First Nations’ support bolsters pipeline fight

The growing opposition to oilsands development and the expansion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline just got stronger.

This week, the Chiefs of Ontario, an organization that represents 133 chiefs, joined a nationwide treaty alliance that wants to put a stop to the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline and further development of the Athabasca tarsands.

This organization got its start during the opposition from First Nations people all across Canada to the eastern pipeline that would have transported crude oil across the country from Alberta to Saint John, New Brunswick.

The Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion is a nationwide alliance of First Nations. Prior to the support from the Chiefs of Ontario, there were about 150 First Nations in the alliance membership.

The pipeline issue is taking on a new dimension with the growing strength of the opposition coming from Indian Country. There are several issues; some are shared with the rest of those opposed to the pipeline expansion, and some are uniquely First Nations.

First the Indigenous communities on the coast are very concerned about the increase in tanker traffic and what that will do to the environment should there ever be a tanker accident. West coast First Nations rely on the rich food source from the sea that includes fish, shellfish and so on. A tanker spill could be catastrophic to their food source and way of life.

The interior First Nations have the same concerns about a pipeline leak in a river, stream or aquifer. Their water sources could be contaminated, and salmon spawning grounds could be destroyed.

But the First Nations take their opposition a step further and cite that the pipeline is crossing unceded land where title is still held by the First Nations. The First Nations in British Columbia have never signed a treaty with Canada. The colonists just moved in and claimed the land by right of discovery.

The doctrine of discovery has since been turned on its head following two important Supreme Court decisions. In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled in Delgamuukw that Aboriginal title consists of the right to exclusively use and occupy the land, including the right to choose how the land can be used, reasoning that Aboriginal title has an “inescapable economic component.”

In 2014 the Supreme Court ruled in the Tsilhqot’in decision that First Nations’ title to the land extended to their traditional territory and they had effective control of the land they occupied at the time of the assertion of European sovereignty.

This means that no development can go forward without the consent of the host First Nations. Since only the northeast section of British Columbia is covered by treaty and the Gateway pipeline does not pass through any treaty territory in British Columbia, the First Nations are holding the trump card.

Meanwhile, the Department of Indigenous Affairs is conducting treaty negotiations that are a sham exercise because they are aimed at reducing rights rather than making an honourable settlement. As for the First Nations, they reason that why should they negotiate when Supreme Court decisions are changing the landscape in their favour.

Unfortunately, the First Nations across Canada have never been serious partners in resource development. At best we are used as a labour source and at worst we are treated like bystanders who are in the way.

For generations we have seen the resources, both renewable and non-renewable, stripped from our land without even a share in resource revenue sharing. It’s no wonder our people are in opposition when there is no upside for us.

We are approaching a crisis with Kinder Morgan setting a deadline so they can begin work and the First Nations are beginning to occupy the proposed right of way. The federal government has seriously underestimated the depth of anger in Indian Country over the construction of this pipeline across traditional lands.

Opposition to the pipeline could also be a factor in the coming election for the AFN national chief. Candidates Sheila North and Russell Diabo have both put their support behind the pipeline opposition. The current chief, Perry Bellegarde, has been silent.

We could be in for a long, hot summer that makes the protest at Standing Rock look like a dress rehearsal.