Pipelines and First Nations

Can Canada's indigenous communities stop

Prime Minister Stephen Harper from turning the
country into a petrostate?
BY
GEOFF DEMBICKI -JULY 1, 2014
VANCOUVER, Canada On Canada's western coast, where rain-forested
montains dip into !ra"-#le seas, the political an!er is read" to e$plode% &he indi!enos people,
whose ancestors ha'e fished, hnted, and thri'ed here since the last ice a!e, are frios a#ot an
ener!" polic" dreamed p in Ottawa that the" fear cold permanentl" dama!e their land and
destro" their wa" of life%(Opponents can moc) or lo'e of or home as sentimental, #t it won't
chan!e what we feel,( the award-winnin! indi!enos no'elist Eden Ro#inson wrote recentl" in
the Globe and Mail% (*&+he mood in or #ase is simmerin! fr"%(
Ro#inson li'es in ,itamaat Villa!e, a small commnit" some -.. miles north of Vanco'er, near where
the ,itimat Ri'er meets salt water% /ts 0.. indi!enos inha#itants #elon! to the 1aisla nation, one of
23. sch reco!ni4ed (First Nations( across Canada, which has called this coastal re!ion home for
thosands of "ears, !oin! #ac) to lon! #efore Eropean settlers first arri'ed in the 56th centr"%
7atel" the 1aisla ha'e had to rec)on with a new nwelcome 'isitor8 Cal!ar"-#ased En#rid!e, one of
the world's lar!est fossil fel transporters% /f the Northern 9atewa" pro:ect the compan" has #een
proposin! for the past decade !oes forward, a pipeline pmpin! ;<;,... #arrels per da" of hea'" crde
from Al#erta's oil sands wold end within wal)in! distance of Ro#inson's home% &ensions in her
commnit" are so hi!h, she wrote, that (people will spit at "o if the" thin) "o spport En#rid!e%(
/t's li)el" the" will also spit at someone the" thin) spports Canadian Prime =inister >tephen 1arper%
/n ?ne, his Conser'ati'e !o'ernment appro'ed the @0%3 #illion 9atewa" pro:ect, which wold ship oil
across the Roc)" =ontains to the Port of ,itimat, load it onto spertan)ers, and sell it for a premim
to Asian mar)ets% &o reach the Pacific, spertan)ers mst first na'i!ate the windin! Douglas
Chael% /n <..2, a pro'incial ferr" crashed and san) in the channel, and people li'in! in the near#"
9it!a'at Nation 'illa!e of 1artle" Aa" fear that histor" will repeat itself -- #t on a scale of
en'ironmental and cltral dama!e hard to fathom% &he" recentl" stretched a <%6-mile crocheted rope
in protest of 9atewa" across the Bo!las Channel%(Each stitch is sha!e" l#$e a tear"ro!,%
sa#" &lo'$a"e orga#(er L)e *#ll, %&e'ause th#s #s a +er) e,ot#oal th#g -or
us.%
For 1arper, 9atewa" promises a @3.. #illion 9BP #oost and the presti!e of achie'in! his most
important forei!n-polic" !oal, to rema)e Canada into a !lo#al (ener!" sperpower%( At to man" First
Nations li'in! alon! the pipeline's 035-mile-lon! rote, 9atewa" s"m#oli4es (e'er"thin! that people
don't want,( Ro#inson said%
&he" intend to fi!ht the pipeline in cort #" ar!in! for le!al athorit" o'er land the"''e li'ed on for
millennia and ne'er srrendered to the federal !o'ernment% A landmar) decision from Canada's
>preme Cort on ?ne <2 ma" ha'e #ro!ht !rops li)e the 1aisla oe ste! 'loser to achie'in!
that athorit"%
&ension #etween indi!enos people and the pipeline pro:ect are nothin! new% /n <..2, En#rid!e sent
sr'e"ors, chain saws in hand, into the ancient forest near ,itamaat Villa!e to scot sites for an oil
terminal% &he" felled 5- trees that #ore li'in! e'idence of First Nations histor"8 deep notches made #"
the 1aisla hndreds, or perhaps e'en thosands, of "ears earlier% (Ce compared it to a thief #rea)in!
