Topic
First Nation paddles to Shearwater, but Northern Gateway representatives a no-show.
Paddlers head to Shearwater to attend the Northern Gateway hearing this morning. Photo: Kai Nagata.
Heiltsuk leaders say BC government's announcement today changes nothing.
BC taxpayers could be on hook for massive clean-up costs says economist Allan.
Preparing to attend and deliver testimony at the Northern Gateway hearing in Shearwater, B.C. this morning, Heiltsuk paddlers canoed across Lama Pass from Bella Bella, only to learn that Enbridge representatives had been unable to travel today.
The news was delivered by National Energy Board lawyer Andrew Hudson who said "their flight was delayed." Hudson told the crowd at the Denny Island community hall that Enbridge would have the opportunity to submit objections after reviewing today's transcripts.
The Heiltsuk are in Shearwater to continue testimony before the NEB's Joint Review Panel (JRP), a body convened by the federal government to study the impacts of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.
"We're really disappointed in Enbridge," says the Heiltsuk's elected Chief Councillor Marilyn Slett.
"We've accommodated the JRP panel, we've worked hard to understand their rules, we've worked hard to convey to them the importance of our very sacred lands and waters," says Slett. "For [Enbridge] not to come out here today to listen to what we have to say is very disrespectful. It tells us that our voice isn't being heard."
A Pacific Coastal Airlines staffer in Bella Bella reports that both flights yesterday and both flights today took off on schedule from Vancouver. Pacific Coastal is the only airline offering regular service to the area.
Calls to Enbridge for comment were not immediately returned.
Heiltsuk lawyer: 'Just the latest incident'
In April, the Joint Review Panel flew into Bella Bella and was greeted by a peaceful protest. After a local man holding a sign rapped on the window of the van transporting NEB staff, the group headed across the water to Shearwater, on Denny Island.
Fearing an unspecified security threat, the federal agency cancelled the hearings. The Heiltsuk maintain that their community poses zero risk to the Joint Review Panel. At the time, an RCMP spokesperson offered public support to the Heiltsuk, denying any danger to Enbridge or NEB representatives.
The Heiltsuk were eventually able to convince the panel to go ahead with hearings in Bella Bella, although a day and a half was lost. Today's session was scheduled to make up for the lost time. However, for reasons that are still unclear, the NEB decided to book a small hall in the predominantly white community of Shearwater.
Despite weeks of wrangling, the panel refused the Heiltsuk's request to move the hearings to a larger, more accessible venue in Bella Bella. Tribal Council lawyer Carrie Humchitt says "this is a violation of our cultural protocol. It is very disrespectful to our people, and this is just the latest incident."
In a letter addressed to Humchitt and Slett, JRP secretary Sheri Young wrote "in selecting locations for hearings, the Panel considers which locations would be conducive to a respectful, accessible, efficient and effective process in which to receive evidence."
Young goes on to write: "the Panel has concluded, using the above criteria, that Bella Bella is not the optimal location for collecting the remaining oral evidence and oral statements from the Heiltsuk."
Bearing witness
Heiltsuk Tribal Council chartered boat transport for community members who were not able to paddle over. Humchitt explains "we have to have our people over here to witness even though it's a hardship for them to be here."
"We have a responsibility as Heiltsuk people to express our ancient rights, our ancient laws," adds Slett. "We have a responsibility to go on record, to express that, and we're participating in good faith."
Heiltsuk Chief Councillor Marilyn Slett: "We have so much on the line."
The process, however, is taking a toll. Community members offering testimony this morning were at points visibly emotional as they described the impact an oil spill would have on their way of life.
"Emotionally," says Slett, "it's tough to be a part of this process. We have so much on the line, so much at stake."
Heiltsuk leaders say they are studying their legal options should the NEB eventually approve Northern Gateway -- an outcome they view as all but inevitable. ![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
Read more: Aboriginal Affairs, Energy, Rights + Justice, Environment
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keithcummings
42 weeks ago
JPR
"National Energy Board lawyer Andrew Hudson who said "their flight was delayed."
