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Aboriginal to fight permits
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Paintball day for Fraser Lake kids
Sam Redding Omineca Express The Yinka Dene Alliance, has vowed to fight the B.C. government’s move which could allow Enbridge to temporarily enter First Nations territory and cut down trees for a land survey. If approved, the permits would allow Enbridge to occupy three sites within Nak’azdli territory for a few days according to a letter written by a First Nations relations officer. “The reason we were very strong in our response is because Enbridge is trying to do permits and trying to create a momentum which we are bound to stop,” said Yinka Dene spokesperson Geraldine Thomas-Flurer. According to an email from Brennan Clarke in the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, the consideration of the permits is separate from the assessment of the entire project. Enbridge spokesperson, Ivan Giesbrecht, said that the permits are for information requested at the Joint Review Panel hearings and that, even though those hearings are closed, the data to be collected is still needed. He said that the permits are not pushing the Northern Gateway pipeline forward, that they are just assessments that must be completed. But the Yinka Dene, and therefore the Saik’uz and the Nak’azdli are committed to not allowing any Enbridge workers at all in their territories. Thomas-Flurer said that they will start fining any Enbridge people they find on their lands and that there is signage up in the territories saying as much. “They [Enbridge workers] will have to appear to our traditional governments and they will determine what restitution or fines will have to be paid,” she said. The permits would allow 361 cubic metres of brush and timber to be cut and nearly 400 metres of trail to be cleared. According to the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources the permits are for investigative
A paintball day organized by the District of Fraser Lake. Thirty-six people aged 11 to 19 enjoyed three hours of fun in Fraser Lake. Submitted
works only such as geotechnical surveys. They are not for construction of the pipeline. Thomas-Flurer knows that her organization is not equipped to fight a billion dollar company in court. She said that they are receiving hundreds of pages of referrals at a time, too many for a small, local government sized, organization of people. “They’re bombarding our offices,” said Thomas-Flurer. “Knowing that we’re facing a mult-million dollar company that probably has a person for every page and a lawyer for every page. We’re out-resourced in money and people.” They also have to keep up with the short deadlines to respond to the referrals. In an email from Clarke in the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations:
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“The Province is legally required to consider the permit applications, and upon acceptance of the applications is required to consult First Nations. Regardless of whether First Nations respond or not, the decision maker must consider all available, relevant information in making a decision to issue the permit or not…Consultation does not imply veto power.” So if the Yinka Dene fail to respond by a certain date there is a possibility that Enbridge could be allowed to proceed anyway. “Christy Clark has said that she has five conditions and we respect that she is not going to be bullied,” said Thomas-Flurer. “But one condition we feel hasn’t been addressed is Aboriginal rights and titles.” Continued on page 2
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