Dear family, friends, and allies:
As you may already know, the Pacific NorthWest LNG project proposed by Petronas has been under environmental review since 2013. On February 10th of this year, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) issued its draft report that states:
“The Agency concludes that the Pacific NorthWest LNG Project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects, taking into account the implementation of the recommended mitigation measures, on harbour porpoise and as a result of greenhouse gas emissions … With respect to all other valued components, the Agency concludes that the Project is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects taking into account the implementation of the key mitigation measures.”
Those of us who have fished this coast and enjoyed its wealth know that this project will cause immeasurable damage to our ocean and quality of life.
Indigenous knowledge and western science say the same thing: The Skeena Estuary is no place for industrial development. The Lax Kw’alaams community knows this – in May they voted to oppose Petronas’ project and rejected a $1.15 billion-dollar deal. For the past six months, the Lax U’u’la have been occupying Gitwilgyoots territory. They are asserting their Indigenous rights and defending their abundant wild salmon and way of life. In January, hereditary leaders from the Skeena Watershed, as well as northern MLAs and our MP, signed the Lelu Island Declaration stating that the estuary must be protected from industrial development. A team of Russian scientists toured the northwest last month—they spoke of their experiences with an LNG plant on Sakhalin Island and cautioned that Petronas’ plant could decimate Skeena River salmon runs.
HERE ARE THE 2 THINGS THAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP DEFEND SKEENA SALMON TODAY:
1. Email your comment to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. Tell CEAA and Canadian Ministers why you oppose Petronas’ Pacific NorthWest LNG on Lelu Island. There’s a form statement below that you can copy, paste, and personalize as you like.
Send to: [email protected]
CC: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
2. Send this to 3 friends and encourage them to write their letters of comment, too. This is the last opportunity for citizens to have their say in this review process. Every voice counts.
For the love of Skeena salmon,
Haida Gwaii CoASt
P.S. Here is a link to an online form that makes letter writing simple and quick brought to you by Friends of Wild Salmon.
DRAFT FORM STATEMENT – COPY – PASTE – PERSONALIZE – SEND
Dear Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency,
I write to you from Haida Gwaii, a pristine and vibrant archipelago off the northwest coast, to express my deep concern for the health and well-being of my mainland neighbours. The Skeena Estuary is an incredibly important and rich ecosystem that provides our northern communities with wild salmon, halibut, shellfish and seaweed. We live off of these resources, and fishing helps to contribute to our economies and overall well-being. Flora Bank, adjacent to Lelu Island, is an essential eelgrass nursery that salmon and eulachon need to survive. Indigenous knowledge of this area states its unique importance, and independent science dating back to the 1970s verifies Flora Bank is critical to their survival.
The adverse effects of the Pacific NorthWest LNG plant proposed on Lelu Island cannot be mitigated. Our communities and cultures throughout the entire Skeena watershed will be negatively impacted if the proposed plant is built. I implore you to reject this project.
Sincerely,
]]>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.”
Tired of sitting idle in Masset’s Haidawood Studios, puppets from the recent production Haida Raid 2: A message to Stephen Harper got together in downtown Masset to Defend Our Coast from the Evil Enbridge Empire. According to Raven, “We’re sick and tired of these companies like Enbridge threatening to bring massive oil tankers to our coast hauling toxic bitumen. It’s time to stop their motion and start defending our coast!”
While the members of the Haida Raid production were feisty and bold at the protest action, the event was largely peaceful and no arrests were made.
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