The president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs is reversing his previous opposition to the scrapped Northern Gateway pipeline project that would have created another route for AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 oil to get to the Pacific Ocean.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said Tuesday that while he B次元官网网址渞eally fought againstB次元官网网址� Northern GatewayB次元官网网址檚 construction before it was scuttled in 2016, that was a B次元官网网址渄ifferent timeB次元官网网址� and Canada now has B次元官网网址渘o choiceB次元官网网址� but to reconsider.
B次元官网网址淲e are staring into the abyss of uncertainty right now with climate change, the climate crisis and the American threat,B次元官网网址� Phillip said in a news conference ahead of a meeting with B.C. First Nations leaders and the provincial cabinet in Vancouver, highlighting the U.S. administration under President Donald Trump.
B次元官网网址淚 would suggest that if we donB次元官网网址檛 build that kind of infrastructure, Trump will B次元官网网址� and there will not be any consideration for the environment or the rule of law or anything along those lines.
B次元官网网址淚 think that we can do better. I think we need to do better.B次元官网网址�
PhillipB次元官网网址檚 comments came after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith suggested on social media that construction of the pipeline needs to B次元官网网址渋mmediately startB次元官网网址� to diversify the countryB次元官网网址檚 export markets, in light of TrumpB次元官网网址檚 threatened tariffs on Canadian exports.
Speaking with reporters virtually from Washington, D.C., Smith said the goal is to B次元官网网址渟top being so reliant on a single trading partner.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e got to take down internal trade barriers between Canadian provinces, start looking at how we can do major nation building projects to our East and West Coast, whether itB次元官网网址檚 Northern Gateway getting restarted in British Columbia or Energy East conversations getting started off the East Coast,B次元官网网址� she said.
Since the days where Phillip and others opposed the Northern Gateway project, a number of agreements that he described as B次元官网网址渁mazingB次元官网网址� between First Nations, governments and corporations on resource development have yielded B次元官网网址渃learly evidentB次元官网网址� benefits for Indigenous communities.
Prof. David Tindall, whoB次元官网网址檚 in the department of sociology at the University of British Columbia, said he found PhillipB次元官网网址檚 comments B次元官网网址渧ery surprising,B次元官网网址� given he was a B次元官网网址渃entral playerB次元官网网址� in the resistance against another major B.C. pipeline project, the Trans Mountain expansion between Alberta and the B.C. coast that was completed last year.
Tindall, whoB次元官网网址檚 research has focused on environmental movements, said the shift may signal the knock-on effects of TrumpB次元官网网址檚 presidency on CanadaB次元官网网址檚 oil and gas energy projects, especially if the federal Conservatives also emerge victorious in the next election expected this year.
While a number of factors could push projects such as the Northern Gateway toward revival, there are opposing factors that would cast equal doubt on when such a pipeline would be completed.
B次元官网网址淚 do think that there will be substantial resistance from some other provinces, to some extent at the political level, and to some extent in terms of civil society,B次元官网网址� Tindall said.
B次元官网网址淚 think in British Columbia there would be a lot of resistance. So, I think there would be, certainly, pretty wide-scale resistance amongst civil society groups, environmental groups and other groups B次元官网网址� (and) I suspect the current provincial government would not be supportive of that type of initiative.B次元官网网址�
Tindall also said there must also be a viable economic case for a corporation to take on the pipeline project, which must navigate what would likely be a series of court challenges from groups such as First Nations communities on the details of the project.
He noted that the federal Liberal government had to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline to make sure the project was completed.
Phillip was attending a gathering between B.C.B次元官网网址檚 cabinet and the provinceB次元官网网址檚 First Nations leaders in Vancouver on Tuesday, where co-ordinated approaches to TrumpB次元官网网址檚 tariff threats are expected to be a key topic of discussion.
First Nations leaders said they need to be at the table for any B次元官网网址淭eam CanadaB次元官网网址� approach to engaging with the Trump administration.
But the leaders, including Phillip, political executive of the First Nations Summit Chief Cheryl Casimer, and Regional Chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations Terry Teegee said no one has approached Indigenous communities about collaborating yet.
