First Nations standing firm on Enbridge [editorial]

The citizens of British Columbia aren’t just going to roll over for the Enbridge pipeline proposal. That’s obvious after the massive Oct. 22 rally on the steps of tThe citizens of British Columbia aren’t just going to roll over for the Enbridge pipeline proposal. That’s obvious after the massive Oct. 22 rally on the steps of the BC legislature with more than 4,000 people in attendance with banners and placards denouncing the project.

They don’t trust Enbridge and they don’t trust the governments that are backing the proposal that would see crude oil shipped across northern BC by pipeline and down the inside passage from Kitimat by supertankers headed to foreign buyers. It’s just too much to ask of them to risk oil spills and tanker accidents in that pristine and beautiful area of the world.

And that’s bad news, not just for this one company, but for others thinking about sticking their heads out of the gopher hole. (Kinder Morgan, are you listening?) Never mind about getting a free pass from Canada’s Conservative government in passes now as environmental protection and assessment. You’re going to have to please the people of the province, and they know what’s good for them, and what is not.† And clearly tanker traffic and pipelines are not good for them or the animals and environment that BC’s citizens share with in the territory.

No matter how much gutting of environmental protections the Harper Conservatives can dream up, it cannot surpass the growing and vocal opposition to them. BC Premier Christy Clark should take heed, especially since she will soon head to a general election in the province. Her Liberal government chose not to have a fall session this year, so she may have missed her visitors. Still, the Liberals cannot hide from what will undoubtedly be a key election issue.

Clark has stated publically that BC is taking all the risks and will receive no real benefit from the proposal, so she’s been on a tear to correct that, with Alberta (where the pipeline will originate) expressing distaste for any sharing of the wealth, but unless Clark starts reading between the lines of public opinion, and gauging the real mood of the people, (which is not about money, by the way) she’ll be faced with opposition to more than just this big energy proposal. BC still has the proposed Site C hydroelectric project in the wings, and now that the population has flexed its muscles on the Enbridge project, there will be more to come with everyone’s newly heightened awareness.

Defend Our Coast organizers of a province-wide day of action on Oct. 24, where people gathered at individual MLA offices to voice their concerns about Enbridge to their representatives, wrote on their twitter page “Bottom up power is what’s gonna win this, and we’ve got it.” And indeed they do.

In Fort St. James, the Nak’azdli council members, Nak’azdli, Lhts’umusyoo clan leaders and Hereditary Chief Tsoh dai’ said BC is not for sale and the risk of an oil spill was too great for their community to support the pipeline. In Nelson, protesters draped a banner outside of City Hall that said “Stop the Pipeline.” In tiny Bella Bella, more than 120 people showed up at their MLA’s office; that’s 10 per cent of the town. There were 175 in Penticton, 400 in Davis Bay on the Sunshine Coast and 350 people outside Clark’s office in Vancouver, just to name a few of the 67 protests across the province on that Wednesday.

People are stepping up and at the front of the line are First Nations people, and we couldn’t be prouder to say that. Despite what you hear about this majority government’s unfettered power, the truth is people still hold the cards. Standing up to exercise that power is more effective than any number of seats in Canada’s Big House.

Windspeaker