Please see the new Press Release from the Council of the Haida Nation on Trudeau’s announcement. According to CHN President Peter Lantin:
“There has to be a better government-to-government consultation process to deal with these projects before they get rolling,” said Lantin. “Avoiding this type of confrontation through frank dialogue will result in more common ground. Protecting the coast and the waters surrounding Haida Gwaii is paramount for our Nation. But within this framework there is room to develop practical solutions and resolve issues nation-to-nation and to do that we have to talk.”
Federal Court of Appeal
October 1 – 2 and 5 – 8, 2015
Vancouver, BC
Open to the public.
From the Council of the Haida Nation:
The next milestone in the ongoing effort to defend northern BC from oil pipelines and supertankers is just around the corner. Please see attached PDF: CHN Legal Challenge Overview 2015.8.12
Some highlights from the document:
“This October, 13 applicants – Gitga’at First Nation; Gitxaala Nation; Haida Nation; Haisla Nation; Heiltsuk Nation; Kitasoo/Xai’Xais Nation; Nadleh Whut’en; Nak’azdli Whut’en; BC Nature; Forest Ethics Advocacy Association; Living Oceans Society; Raincoast Conservation Foundation; and Unifor – are taking Canada to court to challenge the federal cabinet’s approval of Enbridge’s Northern Gateway project and the Joint Review Panel’s (JRP) report on which it is based.
…
The hearing at the Federal Court of Appeal will take place in Vancouver on October 1–2 and 5–8, 2015. It is open to the public. The applicants will divide their submissions over three days and the respondents will have an additional three days for their arguments. There is no deadline for the Court to render its decision following these hearings, although it will likely provide a ruling in early 2016.”
Please read this open letter from the Council to the Haida Nation regarding the efforts companies like Enbridge are making to buy people off from First Nations communities in order to push their pipeline through.
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“Andrew Nikiforuk is one of the most astute, relentless and original writers of his generation.”
The Haida Gwaii Arts Council is pleased to host readings by Andrew Nikiforuk this weekend!
Skidegate – Haida Heritage CentreFriday, May 24 starting at 7.30pmOld Massett – Youth CentreSaturday, May 25 starting at 7.30pm
If anyone would like to join Mr. Nikiforuk for dinner at Charters before the Masset reading, please RSVP before Friday: [email protected]
]]>Have you heard the radio call from the Exxon Valdez? The audio of the tanker captain’s call for help over the radio is the opening soundtrack for a 2 minute awareness ad for the campaign against the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline, and the expansion of tanker traffic on the coast of BC. The ad gives us statistics on the potential impact of a spill like the Exxon Valdez in Canada, for example, costing 4,379 jobs, and $21.4 Billion dollars to clean up (biologists monitoring the ecosystems in Alaska point out that the Valdez spill was never fully cleaned up and that oil can still be found by digging a few feet into the sand of some beaches. See Lingering Oil). Set to the Sounds of Silence by Paul Simon, the video is a reminder to us of what is at stake in pursuing a resource-based industry in Canada.
Want to know more about what happened in Alaska when the Exxon Valdez Spilled a supertanker of oil? How about what’s going on now? Come and see Riki Ott speak in Masset and Charlotte about her own experiences with clean-up and as an “incidental activist.” This event is supported by CoASt and the TBuck Suzuki Foundation.
Queen Charlotte
Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012 7:00 pm
Queen B’s Cafe, 3208 Wharf Street
Masset
Thursday, August 16, 2012 7:00 pm
The Haven, Harrison Ave (above Green Gaia)
Download the poster HG Think Tankers.
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THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
As reported on Northwest Coast Energy News, the Haisla Nation has filed a legal document outlining their opposition to Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline. The central issue for the Haisla Nation is their sovereignty over their territory and their right to be properly consulted. It is a key question that both the Harper government and Enbridge have preferred to ignore in the hopes that constitutional issues will not beleaguer the pipeline’s progress. In addition, Enbridge’s original filing of questions to the Haisla and other nations reveal their attempt to discredit opponents of the pipeline.
