditions

Dakelh Territory/Prince George BC –This week the provinces of British Columbia (BC) and Alberta agreed to a framework agreement on oil pipelines. The Carrier Sekani Tribal Council (CSTC) remains steadfast with its members that are absolutely opposed to the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline, or any other heavy oil pipelines proposed in CSTC territory.

Tribal Chief Terry Teegee stated, “The BC/Alberta Framework Agreement hasn’t met First Nations’ condition of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC). FPIC is an international standard that is much more than ‘consultation’, it’s about the need for ‘shared-decision making’ authority on natural resource development. Our communities have made an informed decision that the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project is not worth the risk.”

BC set out 5 conditions for heavy oil pipeline projects like the Enbridge Northern Gateway and Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Expansion to be approved by BC. The Alberta government is leading the charge on a national energy strategy, which BC has agreed to participate in its development. The CSTC and its member First Nations have not been invited nor involved in development of either of these strategies. The rights of First Nations, and all Canadians, are subverted by these strategies as they are focused on liquidating our resources for short-term gains by multi-national companies, and foreign companies owned by governments.

“Clark and Redford’s idea of expediting the approval of the Enbridge Northern Gateway won’t work”, stated Teegee. Over 130 First Nations communities, several municipal governments, and a large majority of BC citizens oppose the Enbridge project. “We will use any means at our disposal to ensure that our lands and waters are protected for today and future generations.” Teegee concluded, “We encourage those British Columbians and Canadians to assert their collective disapproval of these types of projects, and participate in the upcoming National Day of Action: Defending our Climate.”

The CSTC and other organizations have planned a rally on Saturday, November 16, 2013 at the Prince George Civic Centre, starting at 1:00 PM. The rally includes a march to MP Dick Harris’ Office, to bring the message of ‘Defending our Climate’ as well as confirming once again that the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project is not worth the risk.

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For Further Information Contact:
Tribal Chief Terry Teegee, office 250-562-6279 ext. 223, cell (250) 640-3256

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BC First Nations Liquid Natural Gas Summit

BC First Nations Liquid Natural Gas Summit:
Collaboration on Natural Gas Opportunities
Hosted by: Carrier Sekani Tribal Council
Civic Centre, Prince George – October 9-10 2013
PRESS RELEASE
October 9, 2013
Summit sets out future for LNG decisions

Dakelh Territory, Prince George, B.C. – First Nations, governments and developers took a major step today towards making sure First Nations are properly informed and equipped to make decisions about proposed liquid natural gas (LNG) developments in Northern B.C.

Chiefs from First Nations affected by the developments and major energy companies were joined by the Japanese Ambassador, Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver and BC’s Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation John Rustad.

Tribal Chief Terry Teegee from the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, which hosted the event, said: “This is a great first step. Never before have so many of the people involved in a process like this come together to talk about how we might move forward. These decisions are decisions of the people, so today we have started to find ways of making sure they are involved.”

British Columbia has become a focal point in the global race to provide LNG to the Asian market. Presently there are 12 players in B.C. with proposed projects to ship LNG to Asia. If built, these projects will impact around the points of gas extraction, along the gas pipelines and around ports and shipping routes.

First Nations leaders continue to meet tomorrow (Oct 10) to discuss next steps and to map out ways of making sure that communities are involved in and understand any decisions made. Further announcements on this process are expected in the coming weeks.

You can keep up to date with developments and join the discussion on Twitter @firstnationslng using the hashtag #firstnationslng. You can also find information on the program’s Facebook page – search First Nations LNG Strategy.

Notes for editors:
Images, video and audio from the day will be available. For more information contact Juli Holloway or Andrea Zazzi at Coppermoon Communications: juli@coppermoon.ca / andrea@coppermoon.ca; 1 877 475 0754.

If you would like to speak to someone at the event, contact Richard Truman: richard@coppermoon.ca 1 778 929 1662.

