First Nations in Western Canada are joining aboriginal groups in northern British Columbia in support of their opposition of the $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline.
First Nations from north-central B.C., represented as the Yinka Dene Alliance, and the Alexander, Blood and Lubicon Cree First Nations in Alberta, as well as the Roseau River First Nation from Manitoba, signed a solidarity statement Wednesday.
The Yinka Dene oppose the 1,170-kilometre pipeline that will carry crude from the Alberta oilsands to the B.C. northwest coast because of the risk of spills on the line and from an increase in oil tanker traffic.
"We're now being heard as far away as Manitoba and into the United States," said Yinka Dene Alliance co-ordinator Geraldine Thomas-Fleurer.
Roseau River First Nation chief Terry Nelson said they are simply supporting the position of northern B.C. First Nations against the Northern Gateway project. Nelson said his nation has not had a good experience with Enbridge in Manitoba.
The support came during a protest in Calgary this week staged to coincide with Enbridge's annual general meeting, where the company announced a $334-million first-quarter profit.
On Wednesday, about 100 members from First Nations, including those in north-central B.C. from the Nadleh Whut'en, Saik'uz, Nak'azdli, Takla Lake and Wet'suwet'en nations, marched downtown, singing and drumming. The protest, outside of Enbridge's downtown headquarters, included speeches and a song by 10-year old Ta'kaiya Blaney from the coastal Sliammon First Nation.
Several members also went inside the annual general meeting as proxy vote-holders to deliver their message.
It was one the Yinka Dene Alliance had an opportunity to give directly to the board of directors the day before.
Thomas-Fleurer said they told board member they were not there to negotiate benefits from the mega project, but to communicate their opposition.
Money is not the issue, instead, they are trying to protect the environment which they still rely on for fish, wildlife and gathering, said Thomas-Fleurer.
"They've heard the message unfiltered from us. We told them exactly what we would be doing if they put this pipeline through. We told them we will not stop, that we were going to use every resource that's available to us," she said.
"I think they were shocked at the message," added Thomas-Fleurer.
The Yinka Dene Alliance has ramped up their opposition to the pipeline recently, which has included a series of meetings with major banks in Canada warning them to stop financing Enbridge because of the Northern Gateway pipeline.
The pipeline, which would pass just north of Prince George, is meant to open up new markets in Asia for the Alberta oilsands.
Enbridge has touted its economic benefits for the region and Canada, offering a major benefits package including an ownership stake, rejected by the Yinka Dene. The company has also said the project will be built and operated to the highest safety standards.
The safety position has been harder to defend in the wake of recent pipeline oil spills, including a 28,000 barrel spill in northern Alberta, the largest in the province in nearly four decades. The Lubicon Cree First Nation has a community nearby the spill.
In 2010, and Enbridge pipeline leaked about 20,000 barrels of oil , some of it into the Kalamazoo River.
Enbridge has pointed to its 99.99 per cent safe delivery record on 750 million barrels of oil in 2010.
ENBRIDGE DECISION TO COME LATER THAN ANTICIPATED
Enbridge Inc. expects to get a decision from a federal regulatory panel on its proposed $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline in early 2013, later than anticipated.
The Calgary-based company had expected to see a decision on whether the 1,170-kilometre pipeline gets the go-ahead in in mid-to-late 2012.
"I think now with the hearings in two stages-- in January and June (2012) -- an early 2013 decision will be more likely," Enbridge president and CEO Pat Daniel told analysts Wednesday on a conference call to discuss the company's $334-million first-quarter profit.
The National Energy Board recently announced that public hearings will start on Jan. 10, 2012, although details on the timing of hearings in individual communities will come later.
The federal panel is also planning to hold information sessions in northern B.C. communities to explain the regulatory process and how to participate.
Enbridge has spent about $100 million of its own money on preparing the Northern Gateway pipeline. A consortium of prospective shippers and end-users are putting up another $150 million to push the project forward, including in the regulatory process, said Enbridge officials.
In answer to a question from an analyst on the prospects of the Northern Gateway project with a Conservative majority government, Daniel acknowledged the Conservative government understands the important strategic value of the Northern Gateway project. "We would hope to continue to win their support by showing how we can safety and effectively develop the Gateway pipeline project," added Daniel.
