First Nations reject Enbridge pipeline stake
A group of First Nations has turned down an offer by Enbridge to own a share of the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline.
The Yinka Dene Alliance recently notified Enbridge chief executive Pat Daniel and the company’s board of directors of its decision.
“Our lands and waters are not for sale, not at any price,” said Chief Larry Nooski of Nadleh Whut’en First Nation, speaking as a member of the Yinka Dene.
The Calgary-based company has been in talks with dozens of stakeholders along the pipeline corridor, offering affected First Nations and Metis up to 10% equity stake in the project.
If built, the controversial multi-billion dollar pipeline will connect Alberta’s oilsands with an oil export terminal in Kitimat, B.C., on the Pacific coast. From there, oil would eventually be exported to Asia, reducing this country’s reliance on the U.S. as an export market.
But the five First Nations making up the Yinka Dene say the pipeline is not allowed through their territories, according to their ancestral laws. The project risks oil spills, which would hurt the environment an future generations, they say.
Enbridge had been under intense scrutiny this summer after two pipeline leaks in the U.S.