People Power Trumps Pipelines

PEOPLE POWER TRUMPS PIPELINES (NORTHERN GATEWAY, KINDER MORGAN, & KEYSTONE XL)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QQPGZjqAmQ


Yours truly was at the Vancouver B.C. gathering.
http://www.defendourclimate.ca/2014/05/people-power-trumps-pipelines-share-story/

Enbridge Opponents Prepare for ‘Show-Down’ on Gateway Pipeline

After a decade of saying ‘No’ to Enbridge Inc.’s proposed Northern Gateway oil pipeline, Canadian aboriginals are preparing to stop the project with protests in front of bulldozers and police barricades if needed.

With a decision by the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper only weeks away, opponents of the 1,177-kilometer (731-mile) pipeline across British Columbia aim to send a message to Enbridge shareholders when they attend an annual meeting today.

“The time is right to have it out with Harper on Northern Gateway once and for all,” said Art Sterritt, executive director of Coastal First Nations that represents tribes along the proposed tanker route. “I won’t let this pipeline get done as long as I’m alive,” he said in an interview yesterday in Calgary.

Enbridge proposed the pipeline a decade ago to transport oil sands bitumen from Alberta to Asian markets via tankers to capture higher world prices. Opponents fear destruction of their fisheries and shell-fish beds from a possible oil spill.

Communities are learning about their right to protest, said Jasmine Thomas, a member of the Saik’uz First Nation, whose territory is near the proposed pipeline route. The group has banned Enbridge from working on land the tribe claims and will protest in “creative and non-violent” ways, she said.

“We’re still looking at different options to express our opposition and stop the project,” Thomas said. “We hope it doesn’t get to that point” where violence erupts.

Native Rights

Unlike other Canadian provinces, British Columbia failed to resolve land claims with aboriginals whose rights to their traditional territory are ensconced in British legal documents dating back to the 18th century, said Sterritt. In addition, the federal government is obliged to consult natives on projects that affect their traditional way of life.

Enbridge wants to meet demand in other markets for the fuel as oil-sands output is set to almost triple to 5.2 million barrels a day by 2030, from 1.8 million in 2012, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. Northern Gateway is one of about C$36 billion ($33 billion) worth of projects Enbridge is planning through 2017 to boost sales.

The company won approval from Canadian regulators in December to proceed with the C$6.5 billion pipeline to carry Alberta bitumen to the Pacific for export to Asian markets. The Canadian energy regulator placed 209 conditions on the project, which will push up costs, Chief Executive Officer Al Monaco said at the time.

Harper and his cabinet have until mid-June to make a decision on the pipeline. The government may decide before then whether Northern Gateway can go ahead, Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford said yesterday.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-05-07/enbridge-opponents-prepare-for-show-down-on-gateway-pipeline

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Light triumphs darkness by a factor of infinity.  The soul is immortal....Steve Alten

FREEDOM TRAIN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAjAqtD5LVQ


Published on Apr 6, 2014

"This is about our freedom to choose our future, our freedom to live according to our own culture, our freedom to govern ourselves, and our freedom from the catastrophic risks of an Enbridge pipeline oil spill. We are fighting for our very survival. An oil spill into our lands and waters threatens our health, our culture and our very existence as separate peoples."

-- Chief Jackie Thomas of Saik'uz First Nation

Background

Enbridge's Northern Gateway is a proposed 1,177 km pipeline that would move 525,000 barrels of crude oil per day from the Alberta oil sands to Kitimat on the Pacific Coast. From there, supertankers would transport it to overseas markets through B.C.'s coastal waters -- some of the most treacherous in the world.

The Yinka Dene Alliance is a coalition of six First Nations whose territories make up 25% of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline route. Canada and British Columbia have not concluded a treaty with any of the Yinka Dene Alliance nations.

The Save the Fraser Declaration -- signed by representatives of more than 160 First Nations -- uses Indigenous law to ban Northern Gateway and similar oil sands projects from the Fraser River watershed.

