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CIBC: First Nations, lawsuits will block Enbridge for years
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Posted June 18, 2014 by Canadian Press in
Energy and Resources
A Vancouver rally against proposed pipelines earlier this year (Damien Gillis)
By Dene Moore, The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER – One of the biggest hurdles for the Northern Gateway project is one the company has never had the means to address.
Now that the project has received federal approval, the next phase of the pipeline fight will not focus on the Calgary pipeline company but on the government that many B.C. First Nations ultimately blame for the dispute.
More than a pipeline issue
Said Peter Lantin, president of the Haida Nation, Wednesday:
For us, it’s a rights and title discussion. It’s not necessarily about a pipeline.
The Crown has failed to resolve aboriginal rights and title in B.C. for generations, he said. Now, native communities are united for a sweeping legal challenge against the federal government approval, he said.
The expected legal challenge involves a coalition that includes all three major aboriginal organizations in the province: the pro-treaty First Nations Summit, the anti-treaty Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and the regional branch of the Assembly of First Nations, as well as dozens of individual bands.
They will meet in the coming weeks to decide on the course their case will take, Lantin said.
Lantin said the Haida recognize the importance of natural resource projects and the national interest, and he said they would be happy to have that conversation — about another project.
“There is no compromise. There is no mitigating measures that we could talk about that would satisfy or change the Haida position,” he said.
I don’t believe that after the fact we can somehow hit a reset button…The damage is done.
CIBC: First Nations, lawsuits will block Enbridge for years -The Common Sense CanadianThe Common Sense Canadian