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To counter U.S. threats, B.C. must not buy into the ‘drill baby, drill’ mentality at expense of First Nations and climate
13/02/25
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Feb. 12, 2025
Clean water, food security, and healthy communities are how we will outlast Trump
Some B.C. politicians are using the trade war threat posed by President Donald Trump to push for no-holds-barred resource extraction on First Nations lands.
We support Premier David Eby and his ministers as they develop a robust response to Trump’s erratic and menacing conduct; however, in doing so we urge the province to listen to First Nations communities who were here long before Trump — and know what it takes to survive long after he’s gone.
To be clear, that does not mean listening to and prioritizing those First Nations communities that support fast-tracking natural resource extraction projects in their territories over those who do not.
It means acknowledging that LNG projects will contribute to the climate emergency and that LNG is not a clean form of energy — and must not be sold as such.
And it means advancing only those projects that have buy-in from the people who must live with them — not pitting neighbours against each other with divisive schemes and deceptive incentives.
This is an opportunity to build a stronger province, prepare our cities and rural communities for climate change, and advance reconciliation between First Nations and the Crown.
It would be missing the point entirely to fight Trump’s unhinged behaviour with more unhinged behaviour. Trashing our environment, making greenhouse gas emissions worse, and sparking new conflicts in the courts and on the land will only lead us further down the dystopian path Trump and his allies have laid out for us.
Some believe that building more oil and gas projects will reduce Trump’s leverage over Canada. It’s not that simple.
Take the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline. On paper, the PRGT pipeline is a joint project of the Nisga’a treaty government and Texas-based Western LNG. But the investors behind the proposal are Wall Street firms closely allied with Trump.
Like Blackstone Inc., a trillion-dollar private equity firm headed by CEO Steve Schwarzman — a longtime Trump adviser who donated $39 million to help MAGA candidates win in 2024.
Selling cheap B.C. gas into higher-priced Asian markets might boost profits for gas producers (many with significant U.S. ownership), but it would also make life more unaffordable for residents of B.C. and would increase greenhouse gas emissions.
The warning from outgoing U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholme after studying the LNG boom on the Gulf Coast was that its net effect was to raise energy bills for American homes and businesses.
Canadian LNG exports also face challenges staying competitive where export capacity is expected to surpass the demand that is peaking and dropping in many markets around the world. LNG imports are declining in Japan and South Korea, according to government data from both countries. With construction costs climbing, Canadian LNG projects face challenges staying competitive in a market where export capacity could soon surpass demand.
Add to that the fact the PRGT pipeline would cut across some of the healthiest intact salmon watersheds left in B.C., while worsening climate change. As salmon runs crash all over the province, abundant sockeye from the Nass and Skeena rivers are traded and marketed all over B.C., feeding thousands of families.
That’s one reason the hereditary chiefs of the Gitanyow Nation have created two Indigenous protected areas in the Nass watershed, and why the Gitanyow and the Gitxsan village of Kispiox have launched two separate lawsuits to defend our clean water and food from the threat of this U.S.-backed gas pipeline.
That’s also why the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs passed a resolution in September 2024 unanimously opposing the PRGT pipeline and supporting Nisga’a, Ts’msyen, Gitxsan, Wet’suwet’en, and allied land defenders working to stop it.
That’s not to say that First Nations communities stand in the way of B.C. developing smart ways to defend against Trump’s childish outbursts. First Nations are not generally opposed to responsible development.
But we have teachings that remind us to make decisions today based on the long-term interests of our grandchildren and their grandchildren.
As our elders teach us, we must take care of the land and the gifts it provides.
Malii remembers his grandmother, sitting on the end of her bed for their regular evening storytelling in the early ‘60s where she predicted where we are today: Big fires will come, strong winds, greed, and the food supply will diminish if we don’t take care and respect the land.
The solution is not more of the same — burning more fossil fuels, polluting our rivers, and ignoring First Nations’ inherent and constitutionally protected title and rights. In fact, such an approach plays exactly into Trump’s plan.
To counter the nihilistic vision of the MAGA billionaires now taking over the U.S. government, we must work together to build a bright and shining alternative.
For us, that means caretaking our inheritance and the teachings that go along with it. It’s the land and water that make B.C. special. And they protect all of us who call this place home. At the end of the day, we will be judged by the legacy we leave our future generations.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip is president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. Glen Williams/Malii is the president and chief negotiator of the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs.
[Top photo: To counter the nihilistic vision of U.S. President Donald Trump and the MAGA billionaires now taking over the U.S. government, we must work together to build a bright and shining alternative, write Glen Williams/Malii and Stewart Phillip. Photo by Brandon Bell /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS]