In April 2012, a delegation of the Yinka Dene Alliance boarded a train across Canada to enforce their legal ban at the Enbridge Annual General Meeting in Toronto, and to stand up for their freedom to choose their own future.

This is their story.

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As it is below; so it is above

Jenetta wrote:PEOPLE POWER TRUMPS PIPELINES (NORTHERN GATEWAY, KINDER MORGAN, & KEYSTONE XL)

Yours truly was at the Vancouver B.C. gathering.

Light triumphs darkness by a factor of infinity.  The soul is immortal....Steve Alten

Good of You Jenetta   
Let's hope this will meet a happy end.

Love from me
mudra

Yes, good on you Jenetta. It must feel good to be physically doing something to uphold your rights and principles. I have to shake my head when I read that Harper gets to make the decision on whether or not this pipeline goes ahead when the aboriginal peoples truly have the legal right to do so themselves.

What is it democracy is supposed to be........Government of the people, by the people, for the people? What a joke that has become all over the western world.   

Today Prime Minister Harper and his cronies in the Progressive Conservative cabinet aka regressive Conservatives approved the Northern Gateway Pipeline (Enbridge) as long as 209 conditions were met and construction will begin approximately September/2015 around the time of the next Federal election. This pipeline runs from Bruderheim, Alberta through rugged wilderness territory to Kitimat, British Columbia where the dilbit bitumen is to be loaded on supertankers bound for China.
The pipeline faces many legal challenges in court before it can be built. Some of these challenges have been launched by First Nations whose unceded territories (no treaties negotiated by the Canadian government) the pipeline traverses.

One group of First Nations issued this statement today:
YINKA DENE ALLIANCE

First Nations Going to Court United Against Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Project

June 17, 2014

Federal and provincial governments disregard Indigenous Title and Rights

Today, we unequivocally reject the Harper Government’s decision to approve the Enbridge Northern Gateway tanker and pipelines project and First Nations will immediately go to court to vigorously pursue all lawful means to stop the Enbridge project.

We have governed our lands, in accordance to our Indigenous laws, since time immemorial. Our inherent Title and Rights and our legal authority over our respective territories have never been surrendered.

Our inherent rights are human rights constitutionally enshrined, judicially recognized and embodied in international legal instruments including the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

This project, and the federal process to approve it, violated our rights and our laws. We are uniting to defend our lands and waters of our respective territories. Our rights and laws compel us to act.

Enbridge’s Northern Gateway tanker and pipeline project exposes all communities from Alberta to the Pacific Coast to the undeniable risk of pipeline and supertanker oil spills. First Nations and the majority of British Columbians believe this project poses an unacceptable risk to the environment, the health, the safety and livelihoods of all peoples throughout this province.

We will defend our territories whatever the costs may be.

Council of the Haida Nation

Gitanmaax Band Council

Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs

Gitgaat

Gitxaala

Gitxsan (Delgamuukw)

Haisla

Heiltsuk

KitasooXai'xais

Lax kw'alaams

Metlakatla

NadlehWhut'en

Nak'azdli

Neskonlith Indian Band

Office of the Wet'suwet'en

Saikuz First Nation

Takla Lake

Tlazten

Tsetsaut / Skii km Lax Ha

Tsleil-Waututh Nation

Wet'suwet'en First Nation

Williams Lake Indian Band

Xatsull


Carrier Sekani Tribal Council

Coastal First Nations

St'at'imc Chiefs Council

Tahltan Central Council

Yinka Dene Alliance


BC Assembly of First Nations

First Nations Summit

Union of BC Indian Chiefs

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As it is below; so it is above

PROTESTERS GATHER IN DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER AFTER YESTERDAY'S ANNOUNCEMENT ON ENBRIDGE'S NORTHERN GATEWAY PIPELINE

Northern Gateway pipeline approved by Harper government (with video)

By Gordon Hoekstra, PETER O’NEIL, Derrick Penner and Rob Shaw, Vancouver Sun

With the Harper government’s approval of Enbridge’s $7.9-billion Northern Gateway pipeline on Tuesday, the project passed a critical hurdle that could see construction begin as early as the fall of 2015.