"A Pacific Coastal Airlines staffer in Bella Bella reports that both flights yesterday and both flights today took off on schedule from Vancouver."
The NEB lying and covering-up for Enbridge? Most interesting.
Hakuin
42 weeks ago
they pretend fear so they can
justifiy disproportionate force later. If the band does not oblige with an incident, an incident will be manufactured.
andsbc
42 weeks ago
maybe...?
Maybe Enbridge is coming to the conclusion that this pipeline project really is dead.
Jeffrey J.
42 weeks ago
Why Insult the Heiltsuk?
It is obvious from this coverage that the Heiltsuk felt insulted. Was this a deliberate ploy by the NEB. Or unintended consequences from poor leadership?
Whether this blunder was a deliberate insult or mere gross incompetence is irrelevant. The result is the same. The effect is insulting to the people of Bella Bella. And insulting to the rest of us Canadians (the 99%).
It reflects a deeper dysfunction of the NEB which is very worrisome.
I share the concerns expressed by Chief Marilyn Slett. As do many BC citizens.
Great coverage from the Tyee (and from legendary journalist Kai Nagata!)
Hakuin
42 weeks ago
they may find this useful
http://vimeo.com/38439169
Fiat lux
42 weeks ago
Why should Enbridge give a
Why should Enbridge give a damn about the Heiltsuk, or any other community and issue, when they have Harper and his "wealth creating" puppets on their side ?
Ed Deak.
RickW
42 weeks ago
Could the Spin Doctors......
....actually be embarassed at the lame excuses for Enbridge's total lack of credibility regarding Kalamazoo?
rangerkim
42 weeks ago
Everywhere
Good people of the Tyee Tribe, I think it is time to speak of connecting the dots. We need to help each other and remind each other and speak to each other of how ALL the insults are coordinated and organised to create a world different than today, a world different than the one this Tribe wants.
I have this past week been inundated with disturbing news of attacks against Earth from so many quarters. It's time to see this as a single coordinated effort.
Just today the CBC is reporting that Enbridge had a spill in Wisconsin. Last nite BCTV reported on a young girl who has moved me powerfully. Ta'kaiya is fighting, successfully, Enbridge with a powerful and effective message. Please help and support her. Here is a link to her message: http://youtu.be/LkjIkuC_eWM
Also, Frontline brought the story of the Pebble deposit in Alaska just a few days ago. Just how many pristine watersheds and functioning fisheries is a few hundred million ounces of gold and copper worth? And of course Wade Davis and the Taltan are fighting for the Sacred Headwaters of the Stikine, Nass and Skeena rivers. Again, all for the private gain of some $100 millions for some people we don't know and will never meet. While our friends, family and neighbours are left with scraps AND a ruined non-functioning ecosystem.
Christy is out there shouting that she is defending our interests; SHE IS NOT! Wiping out huge pieces of the last remaining remnants of OUR homeland is a bad idea; doing it for 30 pieces of silver or 30 million pieces doesn't make it any better of an idea.
Our message is that there are limits to growth. Any who don't understand that need to educated. We need to repeat this message everyday to everyone everywhere. (this is tremendously hard to do because it is so radical, hence, we need strong and visible support structures for those who do have the courage to speak) No disrespect to the Heiltsuk, but they are only part of a greater Tribe, us Earth Dwellers. I know they know this. It's time to stand and sing one song together. We can do worse than sing with Ta'Kiaya.
miguel
42 weeks ago
Another leak
July 28th, the pipeline to refineries in Chicago is shutdown because of a leak in Wisconsin.
Enbridges' infrastructure is collapsing. They shouldn't be allowed anywhere near pipes and hazardous materials.
