Opposition grows after deal collapses
The collapse of a deal between Enbridge and the Gitxsan First Nation in Northern British Columbia to support the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline has intensified internal divisions and local opposition to the project.
“We are disappointed. It’s unfortunate, but we respect their decision,” said Paul Stanway, Enbridge’s communications manager on the Northern Gateway project.
“They wanted to have a closer look at the deal that Chief Elmer Derrick signed. We are still optimistic that a deal can be done. We are confident that negotiations can continue and we can sit down and talk about the situation.”
The Gitxsan Treaty Society (GTS) held a meeting on Jan. 17 and voted 28-8 to abandon a deal, which would have seen the Gitxsan community receive an equity stake in the $5.5-billion project.
The agreement was expected to deliver about $7 million in net profit to the Gitxsan people and provide a foundation for ongoing talks between the Gitxsan and Enbridge. “We have been talking to the Gitxsan for the last six or seven years and we are comfortable that we are speaking to the right people, and that they have the authority to negotiate this type of arrangement,” said Stanway.
“We are waiting for a letter from the Gitxsan lawyer to clarify this point.”
In sharp contrast to this view, others have argued that the Gitxsan Treaty Society and its chief negotiator, Elmer Derrick, didn’t have the authority to sign the deal with Enbridge on Dec. 2.
“The Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs have a right to discuss issues that are important, when it comes to the land, not some bureaucrats that are working with the government,” said Chief Simoigyet Dawamuuxw, Larry Patsy Gitxsan hereditary chief.
“The Gitxsan Treaty Society no longer speaks for the hereditary chiefs.”
According to Dawamuuxw, forty-two out of fifty-one hereditary chiefs signed a declaration on Dec. 5 that said the GTS doesn’t represent the Gitxsan people and should be shut down.
The main reason given for the declaration is that the GTS entered into the Enbridge agreement without consulting or getting the authorization of the Gitxsan people and their hereditary chiefs.
As a result, the Gitxsan clans have lost confidence in the Gitxsan Treaty Office and the Gitxsan Treaty Society to represent the best interests of the Gitxsan.
In addition, the hereditary chiefs were concerned that the agreement doesn’t follow Gitxsan law and would do irreparable damage to their solidarity with neighbouring First Nations, who are fighting to stop the pipeline. “The GTS staged the meeting and the vote so they could back away from the Enbridge deal,” said Chief Dawamuuxw.
“They sacrificed the Enbridge deal to make themselves look good and continue to control the community with money from the government treaty process. They are trying to sneak away from the deal, by putting the attention on the hereditary chiefs. But, we had already declared the Enbridge deal null and void on Dec. 5.”
After the Enbridge deal was signed, the Gitxsan immediately rejected the deal and protested in front of the Gitxsan Treaty Office.
They demanded the resignation of the chief negotiator and two other negotiators. The negotiators declined to step down because only the board has the authority to make this decision.
In response, the protestors boarded up the doors of the office in downtown Hazelton with plywood on Dec. 5 and are preventing GTS employees from entering the building.
In response, the GTS filed a notice of claim in BC Supreme Court on Dec. 14 for a permanent restraining injunction to stop the defendants from restricting access to the building.
The attempt by Enbridge to negotiate a deal through the GTS has served to increase the resolve of the hereditary chiefs. “We are totally against the Gateway project because there is too much environmental risk and no guarantee,” said Dawamuuxw.
“It is impossible to guarantee there will be no damage and we have too much at stake with fish, wildlife and the environment.”
The chief said that Enbridge records show the company has had a spill or a leak every week over the last 10 years.
This means about 650 leaks and spills have happened in the last decade.
The public hearings on the proposed Gateway Pipeline project started in Kitimat, B.C. earlier this month and will wrap up in Edmonton on Jan. 31. Once the hearings are complete, the panel will make a recommendation to the Government of Canada on whether the pipeline should be built.
A legal battle is already underway between the Gitxsan Treaty Society and other members of the Gitxsan over the implementation of the Gitxsan Alternative Governance Model in May 2008.
The case will be heard in BC Supreme Court in February 2012.
Opposition grows after deal collapses - Journal of Commerce