Indigenous Canadians take leading role in battle against TAR SANDS pipeline

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
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Indigenous Canadians take leading role in battle against tar sands pipeline

Chief Na’Moks stood in the dark of a small smokehouse nestled in the Coast range of British Columbia. Hanging above him were nearly a thousand fish which glinted over the fire below.

“For us, it’s one of the most highly prized commodities that we have,” he said, pulling one of the glistening candlefish off the rack. “People don’t get why we want to keep what we have. We don’t want anything from anyone. We just want to keep what we have.”

Not so long ago, the chief’s ancestors traded fish oil along the grease trails up and down the coast of British Columbia. Today, however, Chief Na’Moks and many other First Nations leaders are at the forefront of a struggle against a very different kind of oil business: Canada’s largest proposed tar sands pipeline, the Northern Gateway.

It is the country’s environmental battle of the decade, uniting a wide variety of citizens’ groups against the billions of dollars of investment by oil companies and millions in secret funding from the government. First proposed in 2004, the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline was planned for a 731-mile (1,177km) stretch from the center of Alberta to the coast of British Columbia.

The plan was to carry diluted bitumen from the tar sands, across hundreds of waterways, over two major mountain ranges and through some of the wildest country in North America. It was approved, with 209 conditions, in June of 2014.

Environmental groups, citizen activists and First Nations have used everything from lawsuits to old-fashioned civil disobedience to battle the project – and so far they have been successful. No mean feat, considering that Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper took office in 2006 pledging to make the country into an “energy superpower”.

Indigenous Canadians take leading role in battle against tar sands pipeline | World news | The Guardian
 

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
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We can always count on Flossy to start new threads on old topics. What is your count up to now, Floss?
 

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
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You don't know what the tar sands are?

 

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
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454
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Oilsands makes them sound like a good thing.

Tar sands are the proper term.

 

damngrumpy

Executive Branch Member
Mar 16, 2005
9,949
21
38
kelowna bc
Yes it looks like hell and is an eye sore. Now it could be said the same for the
above ground mining in parts of Europe. It is not what it looks like right now it
is a question of what will it look like after reclamation.
I am not against the oil sands or tar sands i am against leaving a mess behind.
I am not against pipelines just against this one for two reasons one its the
company in charge and secondly I think we should have an east west line and
use the stuff ourselves giving Canadian companies an edge screw international
agreements. The bit we would export would be at hugely beneficial prices for
Canadian companies and the Canadian economy. For those about to be critical
yes I am an economic nationalist. Canada looking after Canadians first period.
 

PoliticalNick

The Troll Bashing Troll
Mar 8, 2011
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Edson, AB
Yes it looks like hell and is an eye sore. Now it could be said the same for the
above ground mining in parts of Europe. It is not what it looks like right now it
is a question of what will it look like after reclamation.
I am not against the oil sands or tar sands i am against leaving a mess behind.
I am not against pipelines just against this one for two reasons one its the
company in charge and secondly I think we should have an east west line and
use the stuff ourselves giving Canadian companies an edge screw international
agreements. The bit we would export would be at hugely beneficial prices for
Canadian companies and the Canadian economy. For those about to be critical
yes I am an economic nationalist. Canada looking after Canadians first period.

After reclaimation...


 

captain morgan

Hall of Fame Member
Mar 28, 2009
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A Mouse Once Bit My Sister
Yes it looks like hell and is an eye sore.

Unlike the clear-cutting in BC... A national treasure to be sure



Ahhh, breath taking

Now it could be said the same for the
above ground mining in parts of Europe.

Europe?... What about your province?


Beauuuuuu-ti-ful



It is not what it looks like right now it
is a question of what will it look like after reclamation.


See Nick's image


I think we should have an east west line and
use the stuff ourselves giving Canadian companies an edge screw international
agreements.

Ummm, Ab to BC is East to West
 

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
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Let me see, clearcutting is more like wildfire, and trees and bushes grow back. Forest companies have decided it is wise to replant. And the land around Brenda Mines is reclaimed. etc. It is not all bad over here. lol
 

Jinentonix

Hall of Fame Member
Sep 6, 2015
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Oilsands makes them sound like a good thing.

Tar sands are the proper term.
Uhhh no, not it's not. Tar is a distillate. You don't get oil from tar, you get tar from oil (and other resources) Same with the Le Brea Tar pits in LA. That ain't tar, it's actually asphalt. "Tar sands" is only a "proper" term among tree hugging idiots to make them sound much worse than they actually are.
If you really want to get technical, the correct term would be "bitumen sands".
 

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
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Nakusp, BC
Doesn't matter what you call them, they still look like the azzhole of the world and its suffering from a.n.a.l leakage.
 

skookumchuck

Council Member
Jan 19, 2012
2,467
0
36
Van Isle
Oilsands makes them sound like a good thing.

Tar sands are the proper term.


Have you looked at a photo of a major city lately, how about thousands of miles of grain land? No harm done there right? Ya need to take away all the white mans goodies and leave that poor chief alone. He would be in real trouble if it was someone with actual intelligence he was talking (whining) to.
 

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
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One thing the pictures don't show is the God-awful stench of the tar sands.