Canada’s largest private-sector union has thrown its support behind First Nations in opposing the Northern Gateway pipeline project, vowing to hit picket lines in solidarity if the project goes ahead. Unifor, formed on Labour Day weekend with the merger of the Canadian Auto Workers and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, now has more than 300,000 members across the country.
The actions of a young, tough-talking First Nations leader in northeast B.C. last week, that sparked the embarrassing reversal of a cabinet decision to fast-track natural gas plants, appears to be rallying province-wide Aboriginal opposition to Liquified Natural Gas plans. On April 16, 33-year-old Fort Nelson Chief Sharleen Gail held up an eagle feather at an LNG industry summit in her territory as she emotionally ordered B.C. government officials to exit the conference, to the sound of Dene drummers.
Members of the Fort Nelson First Nation, led by the strong words of their chief councillor, Sharleen Gale, literally drummed out government and industry representatives from a conference the band was hosting on liquefied natural gas (LNG), Wednesday afternoon. The 3-day conference, titled “Striking the Balance”, was designed to discuss both the economic opportunities and potential environmental impacts of increased fracking in the nation’s territory to supply a gas-hungry, proposed BC LNG industry.
A group of B.C. officials has been kicked out of a First Nations forum on liquefied natural gas over the government’s decision to exempt most of the gas produced in the province from mandatory environmental assessment. Chief Sharleen Gale of the Fort Nelson First Nation, organizer of the summit in the northeast corner of the province, asked the bureaucrats to leave and escorted them out. “There was no consultation as far as changing that policy,” said Chief Terry Teegee of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, which represents eight First Nations communities in northern B.C.
Chief Sharleen Gale Ft Nelson First nation asks the Province of BC to leave the LNG Forum and also asks Industry to do the same in Ft Nelson. This is in response to Christy Clark government announcement of removing LNG Plants from Environmentl Screening process all the while they say they seek a new relationship with First nations based on respect and mutual goals.
In an increasingly explosive political climate in the Kitimat area over a controversial vote on the Northern Gateway pipeline, the Mayor of Kitimat was flash mobbed by a group of mostly First Nations people, donning "No Enbridge" shirts at a Haisla girls basketball championship on Sunday. "No Enbridge! No Enbridge! No Enbridge!" yelled the packed gymnasium crowd, nearly all wearing black protest shirts. "When you're in politics for 36 years, I guess I kind of expected it," Mayor Joanne Monaghan told the Vancouver Observer Wednesday.
The Metlakatla and Lax Kw'alaams First Nations have reached an LNG revenue sharing agreement with the provincial government. The deal, announced today by Premier Christy Clark, provide the two First nations with a portion of provincial government revenues from the sole proponent agreements reached fo projects at Grassy Point proposed by Aurora LNG and Woodside LNG. In signing the agreements, both the Metlakatla and Lax Kw'alaams "signal their support for co-operating in respect of prospective LNG development at Grassy Point", reads a media advisory from the province.
Leaders of the Unist'ot'en resistance camp held a press conference in Vancouver on April 7, 2014 in response to leaked information that the Provincial government is preparing an injunction against the camp. The camp is in Wet'suwet'en territory in northern BC on the route of the Pacific Trail fracked gas pipeline. BC Premier Christie Clark has staked her political future on liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, more accurately called liquefied fracked gas or LFG.
Leaders of a small native camp in central B.C. that is blocking the right-of-way of a proposed gas pipeline say they won’t be moving any time soon, even if a court orders them to. Freda Huson and her husband, Dini Ze Toghestiy, who are both Wet’suwet’en members, said they have been dug in so long on the Pacific Trail Pipeline Project route that they consider the camp their home now. In Vancouver over the weekend to attend “training workshops” for anti-pipeline protesters, Ms.
