Tag Archives: BC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers

Gitxsan Come Together, Call for Healing and Strength

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While news emerges that a court order may have been obtained to remove Gitxsan leaders and community members who took over the Treaty office in Hazelton earlier this week – in response to a deal made with Enbridge by treaty negotiator Elmer Derrick without the knowledge or approval of the community – a new video demonstrates how the Gitxsan are banding together in this moment of crisis. The situation is summed up eloquently by one of the community matriarchs shown in the video, produced by Ardea Films:

“Today is a new beginning. Today is the day the healing will begin. Our hearts have been broken, our families have been divided. Today, we’ll begin to talk, we’ll begin to love; we’ll begin to share and honour one another once again. So I put this out to all of us as Gitxsan people: We must stay strong, as the whole country – particularly our aboriginal neighbours – are disappointed with us …But we must stay strong. We must stay proud.”

A New Beginning from Ardea Films on Vimeo.

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BREAKING: Major Delay in Enbridge Decision to Late 2013 – Review Panel

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Read this breaking story from The Vancouver Sun reporting that according to the National Energy Board Joint Review Panel, the decision on the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline will now be delayed until late-2013.

“CALGARY — The joint review panel hearing submissions on the
controversial Northern Gateway oil pipeline to the B.C. coast will take a
year longer than expected to deliver its final report. In a
projected schedule released late Tuesday, the three-member panel said it ‘would anticipate releasing the environmental assessment report in the
fall of 2013 and its final decision on the project around the end of
2013.’ That’s a year later than expected, confirmed Annie Roy, panel spokeswoman.”

Read article: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Northern+Gateway+pipeline+decision+will+delayed+until+late+2013+panel/5820686/story.html

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Global TV Report on Gitxsan Controversy

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Watch this video from Global TV today on the ongoing controversy over the now-disputed Gitxsan First Nation deal with Enbridge. Note how Enbridge carefully videotaped the whole process, then provided it to media – complete with b-roll footage of pipeline construction jobs. The majority of the footage in this Global segment derives from a corporate press kit from Enbridge. (Dec. 6, 2011)

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Audio: “Ethical Oil” debate on CBC’s The Current – a must-listen!

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Listen to this 23 min radio program hosted by The Current’s Anna-Maria Tremonti, debating the notion of “ethical oil.” In in “Ethical Oil” spokesperson Kathryn Marshall squares off against Nobel Laureate Jody Williams, Chair of the Nobel Women’s Initiative – who recently signed a letter with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and six other Nobel Laureates calling for the Obama Administration to reject the proposed Keystone XL pipeline from the Alberta Tar Sands to the US Gulf Coast – and a business ethics professor from York University. (Dec. 6, 2011)

Listen to audio clip: http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2011/12/06/ethical-oil/

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Globe and Mail: Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs March on Treaty Office, Demand Resignation of Treaty Negotiators Who Made Unauthorized Deal with Enbridge

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Read this story from The Globe and Mail on the swift and strong reaction by Gitxsan hereditary chiefs following Friday’s unauthorized deal with Enbridge, signed by the nation’s lead treaty negotiator, Elmer Derrick.

“Gitxsan hereditary chiefs on Monday called for the resignations of negotiators involved in a controversial pact with Enbridge. After
emergency meetings over the weekend, a group of hereditary chiefs
marched on the offices of the Gitxsan Treaty Society on Monday to demand
the immediate resignation of three of the society’s employees. Those
employees include Elmer Derrick, a Gitxsan Treaty Society negotiator and
a hereditary chief who on Friday announced a deal with Enbridge to
support the Northern Gateway project.

‘We put on our regalia and walked to the Gitxsan Treaty Society and
informed them that their services were no longer needed,’ Norman
Stephens, who is part of a group of hereditary chiefs speaking out
against the Enbridge agreement, said Monday in a telephone interview. The
employees refused to leave, saying that the society’s board of
directors – not the hereditary chiefs – governed the society, according
to Mr. Stephens. That resulted in a subsequent resolution by the
chiefs that the society directors could no longer sign or act on behalf
of the Gitxsan clans, Mr. Stephens said.

A call to the Gitxsan Treaty Office was not immediately returned.” (December 5, 2011)

Read full article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-politics/gitxsan-hereditary-chiefs-demand-negotiators-in-enbridge-deal-resign/article2260907/

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Elmer Derrick with Enbridge Executive Vice-President Janet Holder this past friday (photo: CNW Group/Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs)

Embattled Gitxsan Treaty Rep, Enbridge Deal-Maker Elmer Derrick Has Long Ties to BC Liberals

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The heated debate playing out in the BC media over the past few days regarding the now-disputed deal announced this past Friday between Enbridge and the Gitxsan First Nation warrants a closer examination of the lone Gitxsan man behind the deal. Just who is Elmer Derrick – besides a hereditary chief and lead treaty negotiator for the Gitxsan? It turns out Mr. Derrick also has a decade-long history as a key political appointee of the BC Liberal Party.