Hakuin
42 weeks ago
they should talk to these people:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/28/us-china-environment-protest-idUSBRE86R02Y20120728s
Hakuin
42 weeks ago
odd, that link 404'd right after I tested it, try:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/China/Citizen-protests-in-eastern-China-pipeline-suspended/Article1-903322.aspx
Perry
42 weeks ago
Charter of the Forests
How the Magna Carta Became a Minor Carta by Noam Chomsky
http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175571/
excerpt: ... The significance of the companion charter, the Charter of the Forest, is no less profound and perhaps even more pertinent today -- as explored in depth by Peter Linebaugh in his richly documented andstimulating history of Magna Carta and its later trajectory. The Charter of the Forest demanded protection of the commons from external power. The commons were the source of sustenance for the general population: their fuel, their food, their construction materials, whatever was essential for life. The forest was no primitive wilderness. It had been carefully developed over generations, maintained in common, its riches available to all, and preserved for future generations -- practices found today primarily in traditional societies that are under threat throughout the world.
... By the seventeenth century, however, this Charter had fallen victim to the rise of the commodity economy and capitalist practice and morality.
...
More recently, the U.S. has recognized that it, too, must join the game of exploiting Africa, along with new entries like China, which is busily at work compiling one of the worst records in destruction of the environment and oppression of the hapless victims.
It should be unnecessary to dwell on the extreme dangers posed by one central element of the predatory obsessions that are producing calamities all over the world: the reliance on fossil fuels, which courts global disaster, perhaps in the not-too-distant future.
...
In his State of the Union speech in January, President Obama hailed the bright prospects of a century of energy self-sufficiency, thanks to new technologies that permit extraction of hydrocarbons fromCanadian tar sands, shale, and other previously inaccessible sources. ...
In the lead in confronting the crisis throughout the world are indigenous communities, those who have always upheld the Charter of the Forests. The strongest stand has been taken by the one country they govern, Bolivia, the poorest country in South America and for centuries a victim of western destruction of the rich resources of one of the most advanced of the developed societies in the hemisphere, pre-Columbus.
After the ignominious collapse of the Copenhagen global climate change summit in 2009, Bolivia organized a People’s Summit with 35,000 participants from 140 countries -- not just representatives of governments, but also civil society and activists. It produced a People’s Agreement, which called for very sharp reduction in emissions, and a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth. That is a key demand of indigenous communities all over the world. It is ridiculed by sophisticated westerners, but unless we can acquire some of their sensibility, they are likely to have the last laugh -- a laugh of grim despair.
sunshine coast girl
42 weeks ago
Very disrespectful...
Perhaps instead of spending five million on an advertsing campaign Enbridge should spend that money on etiquette classes teaching respect and truthfulness?
RiverEyes
42 weeks ago
Cancellation of Meetings: No interest in pipeline review
In today's Times Colonist, business section, page B6:
Calgary - A public hearing on its proposal to build a pipeline to ship oilsands bitumen to ships from Alberta to BC coast has been cancelled in Calgary due to a lack of interest. The Joint Review Panel hearing into Enbridge's $6 billion Northern Gateway pipeline was to be held on Wednesday. Less than 15 people registered to make statements. - CP
First off, Canadian Press article should say fewer than 15 people, not less than 15 people. Which is no reason (and likely a lie) to cancel. YEESH! Secondly, Enbridge is circling the wagons (western colonial reference intended) and limiting discourse as it can. Image won't matter, ethics won't matter, their cancelling won't matter. But leaking oil does matter and it is a problem no Enbridge Exec wants to face at a corporate or review panel meeting, hence the cancellation. Ticking off Indigenous leaders and community members is just plain dumb. (Just imagine who could be singing outside the door, or who could be bringing a big loud drum inside the room!) This corporation is stacked with liars. I am rather glad they are frightened by the stance of so many Indigenous peoples and environmental groups. Back to today's T/C article: so small, peeny little item. But a very telling article at that. I just imagine that all those oilsand and fracking, mining extractor culprits walk around with really upset stomaches and have big old whopper headaches all the time. No aspirin is gonna clear up them troubles, no sirree!