But the stage has also been set in British Columbia for a colossal environmental battle that could delay the mega-project.

Legal challenges by First Nations and environmentalists could drag on for years. There is even the potential for civil disobedience by opponents who have said they will do whatever is needed to stop the project, evoking the memory of logging protests two decades ago in Clayoquot Sound.

Hours after the announcement, hundreds of protesters blocked Georgia Street in downtown Vancouver, holding signs and shouting down the project.

The B.C. government has also hinted it may try to hold up the project if its five conditions for oil pipelines have not been met.

Enbridge, the Canadian oil industry, and the Alberta and federal governments want to loosen the stranglehold of the U.S. as Canada’s only export market for oil. Northern Gateway would open new markets for diluted bitumen from the Alberta oilsands in Asia, particularly China.

That, they say, will have huge economic benefit for Canada, diversifying the country’s markets and providing higher oil prices. The project will also provide thousands of construction and hundreds of permanent jobs, as well as tens of millions of dollars annually in taxes for the province.

In British Columbia, where opposition is strongest, First Nations, environmental groups and some municipalities argue any economic benefits are outweighed by the risks of an oil spill into B.C.’s salmon-bearing rivers or the ocean. Opponents also criticize the project because it will lead to more greenhouse gas emissions.

In approving the project Tuesday, the federal government said it accepted the National Energy Board-led review panel’s 209 conditions that must be met by Enbridge, 113 of which must be complete before construction can start.

“The proponent clearly has more work to do in order to fulfil the public commitment it has made to engage with aboriginal groups and local communities along the route,” Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford said in a written statement.

Speaking in Terrace on Tuesday, Premier Christy Clark said Enbridge has not met B.C.’s four of B.C.’s five conditions for heavy oil pipelines. The conditions include a world-leading oil spill response system, First Nations support and a fair share of economic benefits for B.C.

“They are trying to set an environmentally sound path for it,” Clark said. “But they are not there yet ... (and) we don’t support it until they get there.

The NEB delivered its verdict just before Christmas last year when it concluded the “project’s potential benefits for Canada and Canadians outweigh the potential burdens and risks.”

The conditions include Enbridge carrying $950 million in spill insurance coverage, thicker pipelines at rivers crossings, a plan to offset losses in Caribou habitat and its promised enhanced tanker safety plan. That plan includes the use of escort tugs, a new advanced radar system, and an increased spill-response system.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government did not add any additional conditions on Tuesday.

Rickford noted the project required permits and authorizations from Ottawa and the B.C. and Alberta governments. B.C. would be responsible for issuing about 60 permits.

And before construction can begin, Enbridge must get approval from the NEB for the final pipeline route, where objections will be heard in public hearings. More consultation with First Nations is needed, as outlined in the NEB conditions, Rickford said.

The federal government ceded the post-decision media frenzy to its opponents, with neither Rickford nor Industry Minister James Moore, Harper’s B.C. lieutenant, speaking to the media.

B.C.’s other 20 government MPs were also nowhere to be found in the House of Commons foyer after the decision.

Both NDP leader Thomas Mulcair and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau said they will kill the project if they win the 2015 federal election.

B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak said provincial permits could be withheld if B.C.’s conditions are not met. “If there are adverse environmental effects, then permits are not going to be granted,” she said.

There are several authorizations required from the province, spanning as many as 12 different pieces of B.C. legislation, including land management, heritage conservation, forests, water, wildlife, parks, agricultural land, environmental management, commercial transport and industrial roads, according to Polak’s ministry.

Enbridge CEO Al Monaco said he was pleased with the federal decision. He acknowledged his company has a lot of work to do to meet the conditions imposed by the NEB, the B.C. government’s five conditions and to re-engage with First Nations that are dead set against the pipeline.

Monaco said it might be possible to have the pipeline in service by the fourth-quarter of 2018, but start up could be later than that, depending on how the process goes.

The federal government approval was welcomed by business and industry.

