FNFN and Haida Nation Meet to Discuss LNG Strategy in B.C.

FNFN and Haida Nation Meet to Discuss LNG Strategy in B.C.

Sharleen Gale, the Chief of the Fort Nelson First Nation (FNFN), recently visited Haida Gwaii to share FNFN’s experience and concerns about the natural gas industry that is being promoted to revive BC’s economy under its LNG Strategy.

FNFN is a Treaty 8 nation in northeast BC that has been experiencing an unprecedented increase in natural gas exploration, drilling and fracking in their territory in recent years. As LNG terminals are being planned in Kitimaat and the Prince Rupert area, the industry proposes a 600% increase in shale gas extraction in Fort Nelson territory, which would mean a dramatic increase in tanker traffic. This would also mean a surge in the dumping of ballast waters, infested with foreign species from across the Pacific Ocean, into Haida territorial waters. In response to BC’s LNG Strategy, the Council of the Haida Nation (CHN) has been working with the Coastal First Nations to examine the potential cumulative impacts of LNG activities affecting the coastal zone.

While committed in opposition to oil tankers, the Haida Nation has opted not to take a formal position or consider any compensation for LNG without ensuring that the interests of the people at the source of the LNG are taken care of, and in this spirit the Haida Nation has offered political support to the people of Treaty 8. President Peter Lantin and Vice-president Trevor Russ have since made two visits to northeastern BC. “It would be irresponsible for us to take a position without understanding the effects on the people most affected,” said Peter Lantin, President of the Haida Nation. Last week, Chief Gale brought FNFN’s story to the CHN as well as to the public in sessions held in Massett and Skidegate. “Their story is of a people and landscape being overrun by natural gas exploration and extraction and less-than honourable dealings from the provincial government,” said Trevor Russ, Vice- president of the CHN.

Conventional oil and gas has been extracted from Treaty 8 territories in BC for many years and FNFN has agreements with BC regarding oil and gas activity. FNFN people work in the oil and gas industry and there are economic benefits that come with the industry. The advent of unconventional shale gas, however, threatens to increase the pace and scale of the industry to unacceptable levels.

Chief Gale stated that while much of the lands have already been disturbed, her people still use and rely on the lands that remain for their cultural and spiritual well-being. If left unchecked, there could be no land available for the traditional and natural life in a few short years. “It is our responsibility to look after our lands and waters,” said Chief Gale. “We know that there is no government or industry who cares the way we care”.

Shale gas extraction relies on fracking, the controversial method of shattering rock to release natural gas using great volumes of water. Water taken from rivers, lakes and streams is mixed with toxic chemicals and is rendered unusable after utilization in the production process. Shale gas extraction also creates a checkerboard of well sites and a spider web of roads, pipelines and seismic lines across the landscape. Once the gas is extracted, dozens of processing plants strip the gas of CO2, methane and H2S and emit hundreds of thousands of tonnes of these greenhouse gases into the air each year. BC’s LNG Strategy and current agreements with First Nations fail to consider or address these impacts.

Lana Lowe, FNFN negotiator and Director of Lands and Resources, accompanied Chief Gale to Haida Gwaii to provide technical support and to learn about Haida models of governance and decision-making. “I believe that the land planning, stewardship and management structures that the Haida nation employ are world-class and definitely a model that we are contemplating,” said Lowe.

The window of opportunity to take these steps for the well-being of their lands is closing and FNFN will not let it slip by. In their presentations, Chief Gale and Lowe showed how in spite of BC’s statements that natural gas is “clean and green” the impacts to land, water, and air are deep and widespread. Chief Gale closed the presentation by advising that the FNFN story is not simply an indigenous peoples’ issue, it is an issue that all people have to be aware of: “Natural gas development is not just about money, it affects the land, the water and the atmosphere, and directly affects us all.

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Source: Council of the Haida Nation, June 10, 2014; Image: gov.bc