Protesters from Six Nations and other parts of southwestern Ontario stopped work at a dig on a portion of the Line 9 pipeline in North Dumfries late last week. According to a statement from protesters, a group marched onto a work site east of Highway 24 near the Grand River between Cambridge and Brantford around 10 a.m. Thursday. They say Enbridge’s employees are working without consent or consultation on land that is on Haudenosaunee territory.
"We're against the pipeline, the construction, the bitumen tar sands oil running through this pipeline running across the Grand River territory... without proper consultation [with] our people," said Missy Elliot, a Six Nations spokesperson.
Elliot said Six Nations was not consulted in advance of the construction and they only became aware of the dig when information pamphlets were delivered to area residents. "They are supposed to consult and accommodate indigenous people," said Elliot. "Pamphlets in the mail are not proper consultation. Not sitting with us at the table... is not proper consultation."
Protesters at the site said Enbridge staff left the area peacefully with their heavy equipment after speaking with protest members and local police. Janice Lee, who came from Kitchener to show support for the protest group, said members of Six Nations initially approached Enbridge staff and told them they were on treaty territory without consultation and asked them to leave. "They've left but it seems like they keep sending people back and forth to check on us," added Lee.
Despite the claim by Six Nations that they were not properly consulted, Enbridge spokesperson Graham White told CBC that the company had met with representatives of Six Nations and that Thursday's work was part of a routine inspection of the pipeline.
"When we talk about integrity digs this is one of the many things we are doing to ensure the safety of this line," said White. "We go down and at minimum remove the coating and do a visual inspection and other in field inspections of the pipe and take any measures necessary to repair that or maintain that pipe to a level of very good integrity." White added hundreds of similar digs have been completed along the pipeline between Sarnia and Montreal.
This is the latest in a host of protests staged in southwestern Ontario in recent months over the Line 9 pipeline reversal. In May, a group of protesters blockaded the road to an exposed section of the pipeline in Burlington. Last June, a group of protesters shut down construction at an Enbridge pump station in rural Hamilton for days.
Though some protesters have faced arrests and legal challenges, they are still continuing to protest Enbridge integrity digs. In March, the National Energy Board approved a request from Enbridge to reverse the flow and increase the capacity of the controversial Line 9 pipeline that has been running between southern Ontario and Montreal for years.
Line 9 originally shuttled oil from Sarnia, Ont., to Montreal, but was reversed in the late 1990s in response to market conditions to pump imported crude westward. Enbridge now wants to flow oil back eastwards to service refineries in Ontario and Quebec. It plans to move 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day through the line, a rise from the current 240,000 barrels, with no increase in pressure.
Opponents argue the Line 9 plan puts communities at risk, threatens water supplies and could endanger vulnerable species in ecologically sensitive areas.
Meanwhile, across the country in Vancouver, News 1130 reports that First Nations chiefs said they are willing to go to jail to stop another Enbridge proposed pipeline:
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip says he is prepared to go out onto the land itself to oppose activities being brought forward by Enbridge‘s contractors.
“For myself personally it won’t be the first time that I have been arrested in that situation and it won’t be the last time,” he adds. Phillip says this effort is not about money. It’s about the sea, the environment and indigenous land rights.
“We will stand with our brothers and sisters in the courtrooms, and if necessary we will stand with our brothers and sisters in solidarity on the land itself,” he warns.
Phillip says he’s not taking action in an effort to get a better deal; it’s to protect the integrity of the land and the rights of his people.
Also last week, as reported by ACFNChallenge, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation announced it is pulling out of Grand Rapids Pipeline hearings with TransCanada, citing a prejudiced process that only takes industry interests into account:
Last Tuesday, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) announced they will no longer participate in the TransCanada Grand Rapids Pipeline hearing citing impossible timelines and prejudice within the process. The First Nation is referring to the project as the “Mother of All Pipelines” feeding projects like the Energy East Pipeline and the controversial Keystone XL pipeline projects.
“The Alberta Energy Regulator put us in an impossible position. I am dumbfounded by this process,” stated Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Adam, speaking about the obstacles the ACFN has faced in trying to get action from both government and industry to adequately address their concerns.
Adam spoke about how TransCanada consistently showed little regard to actually addressing the concerns raised by the ACFN and were more concerned with how much it would cost to “buy us off.”
He added, “this new AER regulatory process is fundamentally flawed. It is supposed to be the test of the new regulatory regime for oil and gas and pipelines in Alberta. Yet, it has seriously undermined our efforts to address any concerns about First Nations impacts.”
Adam was referring to the lack of assessment or studies done on the impacts to Aboriginal and Treaty Rights, impacts to hunting, fishing and trapping and the incomplete Caribou Protection plan in relation to the project brought up earlier in the day by their legal counsel.
“The Grand Rapids hearings demonstrated how the Alberta government is willing to put the cart before the horse. TransCanada’s application included incomplete studies and reports and yet the AER still granted a fast tracked hearing where TransCanada continued to submit last minute evidence.
"ACFN was raising concerns that should concern all Albertans – how can you ensure safety and protect the environment if you haven’t even completed the necessary studies?” stated Lorraine Land, ACFN legal Counsel of Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP.
The ACFN will be exploring other avenues to challenge the proposed pipeline project and Chief Adam closed his remarks: “It is our law that we need to protect the land and the water so that our people will be here for another 9000 years. We must do this as long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the river flows. Today, we respect Dene law and for that reason we can no longer continue in this process.”
3 WAYS TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT
- Log in to post comments