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Media Advisory FN LNG Summit

MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PDF VERSION
October 4, 2013
B.C. First Nations Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) Summit
First Nations come together to discuss energy development in the province

The invitation-only two day event is designed to build relationships between First Nations communities, governments and developers to address the many complicated challenges and opportunities associated with these large projects.

WHO: Delegates will include federal and provincial government ministers, First Nations leaders, LNG proponents as well as Japanese ambassador His Excellency Norihiro Okuda.

WHAT: A press conference to discuss the LNG Summit and its outcomes; and the opportunities and impacts of LNG development with First Nations, government and developers.

WHY: This is the first time that all governments and industry in the LNG debate have come together in one place to discuss the associated risks and benefits. It is hoped that it will outline if large-scale development of LNG infrastructure in B.C is both realistic and achievable.

WHERE: The Civic Centre is located at 808 Civic Plaza, Prince George, B.C. (http://princegeorgeciviccentre.ca/planning/Pages/Location.aspx). Spokespeople will also be available for limited phone interviews. Please contact us to arrange.

WHEN:
Press conference: 11:50am, Wed., October 9, 2013.
Event: Wed., October 9 (open sessions); followed by closed discussion sessions on October 10.
Contact:
If you wish to attend the press conference, would like more information or would like to set up a phone or online interview, please contact Richard Truman or Juli Holloway at CopperMoon communications on 1 877 475 0754. Email richard@coppermoon.ca or juli@coppermoon.ca

Dakelh Territory, Prince George, B.C. – The Carrier Sekani Tribal Council will be hosting the B.C. First Nations LNG Summit for First Nations, provincial, federal and international governments, and proponents of natural gas developments in Prince George, B.C. The invitation-only two day event is designed to build relationships between First Nations communities, governments and developers to address the many complicated challenges and opportunities associated with these large projects.

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CSTC Grateful for Fish: Fraser First Nations Unity

CSTC Grateful for Fish: Fraser First Nations Unity

PDF Version

July 26, 2013

Dakelh Territory, Prince George, British Columbia. Canada. The Carrier Sekani Tribal Council (CSTC) would like to extend its gratitude to the St’at’imc Government, Northern Shuswap Tribal Council (NSTC) and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) for the recent delivery of approximately 200 Early Stuart sockeye that were seized in the St’at’imc (Lillooet), and Nlka’pamux (Thompson in the Lytton area) territories. The CSTC has distributed this important fish resource to elders, disabled and families in need. The CSTC member First Nations are at the headwaters of the Upper Fraser and have been working with First Nations in the Fraser watershed to conserve the Early Stuart salmon runs, as they are an important subsistence food fish for Carrier Sekani peoples.

Tribal Chief Terry Teegee stated, “’Mussi Cho! to our cousins along the Fraser. We were able to provide some of our Elders, disabled and families in need with some important food fish. We are grateful for the support and quick measures taken by NSTC and DFO to ensure that our people could benefit from a dwindling fishery.” The seized salmon were transported from Prince George to Tache village by Tl’azt’en fisheries monitor Mellisa Pierre, where she had distributed the fish in her community. “This couldn’t happen without quick planning and I also want to thank Tl’azt’en Fisheries Program Manager Darren Haskell and Fisheries Monitor Mellisa Pierre, as well as Tl’azt’en representative on the Upper Fraser Fisheries Conservation Alliance (UFFCA), Thomas Alexis, who assisted in getting the salmon to their destination to Nakal Buhn (Stuart Lake)” stated Chief Teegee.

For several years the CSTC and its member First Nations have been working with First Nations along the Fraser to conserve the Early Stuart fishery, including closures, until such time that that fishery can recover. Earlier this year the CSTC began discussions with First Nations regarding an inter-tribal protocol to guide the annual development of an Early Stuart Management Plan. The CSTC is supportive of collaborative initiatives that seek to ensure that fisheries and natural resources are protected and conserved for current and future generations.

