Issuu

Thursday, January 10, 2019 | Your community newspaper since 1916

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Supporters of Unist’ot’en camp held a second day of protests on the steps of the Prince George Law Courts on Wednesday morning.

Three things you may not know about the pipeline dispute Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca The arrest this week of those manning blockades against the Coastal GasLink pipeline project has created plenty of uproar but amid the controversy, there are some finer points worth keeping in mind as people wade their way through the debate. Here are three of them: • As it stands, it’s a temporary injunction: Coastal GasLink went to B.C. Supreme Court in mid-December seeking a permanent injunction against the blockaders’ action. But when the defendants argued they had not been given enough time to mount a fair defence, Justice Marguerite Church decided in favour of a temporary injunction.

It is in place until the end of May and will give Coastal GasLink time to carry out pre-construction work while also giving the blockaders time to work up legal arguments against allowing the project to continue. Coastal GasLink doesn’t plan on being back in the area until June 2021 giving plenty of time to take the matter back to the court. If, in the end, Coastal GasLink gets its injunction, it will have the authority – as enforced by the RCMP – to continue working on the project without interference. If the defendants win, Coastal GasLink counsel Kevin O’Callaghan told the court the project is dead. • The National Energy Board could force a review: Contrary to popular belief, the project has gone through a province-only environmental assessment review – the

reasoning being that the pipeline is entirely within B.C. borders. But is it? At the request of B.C. resident Mike Sawyer, the NEB is now considering whether the project falls within its jurisdiction. Sawyer argues that Coastal GasLink, meant to transport natural gas from the B.C. Peace to the LNG Canada liquified natural gas project proposed for Kitimat, would actually be linked into the Nova Gas Transmission Ltd. system that crosses the Alberta-B.C. border and therefore must be regulated by the federal government. Both Coastal GasLink and Nova Gas Transmission are owned by parent company TC Energy, formerly TransCanada Corp. The NEB has begun a process for taking in submissions on the matter that is to end

in March. Depending on the NEB’s decision, the project could become subject to another full-fledged review. • Unist’ot’en can still maintain a camp: The clan’s camp is actually located about a kilometre away from the Morice River bridge where a gate and checkpoint has been put in place. Coastal GasLink has said it only wants the ability to use the bridge to reach the area beyond. During submissions to the court, O’Callaghan said the project consists of eight sections and the most difficult part of the route is at the border of the two westernmost as it passes through the Coast mountains. He also maintained that the only way to reach that particular spot is via the Morice FSR. — with files from The Canadian Press

No easy answers in pipeline impasse, Horgan says Amy SMART Citizen news service HOUSTON — The arrest of 14 people who oppose a pipeline on the traditional territory of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation in British Columbia brought back difficult memories for Alexander Joseph. Sitting by a fire Wednesday outside a police roadblock near Houston, Joseph said the RCMP actions felt personal to him. “I come from residential (school), I come from the ‘60s Scoop,” said Joseph, 61. “It feels like the same thing is happening over and over again. The RCMP and the government coming in, taking away us, from our own culture, our own nature. And

Today’s Weather Hi -3° Low -5° See page 2 for more details and short-term forecasts

that’s not right.” The police roadblock stopped access to a logging road that leads to a gate erected years ago by the Unist’ot’en house group, which is part of one of the five clans that make up the Wet’suwet’en First Nation. On Monday, 14 people were arrested after the Mounties took apart a different gate that blocked access to an area where Coastal GasLink wants to build a natural gas pipeline. Joseph is a member of the Lake Babine First Nation more than 100 kilometres away, but he said he wants to show solidarity with other Indigenous people who feel threatened on their land. “I’ve got so much anger right

LOCAL HOROSCOPE OPINION SCIENCE NEWS SPORTS

1-5 2 6 7 8 9-11

MONEY A&E COMICS CROSSWORD WORKLIFE CLASSIFIEDS

HORGAN now, I want to stay here until this is resolved in a positive way,”

12 13-14 14 14 15 17-20

Joseph said. Monday’s arrests were made as the RCMP enforced a court injunction against members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation who oppose the pipeline by preventing access to the area where the pipeline is planned. The Coastal GasLink pipeline would run through the Wet’suwet’en territory to Kitimat, B.C., where LNG Canada is building a $40-billion export facility. TC Energy, formerly TransCanada Corp., says it has signed agreements with the elected councils of all 20 First Nations along the path, including the Wet’suwet’en. However, members of the First Nation opposing the pipeline

Trudeau backs LNG pipeline

www.pgcitizen.ca

NEWS 8

say the company failed to get consent from its five house chiefs, who are hereditary rather than elected. They argue the elected council only has jurisdiction over the reserve, which is a much smaller area than the 22,000 square kilometres that comprise the Wet’suwet’ens traditional territory. Premier John Horgan said when plans for the LNG export facility were announced in October the B.C. government concluded all the conditions for the project to proceed had been met. “All nations, from wellhead to waterline, have signed impact benefit agreements,” he told a news conference in Victoria. — see ‘WE NEED, page 3

Newsstand $2.00 incl. tax Home Delivered 95¢/day

58307

00200