Hakuin
42 weeks ago
maybe Enbridge should build a refinery in Alberta
and see to Canadian needs for gasoline etc. before helping out all those foreigners.
Island Artist
42 weeks ago
Outrageous!
Such a poor appreciation and respect for the "rest of us" from the NEB and Enbridge. Twice the Heiltsuk have been insulted! And then to claim that flights were delayed when there is no evidence of that. This is appalling, unprofessional behaviour. Please may we show these NEB and Enbridge folks the door!
PS. I like Rangerkim's comments. We do need to present a united front.
lynn
42 weeks ago
Pipelines, Prisons and Ploys
Enbridge executive's company awarded first crime Bill C-10 $38.5 million prison project:
http://www.canadianprogressiveworld.com/2012/07/05/enbridge-executives-company-awarded-first-bill-c-10-38-5-million-prison-project/
Excellent article...and one great comment after another on this thread.
RickW
42 weeks ago
miguel
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/07/28/us-pipeline-agency-probes-enbridge-oil-spill-in-wisconsin
1200 bbl = (nearly) 191,000 litres.......
OwlRol
42 weeks ago
Enbridge bogus PR contradicts reality
Strike 2 (actually more). Enbridge "strike 3, and you're out" is too late for BC. Sorry Christy, it's not simply about a bigger share of royalties. More money for jobs and cleanups just doesn't cut it.
Hoping that some desperate people will give up their life-meaning occurs at the lowest level of survival, but does nothing positive for a democratic society of any sort, terribly damaging (and costly).
Expecting the sociopathic 1% bibwigs in Enbridge, Edmonton or Ottawa to show real respect to those below their own status, however viewed, is truly beyond their capabilities, especially when mixed with sub-surface racism, sexism and superiority arrogance, never mind the cash.
What's the matter with us, can't we see the good economic advantages with jobs, royalties for social infrastructure that benefit all of us, and such? We've tried to explain this to you for over 30 years. This is progress, there is no other way.
Oops, sorry, we didn't mean to spill any of it, inefficient and it costs us. Your government is in charge, we'll see them in court to divy up costs between taxpayers and shareholders. Permanent damage, nah, it'll wash away.
I'm no fan of Kinder Morgan, especially as their pipes and tanker terminal passes through such heavily populated areas, and they've had their own pipeline problems, but they surely appear to be much more capable than Enbridge. It's time to say good by to the latter, maybe the former as well.
Canadian fossil fuels needs to service Canadian consumers first.
Not a US energy fan, but strictly from an efficiency viewpoint, continental distribution comes second.
All off-shore exports come last. To do anything else is corporate politics and profiteering.
Unfortunately, despite environmental and First Nations values, beyond the smoke and mirrors in our media, they are essentially ignored in the rush to shareholder and CEO benefits.
But those guys do pay attention to voters, not those sucked in by political party and corporate propaganda, such as that cartoon Enbridge commercial. Well informed votes worry them.
Notice the blowback from all that PR crap, might make a change as people cut through it. Still need more people's awareness. Respect should follow.
Fiat lux
42 weeks ago
The whole mess the world is
The whole mess the world is in is defined by a single sentence:
"Wealth can not be created, only taken from others, the environment and future generations"
The proof is all around us, yet all we can hear is moaning and groaning over the inevitable and logic effects of "wealth creation". GDP , and "growth".
How much more evidence does the world need to wake up to the obvious?
Ed Deak.
Hakuin
42 weeks ago
The feds are so afraid
Of the Indians they are trying to set them up as Chinese spies:
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/07/25/csis-said-to-be-probing-financial-links-between-first-nations-china/
Hakuin
42 weeks ago
Ayup
http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/blog/infil00p/11799
RickW
42 weeks ago
Hakuin
National Post:
"CSIS said to be probing financial links between First Nations, China"
Shouldn't this more accurately read: "CSIS said to be probing financial links between oil companies, China"?
http://business.financialpost.com/2012/07/27/where-are-the-gains-for-canada-in-cnooc-nexen-deal/
Hakuin
42 weeks ago
Harper is not a racist
he will betray your children's future to anyone with the money, regardless of their skin colour.