“We will continue to work to protect and rehabilitate habitat in the Upper Fraser. The cumulative impacts from various sources are stressing the Early Stuart sockeye runs, including human fishing practices,” said Tribal Chief Teegee. He added, “The St’at’imc, NSTC and DFO did a great job in dealing with a difficult situation. The CSTC is committed to working with First Nations along the Fraser River to ensure that conservation and closure measures are respected and secure. Losing the Early Stuart sockeye is not an option for our, or future generations.”

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Media contacts: Tribal Chief Terry Teegee: Office (250) 562-6279. Cell: (250) 640-3256

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First Nation infants subject to “human experimental work” for TB vaccine in 1930s-40s

NATIONAL NEWS | 24. JUL, 2013 BY APTN NATIONAL NEWS

By Jorge Barrera
APTN National News
http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2013/07/24/first-nation-infants-subject-to-human-experimental-work-for-tb-vaccine-in-1930s-40s/

The nutritional experiments conducted in First Nation communities and in Indian residential schools were not the only example where Canada’s Indigenous population faced treatment as “guinea pigs,” academic research shows.

First Nation infants were used for Saskatchewan trials of a tuberculosis vaccine that was mired in controversy at the time of the experiment in the 1930s and 1940s.

The subject of nutritional experiments exploded last week after reports surfaced on a study by University of Guelph food historian Ian Mosby. The study found that experiments were conducted in six residential schools and communities in northern Ontario, northern Manitoba, British Columbia, Alberta and Nova Scotia between 1942 and 1952.

Previous and ongoing academic research shows, however, that the nutritional experiments were part of a wider pattern in the medical and scientific community’s approach to Indigenous people at the time which included experimentation and the persistence of certain types of surgeries that were no longer conducted on non-Indigenous people.

Academic research also shows that many Indigenous people who died undergoing medical care for diseases like tuberculosis (TB) were buried in unmarked graves because Indian Affairs would not pay to take their bodies back to their home communities.

“Historians have been reluctant to question medical care because we are enthralled with the power of medicine,” said Brock University professor Maureen Lux, who published a paper on the vaccine trials in 1998 and is currently working on a book that delves into the still thinly-explored realm of the treatment of Indigenous people in sanatoriums. “Once I started looking at what was going and how they were operated and in whose interest, it becomes a fairly dark story.”

The vaccine trial on First Nation children from the Qu’Appelle reserves in southern Saskatchewan is one of those threads in that story.

The bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine trials were backed by the National Research Council and Indian Affairs. While the trials were eventually successful and the vaccine is still around today, one of the doctors involved with the experiment at the time worried about the dangers and believed Ottawa could find itself on the hook if something went wrong.

It was already apparent to medical officials before the trials that TB rates were dramatically lowered by improving the living conditions of First Nation people living on reserve, according the study written by Lux titled, Perfect Subjects: Race Tuberculosis and the Qu’Appelle BCG Vaccine Trial.

Between 1930 and 1932, the tuberculosis rate had been cut in half after a federally-backed Qu’Appelle Demonstration Health Unit began focusing on changing the situation on the ground. It replaced one-room log huts with frame houses, drilled wells to improve water supply, provided families with hens and seed and improved the food given to school children and pregnant women, according to Lux’s study. A nurse was also hired to give care to children suffering from infections disease in their own home.

“The general death rate and the infant mortality rate both also fell. Thus, before the BCG vaccine trials were begun, the tuberculosis death rate had been reduced by half by marginal improvements in living conditions, and especially by segregating those with active tuberculosis,” wrote Lux.

But vaccines were cheaper than paying to improve the conditions of Indian residential schools and reserves or treating people in sanatoriums which could turn into lengthy stays.

Lux said the urgency to conduct the vaccine trials on First Nation infants in southern Saskatchewan was also driven by a fear that Indigenous people would infect the non-Indigenous population with TB.

“They were seen as vectors of disease because TB rates in the non-Aboriginal community were falling quickly. They were better fed and housed, but not so on-reserve,” said Lux, in an interview. “My point in the article was that TB wasn’t the big threat…the big threat was poverty because more kids died of poverty related diseases than from TB.”

