Massive Petronas export development threatens crucial salmon habitat
SEPTEMBER 27, 2016
Just a day after royals William and Kate visited and trumpeted new protections for the Great Bear Rainforest in B.C., the federal government has announced it’s giving the greenlight to a controversial fossil fuel mega-project that threatens both an ecologically sensitive stretch of the Pacific coast and any chance Canada has of meeting its international climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.
It’s unrealistic, and pursuing it will only lead NDP to leap further off a high political cliff.
“(Media are) portraying the Leap as a radical document, I don’t see it that way and I don’t think most people in Canada do actually.” – Robert Fox, new NDP national director .
Eddie Gardner President, Wild Salmon Defenders Alliance
From: Eddie Gardner [mailto:singingbear@telus.net]
Sent: Friday, September 23, 2016 10:31 AM
Subject: Letter of Solidarity with Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw Eviction of Fish Farms
Hi All,
Your assistance in circulating this to the mass media would be greatly appreciated. We are encouraging others to send messages of support and solidarity with Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw to Dominic LeBlanc as Chief Michelle Lee Edwards did.
One of B.C.'s most influential First Nations leaders will not be at a ceremony with Prince William to protest the way Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Christy Clark are dealing with indigenous issues.
Assembly of First Nations, Union of BC Indian Chiefs, NDP among opponents to B.C. dam project
The federal NDP is questioning Justin Trudeau's commitment to having a 'nation-to-nation' relationship with Indigenous people, claiming the Liberal party continues to dodge questions about the construction of the Site C dam near Fort St John.
The controversial hydroelectric project came up in Question Period numerous times this week, including an exchange between NDP leader Thomas Mulcair and the prime minister.
The federal government’s decision on expanding the TransMountain pipeline, expected no later than Dec. 19, will be an early Christmas present for an as yet unknown recipient.
As opponents hope for a resounding “no” on the $6.8-billion expansion project, all but a few of the communities along the pipeline route — from Strathcona County in Alberta to Burnaby, B.C. — have signed agreements ensuring they get more than a lump of coal if the project goes ahead, whether they endorse it, or not.
The BC Hydro Ratepayers Association has filed for a Judicial Review of a fisheries permit related to the controversial Site C dam, arguing that the impact of the megaproject on the environment and on First Nations rights was not adequately justified before the permit was granted.
The permit or “Authorization”, issued in late August by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, “authorizes BC Hydro to conduct specified works and activities likely to result in serious harm to fish.”
Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould should resign her post over the federal approval of permits for British Columbia’s Site C mega dam, says the chief of West Moberly First Nation, one of the Treaty 8 communities facing territorial destruction as a result of the project.
Enbridge says they will pursue re-engagement with directly affected First Nations communities along the proposed route of their Northern Gateway pipeline, a proposed project that would carry bitumen from Alberta through to Kitimat.
Northern Gateway announced today they would not appeal the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision to reverse the pipeline’s federal approval. The court cited a lack of meaningful consultation with impacted First Nations.
Chief Namoks of the Wet’suwet’en questions the move as just a PR strategy.