Hakuin
42 weeks ago
heck, he'll even make you an honorary Indian
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/07/29/radical-environmentalism-rcmp-canada-greenpeace_n_1715336.html?utm_hp_ref=canada
Tahsis Tattler
42 weeks ago
Canadians versus Corporations
It's really quite simple,when a political parties values move away from the people that elected them then get rid of the party as quickly and as completely as possible. You don't keep items that will hurt your family, community or area and political parties that threaten your future are not to be tolerated either.
Hakuin
42 weeks ago
Well Tahsis
Keep in mind that when you play by rules with an opponent who honours no rules - you lose.
If der Harpenfuhrer feels in a strong enough position, he will abolish elections, "for the duration of the emergency".
Fiat lux
42 weeks ago
There's nothing new in this
There's nothing new in this whole racket in the repetitions of history.
Because wealth can not be created only taken, all societies in the past and present have been taken over by ruling classes, using religions and other faith based theories to captivate and enslave minds in their service, claimed as the "Will of God", now "economic efficiency", usually pushed by so called "conservatives" .
Typical example would be the "seigneurs' rights" gimmick, giving certain aristocracies enslaving rights over whole societies.
The same is happening today with the perceived power of imaginary capital "created" from the air, distorting democracy, human rights and even physical dimensions, and laws, in service of a criminal element.
The purveyors of such rackets used to be called priesthoods in the past, still going on strong in the Middle East, and so called "economists" in our lives.
There's nothing new under the sun and human gullibility never had limits.
So, where are our "conservatives" on this blog, to defend it by calling it "individualism" ?
Ed Deak.
Hakuin
42 weeks ago
Where are the conservatives?
Why Ed, they are doing what they always do when they have the whip hand: stealing hand over fist and ignoring any democratic principles. They know their end is coming so they take as much as they can and do as much harm as time permits. You won't see them here.
Roving-I
42 weeks ago
No Bias?
So now the NEB Joint Review Panel is showing it's true colours. Lying for Enbridge, concocting security fears where none exist. and as Enbridge is not there, but will be allowed to object after reading the transcripts, the Heiltsuk are denied the opportunity for rebuttal or respectful dialogue. This process, from the Govt. side has only liars and cowards, much like their masters in Calgary and Ottawa
pmagn@yahoo.com
42 weeks ago
No show Endbridge... lets hope they dont show up in BC with that
No show Endbridge... lets hope they dont show up in BC with that pipeline too.
truthseeker
42 weeks ago
My gut reaction to this
My gut reaction to this article was to let the Heiltsuk people know that they are not alone in opposing more oil pipelines in BC.
I and many, many other BC citizens would be proud to stand beside you as you fight to save our beautiful province from corporate greed.
truthseeker
42 weeks ago
My gut reaction to this
My gut reaction to this article was to let the Heiltsuk people know that they are not alone in opposing more oil pipelines in BC.
I and many, many other BC citizens would be proud to stand beside you as you fight to save our beautiful province from corporate greed.
Hakuin
42 weeks ago
remember this?
http://firezine.net/faq/fst-humboldt.html
bhglennie
41 weeks ago
why bother?
Enbridge does not need to bother, because they know Harper Conservatives will give them their pipeline, even if Harper needs write new laws to do it.
Bush set the U.S. back 10 years, Harper has already set Canada back more as he guts our legislation.
2010 Surrey
39 weeks ago
Enbridge incompetence
So if Enbridge can't place two executives in Shearwater on a given date with I assume plenty of notice what makes them think they can logistically respond to a leak in their pipeline in the middle of the wilderness when it's raining.