The BCG vaccine at the time was controversial. A German experiment in 1930 led to the deaths 71 children after they were given a contaminated strain. At the time of the Qu’Appelle trial, close to 400,000 children had been vaccinated and trials had been conducted in Montreal, but it was still unclear at the time whether the vaccine would regain its virulence. The United States and Britain did not use the BCG vaccine at the time “because of fears that the vaccine was not stable,” wrote Lux.

Worries over the vaccine were expressed in a confidential memo to federal authorities.

“I feel as though it would be unwise to initiate human experimental work among Indian children who are the direct wards of the government, and for which reasons they are not in a position to exercise voluntary cooperation,” wrote Dr. R. George Ferguson, the medical superintendant of the Fort Qu’Appelle Sanatorium, to the president of the National Research Council. “Furthermore in case of difficulties arising, the government itself could not be without responsibility.”

The trial went ahead in 1933 and it proved successful. According to Lux, between 1933 and 1945, 306 infants were vaccinated and 303 were used as a control group. Only six vaccinated infants contracted TB and two died. In the unvaccinated group, 29 caught TB and nine died.

But the vaccine could not protect children from death. Poverty proved to be a far deadlier killer than TB. According to Lux’s paper, 105 children died from causes other than TB within the first seven years of the study. They died from pneumonia and gastroenteritis.

“The BCG trial was a success, but unfortunately the patients died,” wrote Lux.

Lux said in an interview that First Nation patients also underwent trials for streptomycin, an antibiotic that was used to cure TB, at the now defunct Charles Camsell hospital in Edmonton.

Lux said doctors also continued to surgically remove TB from Indigenous patients into the 1950s and 60s, after the procedure was no longer done on the non-Indigenous population.

“Do we interpret that surgeons and medical directors thought they were doing right and never questioning the assumption that these people were going to actually spread TB when they actually weren’t?” said Lux. “They could do it and they did it and that is as shocking as any kind of experiment.”

During her research on the book about sanatoriums and Indian hospitals, Lux said she interviewed many elders who believed they underwent medical experiments.

“Every one of them said, ‘yeah, they were using us as guinea pigs.’ Whether they were, or people didn’t understand what treatments they were getting, or physicians weren’t telling people, it is really hard to pin down…as a historian to say yes…But the people who spent time in the hospitals felt they were guinea pigs.”

Whether there were other types of experimentation beyond what has already surfaced, Lux said she can’t give a definite answer.

However, the existing record of the medical system’s treatment of Indigenous patients is already a dark one, she said.

“It is pretty depressing. It is just document after document. They treated these people like they were not even human,” she said. “It is definitely the hardest thing I have ever done.”

Lux’s book goes for peer review this fall and should be published in about a year.
jbarrera@aptn.ca

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CSTC Unity on Pipelines

May 27, 2013

CSTC Unity on Pipelines

PDF Version

Dakelh Territory, Prince George, British Columbia. Canada. It’s time that Premier Christy Clark meet with the CSTC Chiefs to discuss natural gas pipeline proposals impacting CSTC member First Nations territories. The CSTC First Nations are unified and adamant that these natural gas pipeline projects will have a challenges ahead without our free, prior and informed consent.

Tribal Chief Terry Teegee stated, “We have been meeting with our leaders, and are unified in our approach to understand the cumulative impacts from all these proposed natural gas pipelines.” Teegee continued, “We’ve also been meeting with the natural gas pipeline companies. Some have been better than others, but all must provide sufficient time and resources for our people to review these projects.”

“We are not against development, however we need to have sufficient time to conduct our studies and inform our membership,” said Chief Fred Sam of the Nak'azdli First Nation, which could be impacted by several natural gas pipelines being proposed, and the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline. The natural gas pipelines include: Pacific Trails Pipelines (Chevron/Apache), Coastal GasLink Pipeline (TransCanada), Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Project (TransCanada), and Northern Gas Transmission Project (Spectra).