Mr. Derrick was among the first political appointees of Gordon Campbell (see Order in Council 847) when the former premier replaced most of the BC Hydro Board of Directors with his own appointees soon after coming to power in 2001. Derrick was among that first batch of board appointments and retained his position at least until March 2008, the last time he is listed as a director in the annual report of the crown corporation.

Mr. Derrick began his foray into politics under the NDP’s tenure, when he was appointed in 1995 to the board of the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (O.I.C. 1331). Six years later he was becoming a go-to appointee for Campbell. In 2002, Derrick was appointed to the First Peoples’ Advisory Committee (O.I.C. 385) to the Campbell Government as well. In his biography on the Northwest Tribal Treaties Association’s website, Derrick is also listed as a board member of Powerex – BC’s electricity trading crown corporation – and “a volunteer community member of the National Committee on Sustainable Development, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada for three successive reports to the Parliament of Canada.”

Mr. Derrick involved himself in the recent BC Liberal leadership debate earlier this year – throwing his support behind losing candidate George Abbott, according to a Black Press story which is no longer posted on the company’s websites but was re-posted on a Vancouver Island realtor’s blog, where it remains at the time of publication of this story. The story notes, “Also joining Abbott at the announcement were Klahoose First Nation Chief Ken Brown, Gitsxan Chief Elmer Derrick…” (emphasis added).

Mr. Derrick has also acted as co-chair of the Northwest Power Line Coalition, an industry-driven group designed to support the building of the Northwest Transmission Corridor – an initiative championed by both the provincial Liberal and federal Conservative governments – to open up mining and hydro projects in Northwest BC. Among a group of over 50 mining and industrial equipment companies, engineering firms and trade organizations are two First Nations entities, listed as, “Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs and Tahltan Development Corporation.” A Marketwire story form January 2010 quotes Mr. Derrick: “‘We look forward to working with and supporting [BC Transmission Corporation] in this process,’ added Coalition Co-Chair Elmer Derrick, Hereditary Gitxsan Chief. ‘We are confident that the needs, concerns and questions of those impacted by this power line will be met through the environmental assessment.'”
 
Mr. Derrick has come under fire by members of his own Gitxsan nation for brokering a deal with Enbridge in support of the company’s proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline. Several hereditary chiefs from the community claimed in a press release this past Friday that Mr. Derrick had no authority to sign an economic benefit agreement with Enbridge and are now seeking to reverse that move.

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BREAKING: Sun back-pedals on Gitxsan – First Nation Considers Firing Renegade Bureaucrat Who Made Illegitimate Deal with Enbridge!

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Read this follow-up correction story from The Vancouver Sun, setting the record straight after their erroneous Friday front-page story reporting that the Gitxsan First Nation had struck a deal with Enbridge regarding the company’s highly controversial proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline. As The Sun now reports, the only deal with Enbridgre was made by a lone rogue bureaucrat from the band’s treaty negotiation office and had no official support from the hereditary or elected leadership of the nation. The story reports leaders of the nation are considering firing the perpetrator of the illegitimate deal, one Elmer Derrick.

VANCOUVER — Two chiefs of the Gitxsan First Nation in northern B.C.
said they are “in shock and embarrassed” after Enbridge announced Friday
that the aboriginal community had become an equity partner in its
embattled Northern Gateway pipeline proposal.

Norman Stephens and
Marjorie McRae said they have the support of most of the other 63 chiefs
and the rest of the First Nation in denouncing Friday’s agreement
announced by Enbridge and Hereditary Chief Elmer Derrick. Friday’s deal
was projected to bring at least $7 million to the community.

“The
majority of the hereditary chiefs didn’t know that this nonsense was
coming — we didn’t even know he was negotiating with them,” said
Stephens, also a hereditary chief who goes by the traditional name
Guuhadawk. “The hereditary chiefs did not know about it and are opposed
to it.

“The claimed $7-million benefit shouldn’t even be a part of
it because it goes nowhere to compensate the Gitxsan for any damage to
our fishing stocks if there was a spill.” (Dec. 4, 2011)

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BC’s First Nations Form “Unbroken Wall of Opposition” to Enbridge

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Read this story from The Province on today’s watershed press conference held by First Nations from around the province to deliver a unified, unwavering message of opposition to the proposed Enbridge pipeline to Kitimat.

