In approving a natural gas pipeline project in British Columbia, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna says the project is “consistent with the government’s reconciliation agenda” with Indigenous Peoples.
Despite this claim, her government’s work on this file has been a travesty. It is clear that reconciliation as understood by the federal government is much more about “the economy” than building real relationships with Indigenous Peoples.
Indigenous leaders are blasting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for talking big, but not backing up his words with actions, following the federal government’s announcement Sept. 27 that Pacific NorthWest’s liquefied natural gas project had been approved. That approval comes on the heels of the nod being given to another much-contested B.C. project, the Site C dam.
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.
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.
Royal tours to Canada are almost never seen as exercises in political damage control.
Sept. 25, 2016
If you listen to news anchors drone on about these visits, you would think that public relations was the last thing on anyone's agenda.
But anyone would have to be naive not to think that the prime minister's office helped shape the itinerary for this week's visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
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.