Dolly Abraham, Chief of Takla Lake First Nation and CSTC Vice-Tribal Chief warned: “The media is misleading everyone suggesting that Enbridge Northern Gateway has a chance of being built under Christy Clark’s leadership. We have already done an assessment and have found that it is not worth the risk.” Chief Dolly added, “We are united. We have had a lot of broken promises from the Crown and industry, and we must be meaningfully consulted and accommodated.”

Chief Martin Louie of the Nadleh Whut'en First Nation said, “We have recently met with Doug Eyford, Special Envoy to Prime Minister Harper. We let him know our collective views on the energy corridors for oil and natural gas pipeline infrastructure. The federal government has a lot of work to do with our Nations to ensure that there is equitable revenue sharing and shared decision-making on these major projects.”

“We are being pressured by various projects, including natural gas pipelines. Deals are being made on the coast and upstream in northeast BC. We are in the middle and will require new precedents and processes if these projects are to be viable”, said Chief Reg Louis of the Stellat'en First Nation. He further stated, “We are very interested in hearing from the new BC government on their views on how BC will change its policies on revenue sharing, and shared decision-making with our First Nations.”

“Tl’azt’en Nation stands with our brothers and sisters to the north, south, east, and west on a unified front. Industry and the Crown must engage our First Nations prior to any permits being issued.” He added, “We don’t want to be forced into an either or scenario. Our land and waterways are under threat, and we must have cumulative impact assessments completed in order to understand how these projects will impact future generations.”

Chief Stanley Thomas of the Saik’uz First Nation said, “The Crown has been negligent and absent in meaningful discussions with our people. The land question has not been resolved in our territories.” He added, “Christy Clark must improve the BC government’s approach in dealing with our people.”

Tribal Chief Teegee concluded, “It’s premature for the Crown and natural gas pipeline companies to think that all these projects will happen without our consent or meaningful involvement. Our First Nations have decision-making authority. We will not be pushed aside, nor will our decision-making authority be fettered by divide-and-conquer tactics. Our people and leaders are united.”

Some of the current natural gas pipeline proposals include:
• TransCanada – Coastal GasLink Project, runs near existing png pipeline ($4B)
• TransCanada – Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Project, runs north of Takla Lake ($5B)
• Apache/Chevron – Pacific Trails Pipeline, similar route as Coastal GasLink Project ($1.5B)
• Spectra Energy – runs north of Takla Lake, similar route as Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Project ($8B)

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Media contacts: Tribal Chief Terry Teegee: Office (250) 562-6279. Cell: (250) 640-3256

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Carrier Sekani to host Truth and Reconciliation Hearings in Prince George

For Immediate Release
May 9, 2013

Carrier Sekani to host Truth and Reconciliation Hearings in Prince George

Dakelh Territory/Prince George BC – On May 13-14, 2013 the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council (CSTC), Carrier Sekani Family Services (CSFS) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is inviting members of the public to learn more about the Canadian Government endorsed Residential School system and how it has affected First Nations who survived years of abuse. Over the last 130 years many First Nations, Metis and Inuit people have attended Residential Schools which were mandated to assimilate First Nations into western society.

Tribal Chief Terry Teegee stated “our people have survived years and generations of abuse at the hands of government, religious organizations and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) as they stole generations of Children from our communities who were placed in residential schools.” Teegee added, “to this day, we are still dealing with legacy of residential schools and it is seen in all the social issues the abuse has caused our people.”

At the height of the residential school operations in 1931, there were approximately 80 residential schools operating and approximately 150,000 children attended the schools during the 130 year history since the first school opened. The federal government made attendance mandatory for First Nations, Inuit and Metis children. It was during this time that kids were taken from their homes for 10 months a year. Children as young as 3 were subjected to substandard living conditions and were abused physically, mentally and sexually. Children were not allowed to speak their language, practice their culture and were not allowed to interact with their siblings.

