| B.C. Groups & Eight First Nations Challenge Pipeline | 9 October 15 |
Eight First Nations, four environmental groups, and one union group are presenting their challenges to the Federal Court of Appeal to underscore why the court should revoke Ottawa's approval of the controversial project. The concerns range from protecting salmon spawning grounds, to First Nations lands rights, to the risks associated with increasing tanker traffic on the B.C. coast. "One oil spill would devastate thousands of years of dependence on the sea," Gitxaala Chief Clifford White said Thursday before proceedings began. Lawyer Cheryl Sharvit told the Federal Court of Appeal in Vancouver that the Nadleh Whut'en and Nak'azdli are not declaring the right to veto resource projects on traditional territories in British Columbia's Central Interior. Sharvit said the bands' asserted authority to govern their lands should have at least been considered by the Crown during consultations on the $7-billion pipeline proposal by Enbridge. "The scale of the potential harm from Northern Gateway in their territory is unprecedented. They have never faced a risk this great, from their perspective, from a single project," Sharvit said. Sharvit said the Crown's refusal to discuss governance rights with the First Nations "does serious damage to the goal of reconciliation and protection of aboriginal rights."
View October 8, 2015 Alternatives Journal article |
|
 Print version |
Top |
