BC First Nations leaders in Ottawa to set record straight on misleading claims of support for Petronas’ Pacific Northwest LNG and call on Trudeau to reject project

BC First Nations Leaders in Ottawa to Set Record Straight on Misleading Claims of Support for Petronas’ Pacific Northwest LNG and Call on Trudeau to reject project 

Ottawa, ON - A delegation of First Nations hereditary chiefs and leaders from NW British Columbia will be in Ottawa on Tuesday April 19th to call on Prime Minister Trudeau to reject Petronas' Pacific Northwest liquefied natural gas (LNG)  project proposed for Lelu Island, at the mouth of the Skeena River near Prince Rupert. 

Counter to misleading claims by the BC government of First Nations support for the project, there is significant First Nation opposition from leaders and communities throughout the region and province. The First Nation leaders trip to Ottawa also comes on the heels of a letter issued last week by the Federal Port Authority of Prince Rupert, questioning the rights of the Hereditary Chiefs to build a peaceful camp on their traditional territory of Lelu Island and threatening their eviction. 

The delegation includes the Hereditary Chiefs of Lelu Island, former Lax Kw'alaams Mayor, the President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, and hereditary chiefs from the upriver Wetsuwe'ten and Gitxsan First Nations. In the press conference, the delegation will provide clarity on the position within the Lax Kw'alaams community in regards to the recent letter from mayor John Helin, address regional First Nation concern and opposition to the project, and speak to the potential for legal challenges from key nations. 

Petronas' Pacific Northwest LNG project is poised to become one of the largest point source greenhouse gas emitters in Canada and would undermine Canada’s international climate change commitments. It also threatens Canada's 2nd largest wild salmon run. The Federal government is set to make the final decision on the controversial proposal to export liquefied natural gas from British Columbia’s north coast within the next 90 days. 

WHAT: BC First Nations Leader Delegation to Ottawa Press Conference  

WHEN: 11:30am, April 19th, 2016

WHERE: Charles Lynch Room (130S, Centre Block), Ottawa 

VISUALS: Chiefs will be wearing traditional regalia 

WHO: 

- Hereditary Chief Yahaan (Donald Wesley), Gitwilgyoots Tribe of the Lax Kw'alaams

- Gwishawaal (Ken Lawson), Gitwilgyoots Tribe of the Lax Kw'alaams

- Garry Reece, former Mayor of Lax Kw'alaams First Nation

- Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President - Union of BC Indian Chiefs

- Chief Na’Moks (John Ridsdale), Office of the Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs

- Richard Wright, House of Luutkudziiwus - Gitxsan First Nation 

- Gerald Amos, Chair of Friends of Wild Salmon