B.C. Business Council president Greg D’Avignon said the project is an opportunity for Canada to meet Asia’s growing energy needs, just as America’s oil demand is expected to lessen as they potentially reach energy self-sufficiency.

“If we don’t meet that energy demand (in Asia), other people will, and they won’t do it as well from an environmental stand point, a sustainability stand point or a First Nations’ engagement standpoint, and from an innovation and reinvestment in new technology perspective,” said D’Avignon.

The reaction from First Nations and environmental groups was swift, with a vow to do everything in their power to stop the project.

A news release signed by 31 First Nations and aboriginal groups said they “will immediately go to court to vigorously pursue all lawful means to stop the Enbridge project.”

Among the signatories was the Nak’azdli First Nation in north-central B.C.

Peter Erickson, a hereditary chief with the Nak’azdli, said no amount of consultation is going to change his community’s position. “Under no circumstances, come hell or high water, will there be a heavy oil pipeline through our territory,” said Erickson.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip was among those who rallied against the decision on the streets of Vancouver Tuesday. He called the battle to stop the pipeline and protect the environment “the fight of a lifetime.”

“British Columbians and certainly First Nations have a different vision of what really constitutes responsible resource development,” he said, against a backdrop of signs scrawled with slogans like “Pipedream nightmare,” “The answer is still no,” and “Our coast, our voice.”

“The Harper Government has been pushing around Canadians, British Columbians and First Nations for several years now,” said Phillip, the head of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs. "It’s time for us to push back."

"You cannot buy a new earth," read a banner held by Indica Keith, a 19-year-old Vancouver resident and a UBC student of economics.

"This is not serving the democratic will of the people of this province,” she said in an interview, citing recent polls that have shown opposition to the pipeline among B.C. Residents. "It's overwhelmingly a bad idea and yet it's being enabled."

Keith said the economic gain from the project would be short term, enrich a small number of people and come at the expense of the environment.

Ann Grant, a 73-year old Vancouver resident, said "we need to change our ways,” and stop using fossil fuels.

Grant said federal conditions did not help to assuage her safety concerns about the Northern Gateway Pipeline.

"They're into making money, they're not into making precautions."

Grant, like many attending the rally, learned of it through social media.

Jacqueline Lee-Tam, a 16-year-old Vancouver resident, came to the protest painted black.

"This is a representation of what I and my generation will be cleaning up after the oil spills," she said. "It's a matter of when."

At least a half a dozen environmental groups, including Friends of Wild Salmon, called the government decision “meaningless” and said the project will not go ahead.

The B.C. Federation of Naturalists said it will launch a legal challenge of Tuesday’s decision, which will be added to its existing challenge of the NEB decision.

A B.C. environmental activist group, the Dogwood Initiative, pledged to proceed with a petition, similar to the one that led to the defeat of B.C.’s Harmonized Sales Tax in 2012, if the provincial government ends up supporting Enbridge.

“The (federal government) are tone deaf to what is actually going on in British Columbia and I actually think this is going to be the biggest mistake that Stephen Harper has ever made,” said Dogwood executive director Will Horter.

In Kitimat, the terminus of the pipeline, Patricia Lange, a teacher, became involved in fighting the project just three months ago. She joined the Douglas Channel Watch and helped campaign for a successful No vote in a municipal plebiscite, where Kitimat residents voted 58.4 per cent against the project.

Lange, who describe herself as a “common schmo” and “no radical environmentalist,” said she feels strongly about protecting the environment. “I’ve had the conversation with my children — how far would I go (to stop the project) ... I am willing to go to jail,” said Lange.

In Ottawa, Mulcair, the NDP leader, said the project is “pure folly” given the environmental risks, and ridiculed the regulatory process as a sham.

“Mr. Harper decided three years ago” that the project would proceed, Mulcair told reporters.

Mulcair, responding to a question about the potential for civil disobedience and even violence in B.C., appeared to acknowledge that the decision could cause such problems.

“We’re talking about a severe threat to social order (and) social peace, not only in British Columbia but across Canada if Mr. Harper continues to ignore science, continues to ignore First Nations, continues to ignore communities.”

