Read this story from the Toronto Star discussing the results of a recent freedom-of-information search which revealed special RCMP units have been spying on First Nations in BC who are organizing against the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline through their "unceded territory". (May 9, 2012)

The RCMP has been spying on a group of British Columbia First Nations whose vocal opposition to Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline has taken them to the company’s annual shareholders meeting in Toronto, according to documents obtained through an access-to-information request.

The documents show that a provincial RCMP unit has been closely tracking the potential for “acts of protest and civil disobedience” by the Yinka Dene Alliance, a coalition of northern B.C. First Nations who have been at the centre of resistance to Enbridge’s $5.5 billion pipeline proposal.

Their territory covers a quarter of the route of the pipeline, which would carry more than 500,000 barrels of oilsands crude from Alberta through pristine territory to Kitimat, B.C., for export by supertanker to Asia and other markets.

The revelations add ammunition to critics who have charged that the Harper government is waging a campaign to demonize legitimate opponents of resource developments like the Northern Gateway, by labelling them as radicals or including them in Canada’s “counter-terrorism” strategy.

Saik’uz First Nation Chief Jackie Thomas, a member of the Yinka Dene Alliance who made a cross-country trip on the “Freedom Train” to protest in Toronto against the pipeline on Wednesday, said she has had suspicions for some time about RCMP surveillance.

“We’ve always been peaceful, but this is how they try to paint us as the enemy,” said Thomas, a grandmother and mother of four concerned that an oil spill could destroy the lands she hunts and fishes on with many of her community members.

“The federal government seems to be using all its arms to push through this project against the will of anyone who opposes it, but we won’t be deterred. It is not a crime to defend our land and waters from a tarsands pipeline and to make the future safe for our grandkids.”

According to the documents, the RCMP unit gathered intelligence from unspecified “industry reports,” newspapers and websites, and Facebook and Flickr photo accounts.

They also appear to have monitored private meetings, including one between First Nations and environmental organizations held in Fraser Lake, B.C., at the end of November, which Thomas says was not announced publicly.

The meeting’s purpose was “to strengthen the alliance between First Nations and environmental groups opposing Enbridge,” an intelligence report from December states.

Enbridge declined to comment about whether it has been exchanging information with the RCMP.

The monthly intelligence reports note that the oil company “will experience increasingly intense protest activity due to the environmental sensitivity of the Northern Gateway path, combined with the fact that the territory has never been ceded to the Crown by First Nations in B.C.”

The pipeline would cross more than 700 rivers and streams, whose abundance of fish has spawned an economy integral to the region, and three vital watersheds: the Mackenzie, the Fraser and the Skeena.

More than 100 First Nations have banned an Enbridge pipeline from their territories, declaring “we will not allow our fish, animals, plants, people and ways of life to be placed at risk.”

An intelligence report notes that the Yinka Dene Alliance will show an “increasing propensity and likelihood of utilizing blockades and confrontation to deter industry from accessing disputed territory.”

With opposition growing among the B.C. population, including NDP leader Adrian Dix, likely the next premier, Enbridge will face an uphill battle to build the pipeline.

As previously reported in the Star, a national RCMP surveillance program monitoring First Nations that ran between 2007 and 2010 shared similar intelligence reports about First Nations with the private sector, including energy companies.

Read full article: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1175824--rcmp-spied-on-b-c-natives-protesting-pipeline-plan-documents-show

Read this article from the Vancouver Sun on a motion filed at Enbridge's AGM in Toronto this week demanding the company answer to mounting concerns over First Nations opposition to the company's controversial proposed Northern Gateway pipelines. (May 9, 2012)

NEI Investments' Ethical Funds has filed a motion to be voted on at Enbridge's annual general meeting in Toronto Wednesday, asking the company to address the risks associated with first nations' opposition to their proposed pipeline.

