The Pipeline Story is Changing

You may have heard about the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline extension in the news recently.  Although the federal government supports the extension of the pipeline and the Alberta provincial government wants it to proceed so that it can sell Alberta oil from the BC coastline, many people in British Columbia are opposed.

First Nations and environmentalists have been fighting against what they see as a potential environmental disaster and they have been joined by the new BC provincial government.

According to an email from RAVEN (Respecting Aboriginal Views and Environmental Needs) who fundraise for legal challenges to corporations who threaten the environment, “Grand Chief Stewart Philip blockaded Kinder Morgan’s tank farm Saturday April 9.  The company chose not to call the police.  On Sunday, executives in Houston announced they were halting spending on Kinder Morgan Canada’s pipeline and tanker project.”

In the past Philip has been arrested for such actions but this time a new story is being told.  You can hear Philip speaking about this here: 

On the Coast Protectors website which is hosted by the Union of BC Indian 

Chiefs, they call on their friends and allies to stand with them to defend their land, their water and their air from Kinder Morgan’s pipeline and tanker project.

The Coast Protectors cite the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).  After nearly thirty years of work, Indigenous peoples from around the world had this declaration presented to the member countries of the United Nations in 2007.  It was adopted by 144 countries.  Eleven countries abstained and four voted against it (United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand).  However, in May, 2016 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent Minister Carolyn Bennett to remove Canada’s objector status from this declaration.  If you haven’t read this important document you can get the pdf version here. 

UNDRIP secures Indigenous peoples’ rights to self determination. Here are two quotes from the declaration:

Recognizing the urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights of indigenous peoples which derive from their political, economic and social structures and from their cultures, spiritual traditions, histories and philosophies, especially their rights to their lands, territories and resources.

Article 29 1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the conservation and protection of the environment and the productive capacity of their lands or territories and resources. States shall establish and implement assistance programmes for indigenous peoples for such conservation and protection, without discrimination. 2. States shall take effective measures to ensure that no storage or disposal of hazardous materials shall take place in the lands or territories of indigenous peoples without their free, prior and informed consent.

Now that Canada has signed on to this declaration this international standard for the rights of Indigenous peoples has to be taken into account.  This will change the story.  But as we know, it takes work and political will to have these rights respected.

Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything, social activist and filmmaker  was present for this blockade.  You can see her views on how this new story is unfolding here.

  

 “Now is the time to stand beside Indigenous people in support of our timeless struggle to defend Mother Earth.  There is a battle being waged across the globe by Indigenous peoples and their allies demanding a safe, healthy world for future generations.  This is about water versus oil an life versus death, and ultimately, survival versus extinction.”    Grand Chief Stewart Philip