B.C. First Nation rescinds earlier support for Northern Gateway dea
OTTAWA - An agreement struck by Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. last month, which was supposed to prove to Canadians that there is aboriginal support for the $5.5 billion Northern Gateway pipeline, has officially collapsed, the company confirmed Wednesday.
Gitxsan hereditary chiefs voted at a meeting in Hagwilget Tuesday evening to reject the deal that would have given the First Nation $7 million in profits over 30 years.
Negotiator Elmer Derrick, who struck the deal with Enbridge, spoke at the meeting that was attended by about 125 Gitxsan members, according to the northern B.C. radio station CJFW-FM.
Chiefs voted by a 28-8 margin to reject the deal, according to the report.
"Enbridge has learned that the Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs have reconsidered their prior endorsement of Gitxsan participation as equity partners in our project," Enbridge spokesman Paul Stanway said in a statement.
"While we are disappointed at this shift in stance in relation to our 2009 protocol agreement with the Nation and in relation to 2011 meetings with Hereditary representatives, we respect this decision.
"We look forward to receiving written communication from the Gitxsan Hereditary chiefs, so that we have greater clarity in relation to their current perspectives. And we will continue to engage with the Gitxsan Nation in relation to the project.
"In the meantime, we will also continue to work and engage with corridor First Nations groups, including the more than 20 groups who in recent weeks have fully executed and endorsed equity participation agreements deals with Enbridge."
Gitxsan chiefs who blockaded the First Nation's treaty office in Hazelton say they want a written confirmation the agreement has no longer in effect before the blockade will end, according to the radio report.
Enbridge Inc. chief executive Pat Daniel said last month the agreement was the first of many equity-sharing deals to be announced with First Nations along the pipeline route from the Alberta oilsands to Kitimat.
"This now makes it obvious to the public and to others that we do have support, and we hope that that momentum will build from here," Daniel told The Vancouver Sun.
Daniel boldly predicted in the interview that at least 30 of the 45 First Nations along the 1,170-kilometre pipeline route would have struck deals by June.
However, Derrick has so far been the only First Nation chief to publicly reveal that an agreement has been struck, and that announcement triggered an angry backlash from within his community.