into "or hose and destro"in! one of "or pri4ed possessions,( 1aisla Concilor Rssell Ross ?r% tol"
,e in <.5<%
&he relationship #etween the 1aisla First Nation and En#rid!e onl" !ot worse% Fi'e "ears after the tree-
cttin! incident, the compan" offered a @5..,... settlement, which was (al,ost a #sult( in the
opinion of Chief Concilor Ellis Ross, as he stated in a letter to En#rid!e's president% E'en worse
was En#rid!e's additional offer to ma)e amends with a (cleansin! feast%( /f sch a ceremon" was
practiced widel" in 1aisla cltre, Ross wasn't aware of it%
(/ ha'e ne'er witnessed 1aisla Nation Concil initiate a cleansin! feast and / do#t / e'er will,(
he wrote to the /r,% (/ wold appreciate it if "or compan"'s shallow nderstandin! of or
cltre is )ept ot of or discssions%(
All alon! the 9atewa" rote, En#rid!e was ma)in! similar cltral fl#s% &hese ga0es, alon! with a
ne!otiatin! st"le Ro#inson descri#ed as hea'" on (tal)in! points( and li!ht on listenin!, had #" <.55
cased 53. First Nations across Aritish Colm#ia and Al#erta to oppose the pro:ect, man" of them not
e'en directl" impacted #" it% (/f En#rid!e has po)ed the hornet's nest of a#ori!inal nrest,(
Ro#inson wrote, (then the federal Conser'ati'es, >tephen 1arper's !o'ernment, has spent the last few
"ears whac)in! it li)e a pinata%(
&he whac)s #e!an comin! after 1arper's Conser'ati'es won their first-e'er ma:orit" rle in <.55%
>ince then, his Conser'ati'e Part" has ,a"e #t eas#er to !et oil and !as pro:ects appro'ed, has ct
en'ironmental protections, and has proposed contentios chan!es to indi!enos edcation% (/t's felt li)e
the Conser'ati'es ha'e :st #een hammerin! s with le!islation,( Ro#inson said% &ension with the
Conser'ati'es are so widel" felt amon! First Nations that in late <.5< there emer!ed a !rotest
,o+e,et called /dle No =ore, whose sit-ins, rallies, and hn!er stri)es #ro!ht national attention
to the case of indi!enos so'erei!nt"%
&his =a", a United Nations en'o" "ee,e" at#+e "#strust of 1arper a (continin! crisis%( On
9atewa", 1arper has done little to ease the pro#lem% After the U%>% re:ection in earl" <.5< of
&ransCanada's ,e"stone D7, a pipeline that was spposed to lin) Al#erta's oil sands to &e$as, the
prime minister (e$pressed his profond disappointment( to U%>% President Aarac) O#ama, 1arper's
office said in a state,et% A wee) later, at the Corld Economic Form, 1arper 'owed to e$port oil
to Asia instead% Pro:ects li)e 9atewa" were now a (national priorit",( he"e'lare"%
For 1arper, the economics of the pro:ect pro'ide !ood reason for its priorit" stats% En#rid!e estimates
that, once completed, 9atewa" wold #oost Canada's 9BP #" @3.. #illion o'er the ne$t three decades%
Ottawa alone stands to !ain @32 #illion in ta$es and ro"alties% And there is the isse of Canada's role in
the world% One month after the Corld Economic Form, in Fe#rar" <.5<, 1arper tra'eled to China,
where an inflential crowd of Chinese #siness e$ecti'es that Canada is (an emer!in! ener!"
