From the Province – March 25, 2011

by Suzanne Fournier

Ta’Kaiya Blaney is only 10 years old, but she has a heartfelt song
and a tough message to the Enbridge pipeline people that she wanted to
deliver in person on Thursday.

But Ta’Kaiya, who had a
carefullyrehearsed talk on coloured cards and a video of her song, was
halted in the lobby by security guards who said they had “locked down”
the sixth-floor offices of Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines.

“I wanted to sing my song and I didn’t think I was scary,” said Ta’Kaiya.

Headquartered in Calgary, the company, which has proposed twin
pipelines and oil tanker traffic down the B.C. coast, has a few
technical staff in the Bentall building in Vancouver but had no one
available to meet Ta’Kaiya.

A member of the Sliammon First Nation,
Ta’Kaiya is home-schooled in North Vancouver by her mom, Anne, who
accompanied her daughter Thursday. Ta’Kaiya said she did a lot of
research for her environmental issues unit.

“It’s true that the
oil pipelines and the tankers will give people jobs, but if there is an
oil spill like the Exxon Valdez or the Gulf of Mexico, that will take
other people’s jobs and the wildlife will die,” said Ta’Kaiya.

“This is the 22nd anniversary of the Exxon Valdez and there is still oil in the water, that can’t ever be cleaned up.”

Ta’Kaiya’s
message and song, which she co-wrote, was sent far and wide by
Greenpeace, which emailed her video and statement to all provincial and
federal politicians.

Greenpeace B.C. director Stephanie Goodwin called Enbridge “contradictory.”

“They
say they want public input, but won’t even hear the concerns of a
10-year-old First Nations girl who presented her views respectfully.”

After
Ta’Kaiya and her mom were sent out to the sidewalk, B.C. Premier
Christy Clark sent the girl an email, saying she had “watched your
YouTube video and commend you for your talent. Your message is very
clear -we must be concerned about the environment.”

Enbridge spokesman Paul Stanway said the company had no one available to greet Ta’Kaiya, but “will be responding” to her letter.

Stanway
noted that the Northern Gateway pipeline project is undergoing a
comprehensive, rigorous review by an independent panel under the
auspices of the National Energy Board and the Canadian Environment
Assessment Agency.

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