Indigenous Peoples

Canada Asked for Time to Work With Tsleil-Waututh to Reconcile Differences

CALGARY – The process for reviewing pipeline projects in Canada is in flux, creating severe legal complications for lawyers on both sides of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.

Changes are coming to the regulatory process that will affect Kinder Morgan Inc.’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, adding new regulatory hurdles for a project nearing the end of its current review process.

A months-long dispute is heating up between BC Hydro and a small group of First Nations and landowners who are protesting the construction of the $9-billion Site C dam.

The power utility has filed a notice of civil claim in B.C. Supreme Court, seeking an injunction that will prevent protesters from stopping work in and around an area on the south bank of the Peace River near Fort St. John, B.C.

Lower Nicola Indian Band (LNIB) chief Aaron Sam was in the Lower Mainland earlier this week, boycotting what he calls a “flawed” environmental assessment process done by the federal government’s National Energy Board (NEB).

“We feel that what the government is going to do is a foregone conclusion,” Aaron told the Heraldin a phone interview.

JANUARY 21, 2016

http://bcgeu.ca/statement-first-nations-supreme-court-ruling

BC Hydro is taking legal action against campers blocking Site C dam construction on the south bank of the Peace River. 

The Crown utility filed a civil claim in B.C. Supreme Court Tuesday against a number of individuals camped at the Rocky Mountain Fort.

"On Tuesday of this week, we filed a civil claim in relation to a small number of individuals who have been preventing contractors from safely undertaking some clearing work on the south bank of the Site C dam site," BC Hydro CEO Jessica McDonald told the Alaska Highway News Wednesday.

Katzie Nation Chief Susan Miller and her sister Debbie Miller of Katzie First Nation say they stand to lose everything if the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is approved.

Chief Miller said the continued expansion of pipeline projects and shrinking of Indigenous territories represents the ongoing assault on First Nations culture that started with the residential school system.

A British Columbia First Nations leader says the federal government's silence on the turmoil over the Site C dam in the province makes him wonder how serious Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is about his promise to treat First Nations issues as a priority.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, leader of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, said Ottawa's lack of reaction on the issue is "disappointing," and that the Liberals are missing a chance to show they are serious about reconciliation with Aboriginal people.