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northern gateway pipeline
'Many Paddles, One Canoe': Allies Back First Nations as They Ready Tar Sands Pipeline Fight
Week of fundraising events mark one year since Canada government gave greenlight to controversial Northern Gateway project
Jun 16, 2015
In what has been described as an unprecedented grassroots mobilization, activists, environmental groups, and others concerned about the future of the Pacific coast this week are rallying to support a First Nations court battle to block the construction of the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline.
"First Nations are poised to stop this in its tracks," said Caitlyn Vernon, campaigns director for Sierra Club British Columbia, in a statement Tuesday. The campaign Pull Together was launched to "show these nations are not standing alone" as they confront the infinite resources of the fossil fuel industry.
The week of fundraising events, dubbed the Week to End Enbridge, is being held June 13-21 to mark one year since the Canadian government approved the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline. Not coincidentally, the weeklong events conclude on June 21, National Aboriginal Day in Canada.
So far, a total of eighteen lawsuits have been launched against Enbridge to challenge its construction of Northern Gateway. The legal challenges from First Nations were further emboldened by a June 2014 Canadian Supreme Court ruling that recognized Aboriginal rights and title.
However, supporters say, when one is up against a $50 billion company like Enbridge, it's all hands on deck.
"First Nations have a saying: many paddles, one canoe," reads the Pull Together website. "Let's unleash the power of the vast majority of BC who don't want this pipeline and tanker project, and build a hopeful future for generations to come."
"Our goal is to raise a total of $600,000 by the summer, so the Heiltsuk, Kitasoo-Xai'xais, Gitga'at, Haida, Gitxaala, Nadleh Whut'en and Nak'azdli Nations have the resources they need before court hearings are held this fall," Vernon said in a recent Rabble column. The group has already raised more than $450,000. Lawsuits challenging the pipeline approval go to federal court in October.
"Is this real solidarity? Perhaps only time will tell, and it is not for me to judge," she continued. "What I do know is that court cases are extremely expensive and we all stand to benefit from the outcome. It doesn't seem right that First Nations should be left to shoulder this burden alone."
At a Vancouver rally on Saturday to launch the week of action, actress and activist Jane Fonda announced that she, too, "stands with...the unbelievably brave First Nations people who are trying to stop Big Oil from destroying the coastline."
"I'm 77 and I thought I was getting too tired to go to the barricades, but that's a bunch of B.S.," Fonda said in a speech at the Toast the Coast Before the Coast is Toast celebration, after which she gave a surprise donation of $10,000 to support the legal campaign. "This issue is too important and it's a very simple issue. People versus oil. Life versus oil."
Peter Lantin kil tlaats 'gaa, president of Haida Nation--one of the tribes leading the legal challenge--said he is "heartened by the strength and resolve of people across the country who are stepping up to support nations going to court to stop Enbridge." He added, "The broad support doubles down our commitment to keep oil tankers out of our waters and support our neighbors who will be affected upstream."
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Protesting on Burnaby Mountain Was My Obligation as a Scientist, Parent and Canadian Citizen
Nov 25, 2014
Harper's conservative government is working hard to turn Canada into a petrostate. Their tactics include blatant inaction on climate change, dismantling environmental legislation, stripping government scientists from their ability to communicate research findings to the tax-paying public, and spying on citizens who, like me, dissent.
Consistent with these tactics, Harper tasked the National Energy Board (NEB) with examining whether building new pipelines that enable increased exploitation of bitumen from the Alberta tar sands is in the best interest of Canadians. Proposed infrastructure under current NEB "scrutiny" include the Trans Mountain pipeline by Houston-based Kinder Morgan, which would increase the capacity to transport tar sands bitumen to an export port in Vancouver, and the Northern Gateway pipeline, which would transport bitumen to the export port of Kitimat. The NEB has approved Northern Gateway and appears to be well on its way to doing the same for Trans Mountain.
The NEB, of course, is a blatant sham, a smokescreen, a club that exists solely to advance the interests of fossil fuel corporations. This assessment is consistent with the conclusion of Marc Eliesen, an industry insider who public resigned as intervenor in the NEB Trans Mountain hearings, stating in the Globe and Mail:
"To me this is a farce: There is no way you can test the evidence if they won't answer the basic questions. Unfortunately, this board is not objective. This board is biased."
While the above quote speaks volumes, for many of us the real clincher is this. The NEB process considers only local impacts--oil spills and the like--while ignoring climate change. This is the equivalent of banning discourse on respiratory disease and asking, "Is it in the best interest of Canadians for the cigarette industry to market their product for toddlers, or would the plastic wrapping of cigarette cartons pose a choking hazard to that age group?"
Opposition to Kinder Morgan is substantial. In a rather interesting twist of fate, the proposed route for their Trans Mountain pipeline includes the outskirts of Simon Fraser University in Greater Vancouver, where academics and other senior professionals can easily join First Nations and other citizens in opposition, some choosing civil disobedience.
Of course, I had to follow suit. On November 22, 2014, I joined what may be the first sustained, multi-day act of civil disobedience against climate change inaction. That day, I crossed an injunction line excluding the public from the Kinder Morgan's "study area".
As captured in my video, these were my thoughts at the time:
I am here because it is my moral obligation as parent, an ecologist, a human being, a citizen of Canada. I am here because climate change is the issue of our time. As an ecologist who understands the scientific literature, I know that a rapid transition to large-scale use of renewable energy is no longer a technical issue, but rather one of political will.
The decisions we make today on how fast we phase out fossil fuels will affect the chemistry of the ocean and atmosphere for many centuries to come. It will make the difference on whether my daughter will have a livable planet...or not.
As a parent, ecologist, and human being...I can no longer tolerate inaction on climate change by the federal government. Which is precisely why it is my moral obligation to engage in the act of peaceful civil disobedience that I am about to commit. With this act, I am sending the message to the federal government that we want Canada to be a country that stands for democracy and climate justice.
In crossing the injunction line, I helped raise the arrest tally to 53 (with more arrests happening since). This meant hand cuffs, a police vehicle ride, and almost eight hours under custody, with about four hours in solitary confinement in a cold cell without food or water. While police treated us courteously (as we treated them), I cannot help wondering whether the solitary confinement reflected top-down orders from corporate board rooms. Having been previously apprehended for blockading a coal train but released within an hour, my past experience suggests that a much faster release without solitary confinement was within the scope of police discretion.
Was my peaceful act of civil disobedience consistent with my obligations as a scientist who understands climate change? Absolutely.
While I do not suggest that others should answer in the same way I did, I do encourage all scientists and other citizens to ask themselves the same question and to respond--in a thoughtful and informed manner--with the actions that best apply to their personal context.
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