While it may just be the subject of political gamesmanship in Ottawa, for representatives of B.C.’s First Nations, a pipeline built without consultation challenges the sanctity of their territory, their way of life and their economic livelihood.
On Tuesday, federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre introduced a motion in the House of Commons supporting the construction of a B.C. oil pipeline in an apparent attempt to use an agreement signed by the prime minister and Alberta to divide the Liberal caucus.
Despite the motion being doomed to failure, representatives from the First Nations whose territories would be impacted travelled all the way to Ottawa from Northwest B.C. to make their voices heard.
“Any of these conversations happening out here in Ottawa, without us, without us being part of it, we take it very seriously,” Haida Nation President Jason Alsop, also known as Gaagwiis, said. Alsop called for all MPs to oppose the motion.
The Conservative motion — defeated in the House of Commons on Tuesday — uses language lifted from a memorandum of understanding signed on Nov. 27 by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith committing the sides to work toward the construction of a new oil pipeline to B.C.’s coast.
The memorandum includes a pledge to exempt an approved project from a ban on heavy oil tankers docking on B.C.’s north coast. This ban has been in place in law since 2019, but has existed in some form for decades.
Coastal First Nations are opposed to lifting the ban, and were not consulted before the memorandum was signed. Neither was the B.C. government.
Alsop called this “disrespectful” and warned of the well-known dangers of allowing oil tankers through the Hecate Strait between Haida Gwaii and the mainland. Transporting oil through this area will never be without risk, he said.
“Overall, it seemed like an approach that had left us out of it, which left that feeling of disrespect for the nations, the title and rights holders, as well as the province of British Columbia,” Alsop said.
B.C. Energy and Climate Solutions Minister Adrian Dix said the situation is “just gameplay” between the parties in Ottawa.
Dix met with federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson on the issue after the memorandum was signed, but said at this time he is focused on “real projects.”
“Our focus is very much on other things,” he said, adding, “I don’t expect that to change very much.”
Christine Smith-Martin, the CEO of the Coastal First Nations alliance, said talks are underway to arrange a January meeting with the prime minister and senior government officials on alliance territory to discuss the pipeline and tanker ban.
“We’re working with the prime minister’s office right now to solidify the planning of that meeting,” she said.
Smith and Alsop acknowledged the difficult economic times facing Canada and the need to boost the economy. But they do not want to risk the environmental destruction of an oil spill.
They also say they do not want to disrupt the “fragile balance” achieved through years of reconciliation work by the province and the federal government.
“If a project is pushed ahead by the feds and B.C., it would disrupt some of that trust in those relationships that have been hard-earned and worked on over many, many years,” Alsop said.
Dix put this in the context of the North Coast Transmission Line project, an electrical line planned to stretch across northern B.C.
“We’ve had well over 300 meetings with First Nations on that project,” he said.
He called the memorandum on the oil pipeline, on the other hand, a “political enterprise” and said it does not make financial sense when you can upgrade the existing pipeline to Vancouver by optimizing the flow.
“There are dramatically cheaper alternatives here,” Dix said. “That’s why this particular project is not going to succeed.”