Pipeline politics remain exceptionally contentious in Canada, with one faction seeing them as a path to future prosperity through further bitumen sands development and another seeing them as part of a global suicide pact to permanently wreck the climate and the prospects of all humans for thousands of years.
The replacement of British Columbia’s pro-fossil-fuel Liberal government with an NDP-Green coalition promises to re-open the question of the Kinder Morgan TransMountain pipeline, among other projects.
It also sets up conflict between B.C. and Alberta, and between B.C. and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has so far been pretending quite implausibly that Canada can meet its climate commitments while continuing to allow growth in the fossil fuel sector.
Trudeau and Horgan sidestep pipeline talks in 1st meeting
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The witty banter continued when Horgan spilled a glass of water and noted, “Spills can happen anywhere,” in reference to the potential for an oil spill with a pipeline.
“We’ll get people to clean that up right away!” Trudeau rebutted, to which Horgan shot back: “There’s a federal response for that.”
Trudeau’s government approved the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project last fall, but Horgan campaigned against it and has pledged to fight the project.
But there is little time for Horgan to waste if he wants to stop the project as pipeline-builder Kinder Morgan said just last week that construction is on schedule to begin in September.
Amid Trans Mountain uncertainty, pro-pipeline Indigenous peoples make a pitch for development
It’s a ‘myth’ that First Nation interests are always aligned with environmentalists, First Nations leader says
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Helin, a member of the Lax Kw’alaams First Nation near Prince Rupert, B.C., and a leading advocate for Indigenous self-reliance, said energy development can help First Nations people ease into the mainstream economy and end a cycle of dependency that has been fostered by racist policies designed to subjugate Indigenous communities.
Helin said the old paradigm — where energy companies imposed their will on First Nations people without offering meaningful benefits in return — is over.
“We’re asking, ‘What’s in it for us?’ We’re not going to accept big companies extracting the wealth and leaving us with a big environmental mess. We want real equity in these projects.”
Stephen Buffalo, the president and CEO of the Indian Resource Council of Canada, said he wants to help First Nations “see the light” and the considerable economic benefits they stand to gain if they cash in. “We, the oil and gas-producing First Nations, we’re willing to take an advocacy position, help educate and defeat some myths about pipelines.”
“There’s a lot of money going through those pipes, and First Nations can’t stand to the side and watch it go by,” he said in an interview with CBC News.