Trudeau, who unlike Mulcair has spoken favourably about the proposed $5.4-billion Kinder Morgan pipeline from Edmonton to Burnaby, said his position on pipelines is “nuanced” and that he understands Canada’s responsibility to get Alberta’s diluted bitumen to overseas markets.

But “we have to do this responsibly,” he told reporters, adding that Canada needs a “referee” rather than a “cheerleader” to rule on pipeline projects.

The project’s critics have argued that Northern Gateway presents a potential threat to a government that relied on B.C. dominance — it won 21 of 36 seats in 2011 — to secure its narrow majority government victory. But analysts question whether Harper will suffer a huge seat loss due to that single issue, noting that he won the majority of his B.C. seats in 2011 — especially in the Fraser Valley and B.C. interior — by huge margins.

With files from Matthew Robinson

O’Neil reported from Ottawa, Hoekstra and Penner reported from Vancouver and Shaw reported from Victoria

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Northern+Gateway+pipeline+approved+Harper+government/9947588/story.html

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Light triumphs darkness by a factor of infinity...the soul is immortal.

Please sign Avaaz Petition. Thanks "mistees".

Stephen Harper just approved a mega tar-oil pipeline that would slice through the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest and put its fragile ecosystem at risk. But one woman stands in the way and our massive outcry could help her put the pipeline on ice for good.

B.C.’s Premier Christy Clark has said she won’t green-light the project, unless it meets several of her economic and environmental conditions and a clear majority of B.C. residents want to stop or delay the pipeline. But with it’s recent federal approval the pressure on Clark is mounting and now-more-than-ever we need her to stand strong against this climate killer.

Clark has the power to put the brakes on this reckless project, and as Premier she needs to listen to our call. Click now to tell Clark that we’re counting on her to be our climate champion by rejecting the pipeline. When we reach 100,000 signatures, it’ll be delivered straight to the Premier in Vancouver. Sign the petition:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/landlock_the_tar_sands_b/?tCXtGeb

Enbridge insists that their pipeline -- criss-crossing an astounding 1,177km from Alberta’s dirty tar sands to the B.C. coast -- will be safe. But their abysmal track record with over 800 oil spills in the last decade tells another story. In 2010, it took them 17 hours take action on a disastrous oil spill in Michigan, even though they knew the pipeline was corroded years before it happened!

Amidst enormous public outcry, Clark has listed a series of demands -- including strict oil-spill response systems, protection of aboriginal rights, and more economic benefits to B.C. -- before she gives the project the go ahead. She realizes that the risks of the pipeline could outweigh the rewards and with a massive outcry we can make sure she not only holds her ground, but pushes further and protects the planet from this pipeline altogether.

Harper’s recent approval of the pipeline is amping up the pressure on Clark to act but we can still come together and demand that she keeps Alberta's deadly tar oil at bay. Sign here and forward to all your friends and family:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/landlock_the_tar_sands_b/?tCXtGeb

The journey ahead won’t be easy -- Harper stopped listening to Canadians about the environment a long time ago. But our movement has never been stronger. Let’s act now to protect our country and the world from deadly tar-oil.

With hope,

Emma, Ari, Jeremy, Danny, Ricken, and the whole Avaaz team

SOURCES

5 things to know about today’s Northern Gateway oil pipeline decision (Toronto Star)
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/06/17/5_things_to_know_about_todays_northern_gateway_oil_pipeline_decision.html

Northern Gateway pipeline approved with 209 conditions (CBC)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/northern-gateway-pipeline-approved-with-209-conditions-1.2678285

B.C. government to Northern Gateway pipeline proposal: ‘No’ (Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-to-northern-gateway-no/article19213866/

Enbridge staff ignored warnings in Kalamazoo River spill (CBC)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/enbridge-staff-ignored-warnings-in-kalamazoo-river-spill-1.1129398

Next Steps on Northern Gateway project (Government of Canada)
http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?mthd=index&crtr.page=1&nid=858479

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As it is below; so it is above