With the completion of the Joint Review Panel process, now estimated for December 2013, these important questions of territorial rights and sovereignty will come into greater focus as the campaign to stop the pipeline enters the courts.
For Northwest Coast Energy News’ coverage of the Haisla announcement in three related articles, please see:
Haisla Nation confirms it opposes Northern Gateway, demands Ottawa veto Enbridge pipeline; First Nation also outlines “minimum conditions” if Ottawa approves the project
The Empire Strikes Back I: Enbridge takes on First Nations, small intervenors
The Enbridge Empire Strikes Back II: The Haisla “fishing expedition”
Haisla outline where they believe Enbridge Gateway plans are inadequate
Haisla outline conditions, concerns for Northern Gateway project
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This is an analysis prepared by West Coast Environmental Law and Ecojustice to summarize how the changes that the Harper government proposes will affect environmental protection in Canada.
Read the full original document at the WCEL website
Read “Why the Budget Act is bad news for fish”
What Bill C-38 means for the environment
1. Changes to the Fisheries Act mean that the law may no longer protect all fish and
the waters where they live.
The new protection framework could exclude many fish and watercourses. Generally,
habitat protection will only include permanent alteration or destruction of “commercial,
recreational or aboriginal fisher(ies)” habitat and some activities will be exempt from the
law regardless of how much damage they cause. The federal government will also be
able to hand over the power to authorize destruction of fish habitat to provincial
governments or other entities, which is worrisome.
2. No maximum time limits on permits allowing impacts on species at risk.
This means that there will no longer be any guaranteed review to evaluate ongoing
impacts to endangered species. These potential ‘perpetual’ permits could continue even
where there is a drastic decline in the population of a species affected by the permitted
activity.
3. The National Energy Board (NEB) will be exempted from species at risk
protections.
The NEB will no longer have to ensure that measures have been taken to minimize
impacts on the critical habitat of at-risk species before the NEB approves a pipeline or
other major infrastructure. For example, there is no guarantee that an environmental
assessment will consider the impacts of a proposed pipeline project and related oil
tanker traffic on the habitat of endangered orca whales before the NEB issues a
certificate approving that pipeline.
4. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act is being replaced with a new Act
that will significantly narrow the number of projects that will be assessed for their
environmental, social and economic impacts.
Assessments, when they happen, will be less rigorous and subject to time limits that will
place further constraints on public and First Nations’ participation. The new Act will apply
only to “designated projects,” but we don’t yet know what those will be. The new Act
gives the Environment Minister and government officials broad decision-making power:
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency would be able to exempt a
designated project from even going through the assessment process.
5. The federal government is offloading responsibilities to the provinces.
This is troubling because the patchwork of environmental laws and policies at the
provincial level leave doubt as to whether they can act as a sufficient or legally
defensible substitute for federal oversight. Prime examples of this offloading include
shifting responsibility for implementation or enforcement of the Fisheries Act to provinces
and eliminating many federal environmental assessments.
6. Cabinet is now granted authority to override a “no” decision of the National
Energy Board.
This may allow politics of the day to trump an independent, objective process and
undermine the NEB’s expertise.
7. No more joint review panels.
Where a major energy project will be subject to an NEB hearing, a Canadian
Environmental Assessment Agency-enabled review panel is prohibited, so there will be
no more joint review panels. Thus, the environmental implications of major energy
projects will now be evaluated only by the energy regulator.
8. Broad decision-making powers are being shifted from the public realm and given to Cabinet and individual Ministers.
This means decisions related to fish habitat protection and environmental assessments
will be allowed to be made behind closed doors with minimal public scrutiny.
9. Significant narrowing of public engagement in resource review panel hearings,
particularly for major oil projects, pipelines and mines.
In order to participate, people will have to prove they will be directly affected or have
relevant information or expertise. In some cases, their contributions may still be ignored.
10. Repeal of two important environmental laws.
The repeal of the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act, means no more domestic
accountability measures on climate change and the repeal of the National Round Table
on Environment and Economy Act will phase out this valuable advisory body completely.