Today in Victoria, lawyers representing two First Nations will be in B.C. Supreme Court arguing that the provincial government violated First Nation rights by rushing to approve the controversial $9 billion (and counting) Site C dam on the Peace River.
Regardless of the outcome of the case, which is one of three B.C. First Nations legal proceedings against Site C currently underway, First Nations opposition to Site C is understandable.
The Tsawwassen First Nation will proceed with a vote on plans to build an LNG export facility just north of the Tsawwassen ferry terminal, it announced on Monday.
"The preliminary concept looks at a plan somewhere between three million and five million metric tonnes per annum," said Tsawwassen First Nation spokesman Chris Hartman.
"In terms of tanker traffic associated with that, probably somewhere in the range of four to five LNG carriers a month, or about one a week."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a set of fossil fuel directives to his cabinet ministers Friday that included instructions to end oil tankers transits on B.C.’s northern coast — a move that observers say could finally kill the long embattled Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline proposal.
“This ban ends the dangerous Northern Gateway pipeline,” said ForestEthics campaigner Karen Mahon in Vancouver.
“Without tankers, crude oil has no place to go — and that means no pipelines, no oil trains moving tar sands to the northern BC coast.”
The collapse of major salmon runs in B.C. this fall and the controversial expansion of fish farming on the West Coast have prompted First Nations to request “an urgent meeting” with newly appointed federal Fisheries Minister Hunter Tootoo.
Chief Bob Chamberlin, chair of the First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance, said the disappearance of millions of pink salmon headed for the Fraser and the collapse of the Adams River sockeye run underscore the need for immediate government action.
Business, environmental and community groups are pushing for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to shut down a pair of pipeline reviews before heading to Paris for climate talks.
The City of Burnaby, the Georgia Strait Alliance, Greenpeace Canada and the Natural Resources Defense Council are among 100 groups seeking a halt to National Energy Board reviews of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain expansion and TransCanada’s Energy East proposal. In a joint letter sent Thursday to Trudeau, the groups say the reviews should be put on pause until fundamental flaws in the process are fixed.
In May, Premier Christy Clark named 19 people to a new Climate Leadership Team that included representatives from provincial and municipal governments, industry, academia, the environmental community and First Nations. She said the team was to “consider the best actions” to get a lagging B.C. back “on track” in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
November 30, the deadline for the committee to submit its recommendations, fast approaches. On that day, international climate change talks begin in Paris and Clark will likely be there boasting of B.C.’s green credentials.
Council of the Haida Nation seeks plan to protect oceans
The 2015 House of Assembly, the legislative body of the Haida Nation, passed a resolution expressing opposition to British Columbia’s LNG agenda and demanding that the mass export of any fossil fuel through its territory be prohibited.
Council of the Haida Nation seeks plan to protect oceans
The 2015 House of Assembly, the legislative body of the Haida Nation, passed a resolution expressing opposition to British Columbia’s LNG agenda and demanding that the mass export of any fossil fuel through its territory be prohibited.
Over 70 First Nations Leaders, Scientists, Environmental Organizations, and Diverse Groups Across BC Join Hereditary Chief in Letter Calling on Federal Government to Reject PNW LNG on Lelu Island