The $5-billion Enbridge Northern Gateway oil pipe-line project would transport oil from Alberta's oilsands to Kitimat, where it would be loaded on tankers and shipped around the world. The legal, operational and reputational risks cited by Ethical Funds include a possible lengthy court battle, delays from pro-tests or blockades and potential damage to Enbridge's reputation, NEI Investments said in their proxy alert to shareholders.

" ... [I]f the company cannot provide a compelling rationale that refutes the risks that we've identified, then the prudent course of action would be to put the project on hold," said Jamie Bonham, man-ager, extractives, research and engagement at NEI Investments, the parent company of Ethical Funds.

Enbridge is encouraging shareholders to vote against the motion because they are making good progress in their negotiations with first nations along the proposed pipeline route and think the opposition is overstated, said Todd Nogier, Enbridge Northern Gateway spokesman.

"We have solid support of first nations for the proposal," Nogier said. "We've been consulting with first nations for years. Nogier said that many of the first nations with land or land claims along the route have agreed to a 10-per-cent stake in the pipeline.

Read this story from The Canadian Press posted on The Tyee about a new report calling into question the aboriginal treaty process in BC. (May 7, 2012)

VICTORIA - Ottawa needs to consider a flexible exit strategy for British Columbia First Nations frustrated and debt-challenged by slow-moving treaty negotiations, says a special report prepared for federal Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan.

The 47-page report by former Campbell River, B.C., mayor James Lornie, appointed Duncan's special B.C. treaty representative last year, states First Nations treaty negotiations debt now tops $420 million, which is insurmountable and an unsustainable barrier to reaching treaties.

The report doesn't suggest dumping the treaty process after more than 20 years of negotiations, but states First Nations need the option to leave the table without feeling intense pressure to pay off debts and with nothing to show after years of talks.

First Nations should also be allowed to return to negotiations at a later date, it adds.

"I consider that the single most important response that the federal government can make is to re-commit to treaty-making as a federal priority, and to commit to that priority at every level of the federal system," stated Lornie in the report.

Read more: http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Aboriginal-Affairs/2012/05/07/BC_Treaty_Talks/

Watch this video from CTV on the growing opposition amongst First Nations who call the Burrard Inlet home to KinderMorgan's massive planned expansion of an existing Tar Sands pipeline and tanker traffic through Vancouver's waters. (Jan 11, 2012)

Watch video: http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120110/bc_kinder_morgan_pipeline_plan_120110/20120110?hub=BritishColumbia

 

Rafe gives Christy some advice - like keep charging the HST, ignore public and First Nations anger over fish farms, private power, pipelines and tankers: "I have good news for our premier. If what I’m about to say is wrong, you have nothing to worry about. You see, Premier, I have this radical notion that the mood of the voter has changed – you evidently don’t, making it obvious (sorry to talk as if you are a slow learner) that if you just paddle along, down the happy old stream, why the voters, so afraid of the bad old NDP, will put you right back in government in 2013."

Read this blistering response in the Terrace Daily News from former Coastal First Nations president Gerald Amos to the attacks being levied by Ottawa and oil lobby groups of foreign intervention in First Nations and environmental groups' opposition to Enbridge. (Jan 8, 2011)

Recently there has been a lot of criticism by supporters of the tar sands, and oil industry front groups, of Canadian non-profit organizations who have concerns regarding the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project, and the fact that they receive support from U.S. philanthropic foundations.

Ethical Oil.org, and Our Decsion.ca, oil industry front groups with close ties to the Prime Ministers office, recently launched attack ads in northern communities, where opposition to the Enbridge project is fiercest. This desperate attempt to change the minds and hearts of the hundreds of thousands of people who oppose this project, is driven by more than concern for our home and native land. It is being driven by greed and desperation.

The foreign interest groups Canadians should really be concerned about are the Chinese oil companies investing billions in the Tar Sands, and the multinational oil companies like Shell and British Petroleum, who are investing 200 million dollars trying to sell Canadians on this astoundingly stupid idea.

Read more: http://www.terracedaily.ca/show9198a/NO_APOLOGY_FORTHCOMING?mid=574740