“B.C. First Nation communities have formed a united front against
pipeline expansion and oil tanker traffic, as Enbridge Inc. pushes ahead
with its plan to build a pipeline from Alberta to Kitimat. Several
new First Nations signed on to the Save the Fraser Declaration Thursday
in Vancouver, bringing the total number of bands supporting a ban on
pipeline and tanker expansion to 130. Collectively, the signatories represent an ‘unbroken wall of opposition’ from the U.S. border to the Arctic Ocean.” (Dec. 1, 2011)

Read article: http://www.theprovince.com/business/Enbridge+pipeline+faces+unbroken+wall+opposition+from+First+Nations/5797063/story.html

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Breaking: Workers Building Pacific Trails Gas Pipeline to Kitimat Evicted from Construction Site by First Nations

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The following is a press release from hereditary leaders of the Wet’suwet’en and Unist’hot’en Nations of Northwest BC:

November 15, 2011 – Setting up a road blockade with signs “Road
Closed to Pacific Trails Pipeline Drillers”, an alliance of the
Unist’ot’en and the Likhts’amisyu of the Wet’suwet’en Nation have
evicted and escorted out Pacific Trails Pipeline drillers and their
equipment.

According to Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief Toghestiy, “We evicted
Pacific Trails Pipeline drillers from our territory this weekend. The
drillers in one vehicle actually cheered for our blockade and one
driller told us ‘Nobody wants to see any pipelines in the North –
especially one that operates as dirty as this one. Have a good day guys
and good luck.’”

“Pacific Trails Pipeline had moved in equipment to do directional
drilling around Gosnell River where our salmon spawn. Their exploratory
drilling and whole pipeline proposal will spell certain disaster in the
Peace River area. We have to protect our sensitive aquifers from the
destruction of pipelines – from the Alberta Tar Sands to our side of the
Rocky Mountains. You cannot make compromises with the life-sustaining
force of water” continues Toghestiy.

Kloum Khun, a Likhts’amisyu hereditary Chief who also participated in
the blockade, said: “We had a sign that said ‘No Pipelines’ and pointed
it out to the drillers. We told them to take out all their equipment
from our territory.”

The Pacific Trails Pipeline, official known as the Kitimat Summit
Lake (KSL) gas pipeline, is a proposed natural gas pipeline that will
move upto 1 million cubic feet per day of natural gas from Summit Lake
near Prince George to Kitimat using an underground 36 inch diameter
pipeline with an 18-metre right of way on each side. Much of this
natural gas is acquired through the environmentally destructive process
of hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking. After processing, the
natural gas would be shipped in supertankers from ports in Kitamat to
the international market. In February 2011, Pacific Northern Gas sold
its stake in the project to the Apache Corporation and EOG Resources
(formerly Enron).

The Pacific Trails Pipeline has a similar proposed right-of-way as
Enbridge Pipeline in Wet’suwet’en territory. According to Toghestiy:
“Enbridge is using the fact that Pacific Trails is proposing the same
right of way as Enbridge to mitigate their own ecological footprint on
our territory.” During a May 2011 interview with Fox News, Enbridge CEO
Pat Daniel discussed Enbridge’s move into the natural gas market and the
possibility of “synergies” between the Enbridge’s Gateway Project and
the Pacific Trails Pipeline.

The $5.5-billion proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline would
carry 700,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Alberta to Kitimat. In
August 2010, representatives of Enbridge in Smithers, Michelle Perret
and Kevin Brown, received formal notice from Wet’suweten hereditary
chiefs Hagwilakw and Toghestiy that Enbridge did not have permission to
build a pipeline on their lands and was trespassing on unceded
Wet’suwet’en lands.

Freda Huson, a spokesperson for the Unist’ot’en Clan of the
Wet’suwet’en, says her community was not consulted about these proposed
pipelines: “The corporations never informed us or consulted us about
their plans. Pacific Trail Pipeline’s proposed route is through two main
salmon spawning channels which provide our staple food supply. We have
made the message clear to Enbridge and Pacific Trails and all of
industry: We cannot and will not permit any pipelines through our
territory.”

The Unist’ot’en Clan of the Wet’suwet’en participated in the First
and Second Indigenous Assembly Against Mining and Pipelines in BC. Says
Mel Bazil: “The plans of Christy Clark and the BC government to push
mining and pipeline developments into our territories will fail. We
reject the short-term interests of profit that motivates those mining
and pipeline developments that are trespassing on our unceded Indigenous
lands.

– 30 –

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Freda Huson: spokesperson for Unist’hot’en: (778)210-1100 or (250) 847-8897
Toghestiy: (250) 847- 8897
Kloum Khun’s: (250) 847-9673
Mel Bazil: 250-877-2805

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