Inside
WEDNESDAY, July 25, 2012
◆ Lace-making P. 12 ◆ Enbridge ammends plan P. 2
◆ Letters P. 6 ◆ Duz Cho wins award P. 9
PHONE: 996-8482 www.caledoniacourier.com
VOL. 35 NO. 21 $1.34 inc. GST
NEWS BRIEFS ER open dates New dates have been announced on which the Stuart Lake Hospital emergency room will now be open. The emergency room will be open: July 25 2 p.m. to July 26 5 a.m. July 26 8 a.m. to July 27 8 a.m. July 27 7 p.m.to July 30 8 a.m. July 31 8 p.m. to August 1 8 a.m. In addition, due to much needed vacation for the physician operating the Fort St. James Medical Clinic, the clinic will be closed on the following dates: August 3 to 7
Vandals hit Sowchea School During the night of Tuesday, June 26 or in the early morning of June 27, vandals broke two windows at Sowchea Elementary School. Two windows were broken on the northern side of the school after being struck by what appears to be fireworks. The damage was limited to the exterior of the building but could potentially have been much worse. This is the second incidence of vandalism at the school within a matter of months. Anyone with information relating to the incident please call the Fort St. James RCMP at 996-8269.
Opponents of the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Project stood alongside Highway 27 on July 19 while the Enbridge Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel was in town for community hearings to hear area residents’ oral statements. Ruth Lloyd Photo
Northern Gateway review hears from Fort St. James and area Ruth Lloyd Caledonia Courier Twenty-five people from both Fort St. James and Vanderhoof made oral statements to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel on July 19. Before and during the proceedings for the oral statements, citizens and some of the oral presenters were waving signs at passing traffic along Highway 27 near the Stuart River bridge. The Enbridge Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel community hearings took place in the Sowchea Elementary school gymnasium from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.. The speakers ranged in topic from the very personal to the more technical to the historical, but every single one spoke in opposition to the proposed Northern Gateway project. The three members of the review panel, whose job it is to listen to all the information
presented about the Northern Gateway Project and then either reject the project as proposed or approve it with or without conditions, have been travelling along the pipeline route and beyond to listen to oral statements. The Northern Gateway Project would see a twin pipeline built from northern Alberta across British Columbia to carry diluted bitumen to a port in Kitimat where it would be loaded onto tankers. The following are some excerpts from some of the speakers in order of their presentations, and the entire transcript will be available online, after the paper went to press at: http://gatewaypanel.review-examen.gc.ca/ clf-nsi/prtcptngprcss/hrng-eng. html Pete Erickson Erickson spoke about the seismic activity in the area and how this poses a threat to the pipeline’s integrity over time, called the economic benefits
a “flash of jobs” and said the creation of greenhouse gases by the pipeline’s construction and operation and its associated activities would offset benefits as well. The pipeline project would be “leaving a time-bomb within our community” and “would have an untold stress on our people.” “We are the people of this land,” he said. “We will always be the people of this land and we cannot under any circumstances, leave this land.” “No heavy crude pipeline, built by Enbridge or any other company will be allowed in Dakelh territory.” Jorgen Christensen Christensen described his fear of an oil spill during the long winters in the area, due to the problems this may cause to cleanup efforts and his concerns for Hecate Strait which the loaded tankers would be navigating. “Let’s slow down, leave
some for the coming generations.” Louise Bergener Bergener was critical of the review process itself. “I fear that this process is all about dollars,” she said. “I am concerned that the people who live in the north provide the pathway for a foreign investor to make value-added dollars from our oil instead of having those jobs at the source. I can understand that the government of Canada wants to diversify its markets, but that is no excuse for giving away potential in jobs or enabling the destruction of its land.” Dennis Cumberland “I am a salmon eater. I grew up on the banks of the Stuart River, Nakalcoh. I’m here to present a message, I want to speak on behalf of Chief Kwah.” “The salmon, the rivers and lakes, the ocean, are all one. The salmon unite the people, the wa-
ters and the land. For thousands of years the salmon have sustained us. Now you come along and say you have a better plan for us, for the people, the lakes, the ocean. A pipeline. Progress. Your plan shows your lack of respect for our traditions, for life itself.” “When I first heard of the Enbridge plan to cross the Stuart River less than three miles from Chief Kwah’s grave, I was shocked that it would even be considered.” “The great Chief Kwah at the end of his life broke with an old tradition of cremation, asking instead to be buried along the riverbank near the mouth of Nakalcoh to welcome and honour and protect the salmon forever.” “He drew his bow and sent an arrow into the future, today we are his arrow. We will protect and honour the salmon forever.” Continued on Page 3