sperpower( eager to (sell or ener!" to people who want to #" or ener!"%(
Chile 1arper deli'ered that pitch in Erope and Asia, his then-natral resorces minister, ?oe Oli'er
Enow finance ministerF, was declarin! war on 9atewa" opponents #ac) at home% /n an open letter,
Oli'er lashe" outat the (en'ironmental and other radical !rops( that in their protests a!ainst the
pipeline pro:ect (threaten to hi:ac) or re!lator" s"stem to achie'e their radical ideolo!ical a!enda%(
/t was a tactical stm#le, wrote 9eor!e 1o#er!, a Uni'ersit" of Aritish Colm#ia professor who
stdies the 9atewa" standoff, that pshed (man" moderates who were offended #" the st"le of the
attac)s into stron! opponents of the pipeline%( Oli'er's letter was mentioned a!ain and a!ain drin! two
"ears of federal hearin!s on 9atewa", for which -,... Canadians re!istered to spea)%
A" the time those hearin!s finished last Becem#er, 9atewa" had #ecome one of the top political isses
in Canada% =ch credit for that is de to a sstained media campai!n coordinated #" Aritish
Colm#ia's ma:or !reen !rops, which deli#eratel" e'o)ed memories of E$$on's 5G6G Valde4 disaster%
On the spill's <.th anni'ersar" in <..G, the) "e'lare" a (No &an)ers Ba"%(
(&here will #e a sacrifice we're as)ed to ma)e at some point, and the *ecolo!ical+ dama!e will #e
permanent,( said ,ai Na!ata from the Bo!wood /nitiati'e, one of the leadin! !rops in that campai!n%
(No#od"'s come p with a compellin! ar!ment a#ot wh" we shold accept those ris)s%(
&he continal focs on 9atewa"'s ris)s -- to one of North America's 'astest wildernesses and to the
indi!enos people li'in! within it -- allowed !reen !rops to #ro)er alliances with First Nations all
alon! the pipeline rote% &he" appeared to!ether at :oint press conferences and wa!ed a two-front
opposition to 9atewa" so effecti'e that, #" this ?ne, nearl" 0. percent of people in Aritish Colm#ia
opposed immediate federal appro'al of the pro:ect, accordin! to a Aloom#er!-Nanos !oll%
(&he reason wh" 9atewa" has #ecome sch a political al#atross for >tephen 1arper,( Na!ata
e$plained, (is he's mana!ed to find a wa" to ali!n the ma:orit" of Aritish Colm#ians with the ma:orit"
of First Nations%( Not to mention Vanco'er's ma"or, Aritish Colm#ia's premier, and 1arper's political
opponents in Ottawa, all of whom ha'e spo)en ot a!ainst the pro:ect%
None of that opposition has deterred the federal Conser'ati'es, tho!h%
I ,#"1Jue *ar!er2s go+er,et o3'#all) a!!ro+e" Gatewa), "ee,#g #t %#
the !u&l#' #terest.% Cithin hors of the annoncement, a coalition of almost 3. First Nations
and tri#al concils in Aritish Colm#iawere +ow#g to (immediatel" !o to cort to 'i!orosl"
prse all lawfl means to stop the En#rid!e pro:ect,( and promisin! that (we will defend or
territories whate'er the costs ma" #e%(
Unli)e in the United >tates, where indi!enos peoples were conHered and then settled on reser'ations,
few alon! 9atewa"'s proposed rote ha'e e'er srrendered territor"% Chat power the" actall" wield
o'er that territor" is le!all" dispted% Iet a >preme Cort decision on ?ne <2grat#g la"
t#tle to the &silhHot'in First Nation !i'es !reater le!al standin! to nati'e !rops with nresol'ed land
claims%
&he conseHences of that decision, as well as the atonom" it ltimatel" pro'ides to indi!enos people,
will #e decided if !rops li)e the Carrier >e)ani &ri#al Concil, which represents ei!ht First Nations
across central Aritish Colm#ia, challen!e 9atewa" in cort as nconstittional% (Chat we'll reall" #e
doin! is testin! or athorit" and or :risdiction o'er the land,( said &err" &ee!ee, the concil's tri#al
chief% (/t's reall" hard to ima!ine this pro:ect !oin! ahead%(
En#rid!e is still confident% (Ce are prepared( for le!al challen!es, the compan"'s CEO, Al =onaco,
said drin! a recent conference call, in which he contested the notion that people li)e &ee!ee spea) on
#ehalf of all First Nations% =onaco ar!ed that 2. percent of indi!enos people li'in! alon! 9atewa"'s
rote in fact want to see it #ilt Ea claim called%r#"#'ulous( #" the Coastal First Nations !ropF%
&hose cort #attles that First Nations do #rin!, in =onaco's opinion, are li)el" to #e resol'ed in
En#rid!e's fa'or o'er the ne$t 5< to 5; months% 9atewa"'s constrction cold #e!in shortl" after% (&his
is not necessaril" an endless process,( he said%
For indi!enos people li)e Ro#inson, as well as the Unist'ot'en hs#and and wife now l#+#g # a
woo" 'a&# #ilt intentionall" alon! the pipeline's path, the fi!ht a!ainst En#rid!e stands in for a
lar!er cltral str!!le% >o lon! as companies and !o'ernments contine to 'iew the ri!hts of First
Nations (as an impediment to !ettin! what the" want,( Ro#inson said, the str!!le will srel" contine%
?ennifer CastroJFlic)r Creati'e Commons