Media Room
January 11th, 2012
I've just returned from the first two days of Enbridge’s Joint Review Panel in Kitamaat Village, and I can’t help but appreciate how much this risky proposal has brought together a diversity of people. While First Nations are leaders in opposing Enbridge's Tar Sands pipeline and tanker project, they are joined in solidarity by concerned citizens from all walks of life – hunters, fishers, engineers, postal workers, mill workers, foresters, teachers – the list goes on.
To hear more voices, listen to these audio clips of conversations I had with three members of the Kitamaat Village community:
* Sammy Robinson is a Haisla First Nation Elder and carver, and he talks about the intensity of storms around Hartley Bay. “I know there’ll be an accident, no ifs about it,” he says.
* Murray Munchin is with Douglas Channel Watch. He emphasizes that the Joint Review Panel needs to take responsibility for the “environmental richness” of the area, including its wild salmon runs.
* Linda Halyk is a Kitimaat resident and self-described "granny" who is very fired up about protecting her community.
British Columbians who live in this part of the world are here because of its incredible assets – in particular our healthy watersheds and coast. Wild salmon sustain a lot of us economically in the Northwest, providing a secure (and tasty) food source, while serving as cultural touchstone to this part of the world. The Italians have their ruins and their pasta; we have salmon and natural beauty as far as the eye can see.
There is no compensation or price high enough for wiping out wild salmon in the Fraser and Skeena watersheds, or along our coast. The corporations who want to profit from the pipeline wouldn't know this, because they do not live here, and our communities values are not of interest to them.
This pipeline is not being built for British Columbians and, should the process be allowed to unfold as planned, British Columbians will make it clear why Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline is not worth the risk to the land that they hold dear.
Enbridge Pipeline Hearings, Dispatch #1: Voices from Kitamaat, BC
Some risks are worth taking - in the case of Enbridge's Northern Gateway, "there is no compensation or price high enough" for the natural treasures of BCJanuary 11th, 2012
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| Haisla Cheifs speaking in turn to the Panel. © Pat Moss /Friends of Wild Salmon |
I've just returned from the first two days of Enbridge’s Joint Review Panel in Kitamaat Village, and I can’t help but appreciate how much this risky proposal has brought together a diversity of people. While First Nations are leaders in opposing Enbridge's Tar Sands pipeline and tanker project, they are joined in solidarity by concerned citizens from all walks of life – hunters, fishers, engineers, postal workers, mill workers, foresters, teachers – the list goes on.
Again and again I hear from Northerners that they never usually organize or stand up, but are doing so in droves because of the risks posed by Enbridge’s project to our way of life. The Globe & Mail profiled three such proud British Columbians last week, but there are so many more where they come from.
Here's a snippet from the hearing itself:
Speakers are Haisla Chiefs Henry Amos, Marilyn Furlan, and Ellis Ross
To hear more voices, listen to these audio clips of conversations I had with three members of the Kitamaat Village community:
* Sammy Robinson is a Haisla First Nation Elder and carver, and he talks about the intensity of storms around Hartley Bay. “I know there’ll be an accident, no ifs about it,” he says.
Note: When I ask Sammy about the “double barrel shotgun” I’m referring to another Haisla elder’s remark that the proposed double pipelines (yes, Enbridge's Northern Gateway is two pipelines running beside eachother) make him feel as if he were looking into barrels of a shotgun.
* Murray Munchin is with Douglas Channel Watch. He emphasizes that the Joint Review Panel needs to take responsibility for the “environmental richness” of the area, including its wild salmon runs.
* Linda Halyk is a Kitimaat resident and self-described "granny" who is very fired up about protecting her community.
 |
| Members of Douglas Channel Watch - three generations standing for salmon wildlife protection. © Pat Moss /Friends of Wild Salmon |
There is no compensation or price high enough for wiping out wild salmon in the Fraser and Skeena watersheds, or along our coast. The corporations who want to profit from the pipeline wouldn't know this, because they do not live here, and our communities values are not of interest to them.
This pipeline is not being built for British Columbians and, should the process be allowed to unfold as planned, British Columbians will make it clear why Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline is not worth the risk to the land that they hold dear.
