Enbridge bringing opponents together
There's a surprising statement that you'll sometimes hear at rallies against the Enbridge Northern Gateway project: "I want to thank Enbridge for bringing us together." The comment may be tongue-in-cheek, but it has some truth to it. The strong opposition to Northern Gateway is a common ground that is helping First Nations and non-First Nations people forge new links with each other.
Take for example our home, the nation of Nak'azdli and the community of Fort St. James. Nak'azdli people have lived on the shores of Nak'al Bun, or Stuart Lake, since time immemorial, and for over 200 years the people of Fort St. James have been neighbours. It's not surprising then that a shared commitment to protect the water, land and air around us runs deep here.
Northern Gateway's heavy oil and condensate pipelines would cut through lands and waters just a short distance from our home, including precious waterways such as the Stuart River, Pitka Creek and Necoslie River. The risk of an oil spill in these important places is something that the people of Nak'azdli and Fort St. James have been working hard to guard against.
Four years ago this month the Yinka Dene Alliance, a coalition of six First Nations that includes Nak'azdli, joined First Nations across B.C. to sign the Save the Fraser Declaration, banning Enbridge's tar sands pipelines and tankers from their lands and waters as a matter of Indigenous law. The Yinka Dene Alliance has carried the news of its Northern Gateway ban far and wide, including on multiple occasions to Ottawa and Enbridge shareholder meetings.
The community of Fort St. James has been an important ally as the Yinka Dene Alliance has worked to ensure that this ban on Enbridge is respected. In 2012, Fort St. James Council unanimously adopted a resolution declaring opposition to Enbridge Northern Gateway. In 2013, Fort St. James mayor Rob MacDougall endorsed a Save the Fraser Declaration Solidarity Accord, supporting the Yinka Dene Alliance and other First Nations standing in opposition to Enbridge. Just as important have been the relationships strengthened in our community as people attend rallies, walk together in marches and put up "United Against Enbridge" signs in front of their homes.
As we know, the federal government nevertheless approved Enbridge Northern Gateway this summer. Nak'azdli, together with Yinka Dene Alliance nation Nadleh Whut'en, has brought legal proceedings challenging the constitutionality of the federal government's approval of Northern Gateway. Nak'azdli and Nadleh Whut'en are two of eight First Nations currently in court against Northern Gateway (as well as four environmental groups and the union that represents tar sands workers).
Rather than sitting back and leaving the fight against Northern Gateway to First Nations, people in Fort St. James and throughout B.C. are stepping up to fundraise for First Nations' court cases. This summer, the Fort St. James Sustainability Group raised funds through an event with door prizes and an Enbridge trivia contest. We weren't the only community to do so, with fundraisers cropping up in other towns along the Northern Gateway route. What began as a few fundraisers across northern B.C. has expanded with the help of Sierra Club B.C. and RAVEN Trust into www.pull-together.ca, a province-wide fundraising campaign that has partnered with six of the First Nations in court against Enbridge.
The rapid growth of the Pull Together campaign has been inspiring. There have been individual efforts, such as the soon-to-be-newlyweds who asked their guests to donate to Pull Together rather than buy wedding gifts. There have been community gatherings like the fundraising concert held just this past week in Prince George. There are large-scale efforts such as those of the United Church of Canada, which is supporting the Pull Together campaign. Thanks to all this work, Pull Together has raised over $250,000 in just a few months, closing in on its goal of $300,000 by the end of the year.
The litigation against the federal approval of Enbridge Northern Gateway is about justice and respect for constitutionally-protected Aboriginal rights and title, but it's broader than that too. It's also an issue of solidarity with people concerned about healthy salmon, the effects of climate change, the impacts of the oil sands, and oil-free rivers, lakes and coastlines. In that respect it's good to see that people are pulling together.
The strong common values and common purpose that bind our communities together are the foundation for ongoing opposition to Enbridge's pipelines and tankers: Opposition that continues to create a legal, financial and political climate in which it is very unlikely this project will ever be built.
Fred Sam is Chief of the Nak'azdli First Nation. Brenda Gouglas is a Councillor for the District of Fort St. James.