“In today’s society, we are taught that childhood is the most valuable time of learning and a time for setting a healthy foundation of life skills for a healthy future” stated Teegee. Teegee concluded “The federal government’s actions have caused tremendous pain and suffering for many generations of First Nations across this country. Now is the time for our people to heal from this horrific event in our history and tell our stories of surviving residential school.”

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For Further Information Contact:
Tribal Chief Terry Teegee, office 250-562-6279 ext. 223, cell (250)640-3256

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Yinka Dene Alliance: Time for Enbridge to give up on Northern Gateway

BY MARTIN LOUIE, FRED SAM, DOLLY ABRAHAM, STANLEY THOMAS, KAREN OGEN AND RALPH PIERRE, CALGARY HERALD

MAY 8, 2013

Chief Ta'Kaiya Blaney, from Sliammon B.C. and members of the Yinka Dene Alliance arrive after marching from the Legislature to the Enbridge Building to protest against the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline in Edmonton on Wednesday, May 2, 2012.

Photograph by: John Lucas , edmontonjournal.com

Today, May 8, the Enbridge board of directors is meeting with shareholders in Calgary for the Enbridge annual general meeting. In the past, we, the chiefs of the Yinka Dene Alliance, have personally attended this meeting to explain to Enbridge senior management and shareholders why our communities have rejected the Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker project. We have decided not to be with you this time, but our message today, as always, is that this and any other oil pipeline will not cross our homelands in British Columbia.

With the Yinka Dene peoples in the lead, First Nations voices of opposition are joined with those of oilsands workers, local governments, and citizens of every walk of life — from economists to environmentalists — across the country. We all know that this project will not be completed.

We, the Yinka Dene peoples, are standing up to protect the land for our children and the children of everyone in British Columbia. We have repeatedly said that your company and the provincial and federal governments are not prepared for the devastating effects of an oil spill on our lands and waters if the Northern Gateway project were to be built. During March and April, in addition to the high-profile spill in Mayflower, Ark., there have been at least nine other spills from ruptured oil and gas pipelines in North America, three of them in Canada. Contaminated water from tarsands processing was also discharged into the Athabasca River, which supplies the drinking water of our relations, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.

Our lands are precious to us. We will rely on our constitutionally protected title and rights and on our own laws to protect our lands from desecration. That means that the legal impediments you face in getting this project approved are potentially insurmountable. More than 160 First Nations have signed the Save the Fraser Declaration and are standing together with us to say no to the Northern Gateway project, based on our indigenous laws. We are the wall through which the Northern Gateway pipeline will not pass.

The people of British Columbia and Canada have stood shoulder to shoulder with us to support us in our struggle. More than 100,000 people across Canada have signed petitions that recognize our decision to ban this project from our territories. B.C. mayors have stood on stage with us to condemn the Enbridge project as one that puts too much of our common future at risk. The Union of B.C. Municipalities has called on the provincial government to use everything within its powers to prevent the transport of bitumen through our lands and waters.

We have met with provincial and federal politicians who oppose this project, sharing our concerns about the peril that exporting more bitumen presents for Canada’s economy, local ecosystems, our greenhouse gas emissions targets, and the health of communities stretching from Alberta’s oilsands to B.C.’s coast and beyond. The fate of pipelines to the West Coast has become a defining issue in the upcoming B.C. election.

Your project has been called a “dead pipeline walking” by industry analysts. Business journals across this continent have described the bungling way in which you have dealt with First Nations and the lack of “social license” for this project. They have already concluded that, regardless of the recommendation made by the joint review panel or the decision of federal cabinet, this project will not see the light of day.

It’s time for Enbridge as a corporation to have a frank conversation with its shareholders: the Northern Gateway pipeline is a project without a future. Now is the time to come up with an exit strategy, one that works for First Nations, the people of B.C. and your shareholders. Rest assured that when you make the announcement that you have decided not to proceed, we will be the first to congratulate you on your sound judgment and business acumen. We will be happy to acknowledge that you have made the right choice, the responsible choice.

