Northwest Coast News

Time to settle First Nations land claims: Financial Post

Diane Francis, columnist, Financial Post

Time to settle First Nations land claims

The time has come for Canada and the provinces to make timely and responsible resource development the country’s number one national interest. This represents a policy priority that has never existed but is absolutely essential today to protect Canadian living standards and rights.

To date, Canada has behaved like a patchwork quilt of special interests and various levels of government whose leaders have bobbed and weaved but never devised a just or swift means of settling, or rejecting, land claims by First Nations…..

This week, the opening shot of what could be a monumental battle was fired when First Nations representatives from British Columbia came to warn Big Oil in Calgary that they would obstruct any linkage to Asia via pipelines, and presumably, rail lines, through their territory. If joined by others, and this is a given, their obstructionism for gain, or ideology, will financially damage landlocked Alberta, the prairies, the North and therefore the living standards of all Canadians.

Frankly, I don’t blame First Nations for obstructing development because they face a politicized and dysfunctional court system that never settles, never seems to reject new claims, never deals with any expeditiously and never imposes a deadline on requests.

Editor’s note: Read the quote from Financial Post business columnist Diane Francis carefully. In the key paragraph quoted here, she mentions the economy of Alberta, the prairies and the North. Somehow she neglected to mention the economy of the British Columbia, and the impact of the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline, for good or ill on BC. A conservative columnist, Francis, seems to assume that First Nations are against the pipeline simply for gain or “ideology,” and that settling Land Claims will lead to the construction of the pipeline,

First Nations stand ground

Financial Post

First Nations stand ground

In case their unequivocal message hasn’t been received, British Columbia’s First Nations are in Calgary this week to make it clear to the board of directors of Enbridge Inc., Enbridge’s annual meeting of shareholders and members of the broader oil community that the proposed $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline is not going forward. 

It will be a difficult message to accept. The pipeline between the oil sands in Alberta and Kitimat on the northern coast of B.C. is a big plank in the oil-and-gas industry’s strategy to develop a new market for its products in Asia, a major part of Enbridge’s growth strategy, a key piece of strategic infrastructure for all of Canada, and a major job creator for Western Canada.

Shale Gas, LNG & the Coming Impact of Wet Shale: Energy Tribune

Energy Tribune

Shale Gas, LNG & the Coming Impact of Wet Shale

The first hint that the paradigm was not shifting so much as shattering was in 2009 when the planned Kitimat terminal in British Columbia was reborn as an export terminal. The gas would come from western Canada’s Horn River and Montney shales. Pre-2009, the theory was that gas imported to Kitimat would compete for Asian markets with gas from Australia and Peru. Post 2014, when the terminal will be completed, BC gas will compete in Asian markets against Australian, Peruvian and many more LNG exporters who had seen one leg of the three-legged world gas stool of North America, Europe and Asian markets sawn off.

This year we are seeing talk of LNG exports from another terminal near
Kitimat and possibly even from Oregon. But the big game changer occurred
in May 2010 when Cheniere Energy, operator of the Sabine Pass LNG
terminal on the Gulf of Mexico announced plans to export US gas from
2014 – a plan quickly added to by other operators in Cameron LA and
Galveston.

Alberta leak reminder of dangers

Northern Sentinel

Alberta leak reminder of dangers

A pipeline breach in northern Alberta last week that resulted in approximately 4.5 million litres of oil being spilled should be a reminder of the dangers that could face the region with Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline project, says Skeena – Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen.

“This should be another nail in the coffin for any idea of a pipeline across BC, and unfortunately paints a pretty clear picture of what happens when you ship oil over land. And it should be noted that this spill happened in an area that is a lot less rugged than on the coast and the proposed route for Enbridge,” he added.

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Rally against Enbridge Northern Gateway Project draws hundreds in Prince Rupert: Northern View

From Northern View, Prince Rupert

Rally against Enbridge Northern Gateway Project draws hundreds in Prince Rupert

Amidst the laughter, unity, and spirit of a rally against the
Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline Project, held in Prince Rupert
Thursday evening, there was one word that reverberated again and again
from participants. That word was no.

Organizer of the rally Jenn Rice said governments may come and go, but people on the North Coast are here to stay.