Twenty years after historic Delgamuukw land claims case, pipeline divides Gitxsan Nation

Gitanmaax is a reserve in northern B.C. where Gitxsan members discovered confidential documents revealing that some hereditary chiefs had given their consent for the PRGT pipeline in exchange for money. Trevor Jang

Revelations that Delgamuukw is among chiefs who accepted money to support LNG development without consulting all members threaten to undermine landmark court victory

Trevor Jang, Discourse Media, February 7, 2017

Earl Muldon sits at his kitchen table surrounded by family, sipping coffee. His wife Shirley brings over a plate of cream cake topped with huckleberries. They’re hand-picked from the land surrounding his two-storey home in Gitanmaax, a village of about 800 people from the Gitxsan Nation in northwestern British Columbia, near the town of New Hazelton.

Northern Gateway will not appeal Federal Appeal Court decision blocking pipeline

The Federal Court of Appeal has overturned approval of Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline project because Ottawa failed to consult adequately with First Nations. (Alex Panetta/Canadian Press)

Court ruled Ottawa had not adequately consulted Indigenous peoples along project’s route

By Chris Hall, John Paul Tasker, CBC News, September 20, 2016

Northern Gateway will not appeal a recent Federal Court of Appeal decision that overturned Ottawa’s approval of the controversial pipeline project.

The court ruled in June that the federal government had not adequately consulted with Indigenous peoples who will be affected by the project, which is backed by the energy company Enbridge, and which would stretch from outside Edmonton to a marine terminal in Kitimat, B.C.

Haida strip two hereditary chiefs of titles for supporting Enbridge

Darin Swanson, head chief of the Yahgulaanaas/Janaas clan at the ceremony where two hereditary chiefs were stripped of their titles. Ernest Swanson, his nephew is to the left holding a staff. Mary Helmer / For PNG

by Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun, August 17, 2016

The extraordinary decision by a Haida clan to strip two of its hereditary chiefs of their titles for secretly supporting the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline is being closely watched by First Nations across Canada.

The rebuke, delivered last week in an elaborate ceremony witnessed by more than 500 people, came as the Haida Nation rejected what they say is a growing trend by companies to enlist the support of hereditary chiefs as a way of claiming broad First Nations support.

Ignoring First Nations concerns costs Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline

But environmentalists warn the battle is not over – with the B.C. pipeline project all but dead now there will be even more industry pressure to approve the Kinder Morgan and Energy East projects

by Adria Vasil, Now Toronto, July 5, 2016

Two down. Two to go. That’s the new rallying cry of pipeline foes after the Federal Court of Appeal overturned approval last week of Enbridge’s 1,177-kilometre Northern Gateway pipeline project through northern BC.

Eight First Nations, four environmental groups and the country’s largest private sector union, Unifor, launched a joint case against the controversial pipeline last fall after the project had been given a conditional green light by the Harper government. One of the conditions of that approval was that Enbridge conduct meaningful consultations with affected First Nations.

Northern Gateway pipeline approval overturned

Protest in Comox, BC, against Enbridge pipeline, 2012.

Federal Court of Appeal finds Canada failed to consult with First Nations on pipeline project

By Jason Proctor, CBC News, June 30, 2016

The Federal Court of Appeal has overturned approval of Enbridge’s controversial Northern Gateway project after finding Ottawa failed to properly consult the First Nations affected by the pipeline.

“We find that Canada offered only a brief, hurried and inadequate opportunity … to exchange and discuss information and to dialogue,” the ruling says.

“It would have taken Canada little time and little organizational effort to engage in meaningful dialogue on these and other subjects of prime importance to Aboriginal peoples. But this did not happen.”

B.C. government failed to properly consult First Nations on Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline, court rules

No Enbridge, art by Andy Everson, Kwakwaka’wakw.

Gitga’at celebrating ‘huge victory’ after court rules province failed in duty to consult

CBC News,  Jan 13, 2016

The B.C. Supreme court has ruled that the province “has breached the honour of the Crown by failing to consult” with the Gitga’at and other Coastal First Nations on the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline.

In 2014, the federal government approved the controversial pipeline that would bring Alberta oil to B.C.’s north coast.

Enbridge to decide next year on Northern Gateway pipeline

Protest in Comox, BC, against Enbridge pipeline, 2012.

Energy company not giving up on proposed pipeline, despite tanker ban

By Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press, Dec 3, 2015

Enbridge’s CEO says a decision on whether to build the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline across British Columbia may come in late 2016, though the company is not concerned with sticking to a certain timeline.

Al Monaco also says a ban on tanker traffic along B.C.’s north coast, made official by the new Trudeau Liberal government last month, does not mean Enbridge is giving up — even though many critics have said the ban effectively kills the project.

Judges reserve decision on whether to quash Northern Gateway pipeline approval

Graphic by Andy Everson, Kwakwaka’wakw.

By Geordon Omand, Vancouver Sun/Canadian Press, October 8, 2015
VANCOUVER — The fate of the Northern Gateway pipeline project is now in the hands of a trio of Federal Appeal Court judges who reserved their decision on whether to uphold or quash the government’s approval of the controversial project.

Over six days of legal arguments in Vancouver, the court heard the government didn’t get aboriginal consent or consider the impact on the environment when it approved the project, while proponents claimed a decision to overturn the pipeline approval would kill the project.

The government approved the $7-billion Enbridge (TSX:ENB) Northern Gateway project in June 2014 with 209 conditions, following the recommendations made by a review panel considering the environmental impacts of the interprovincial pipeline.

First Nations’ challenges of Northern Gateway pipeline to be heard in court

Members of the Public Safety Unit guard the site of the Enbridge hearing in Vancouver, Jan 24, 2013.

by Laura Kane, The Globe and Mail/Canadian Press, Sept 30, 2015

Multiple legal challenges aimed at overturning the federal government’s approval of Enbridge Inc. Northern Gateway pipeline plan will be heard starting Thursday.

The challenges are expected to bring new scrutiny to Ottawa’s environmental approval process and its responsibility to consult with aboriginal groups.

In the pipelines’ path: Canada’s First Nations lead resistance

Women warriors at a tire fire blockade on Hwy 11, Dec 2, 2013, during resistance to SWN exploratory work for fracking in Mi’kmaq territory (New Brunswick).

Christopher Curtis, Montreal Gazette, September 4, 2015

Serge Simon steps out of his truck, saunters across Route 148 and into the bushes.

He hops over a broken lath fence, landing in the shrubs on the other side of it. As he presses forward, Simon makes a show of quickly ducking, as though some wayward farmer just fired a rifle blast overhead.

“We’re trespassing,” says Simon, flashing a mischievous smile. “But the way I see it, this is Mohawk land anyway. If anyone sees us, maybe they’ll freak out and think the natives have come to take back their territory.”