And until then, we and our supporters will continue to say what we have said since this project was announced. The Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline will not be built across our lands or through our waters.

Snachailya, Mussi cho’ (Thank you very much, you have done us a great favour.)

Chiefs of the Yinka Dene Alliance: Chief Martin Louie, Nadleh Whut’en First Nation; Chief Fred Sam, Nakazdli First Nation; Chief Dolly Abraham, Takla Lake First Nation; Chief Stanley Thomas, Saik’uz First Nation; Chief Karen Ogen, Wet’suwet’en First Nation; Chief Ralph Pierre, Tl’azt’en First Nation. The Yinka Dene Alliance includes Nadleh Whut’en, Nak’azdli, Takla Lake, Saik’uz, Wet’suwet’en and Tl’azt’en First Nations in northern B.C. that have banned the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline from their territories as a matter of indigenous law.

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Ottawa names liaison with First Nations

Ottawa names liaison with First Nations
Vancouver lawyer will discuss environmental and economic issues related to oil and gas

BY PETER O'NEIL, VANCOUVER SUNMARCH 20, 2013
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Ottawa+names+liaison+with+First+Nations/8124182/story.html

The Harper government's second announcement in as many days aimed at winning British Columbians' trust on oilsands pipelines was greeted Tuesday with praise by Enbridge Inc. and with skepticism by a West Coast First Nations leader.
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, in a speech in Terrace, announced the appointment of a “special federal representative” to talk to B.C. and Alberta First Nations about natural resource developments – including the proposed $6.5 billion Northern Gateway oilsands pipeline to Kitimat. Vancouver lawyer Doug Eyford will report to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Oliver called the announcement “historic” and timed at a “seminal moment,” according to the text of the speech.

Grand Chief Edward John, a member of the B.C. First Nations Summit, was skeptical.

“Those are pretty creative adjectives,” he said.

He said the Harper government's efforts to consult First Nations on natural resource projects fall short of what the Supreme Court of Canada has said is necessary.
“I think the standard of engaging is not to wave a paper under their nose and throw a few trinkets their way, and think it will satisfy First Nations. You have to engage at a level far deeper than that,” John said.
On Monday, Oliver announced a series of initiatives to give Canada a “world-class” tanker safety system.

He said Eyford will meet with aboriginal communities affected by proposed oil and natural gas pipelines, liquefied natural gas plants, ports, and related infrastructure. Eyford will examine ways to meet environmental concerns and come up with better business and job opportunities for aboriginals in B.C. and Alberta. Eyford will also work with the two provincial governments that are feuding over Northern Gateway.

He is to give Harper an interim report by June 28, and a final report by Nov. 29.

“His vision, professionalism and sense of balance and fairness will, once again, deliver results for First Nations and all British Columbians,” Oliver said of Eyford, who since 2007 has been a federal land claims negotiator in B.C.
Enbridge executive vice-president Janet Holder issued a statement praising the government for taking an initiative “to remove barriers to market access for the greater good of British Columbia and Canada.”
New Democratic Party MP Nathan Cullen, whose riding includes Kiti-mat, said Oliver's efforts in B.C. won't change the hostile attitude of many British Columbians towards the project.

He described the appointment as another attempt by the government to help Enbridge make its case that First Nations have been adequately consulted.

“Subsidizing a multibillion-dollar company seems a bit tough when the federal government is cutting everywhere else,” Cullen said.

Harper has made clear that one of his top priorities is to ensure Alberta's oilsands get a better price for diluted bitumen crude, which now goes mostly to U.S. customers at a discounted price.
But proposals by Enbridge and by Kinder Morgan, which wants to twin its existing pipeline from near Edmonton to Burnaby, are controversial in B.C. Many critics say industry and the federal and Alberta governments have been unable to obtain a “social licence” due to opposition from First Nations, environmental groups, and ordinary British Columbians.

poneil@postmedia.com twitter.com/poneilinottawa Blog: vancouversun.com/oneil

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