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JANUARY 2014 www.pgfreepress.com | newsline: 250.564.0005
BCNE:
Alex Huber takes over president’s role A11
Caroline ROSS/Special to Big North The Ness Lake Bible Camp’s annual Polar Bear Dip on January 1 wasn’t fir the faint of heart. There was a good turnout for the annual event, which is a fundraiser for the camp.
Pipeline unites First Nations Bill Phillips editor@pgfreepress.com The Joint Review Panel’s conditional approval of the Northern Gateway pipeline has certainly brought First Nations together. The tough part for Enbridge, though, is that it hasn’t brought them together to endorse the project. “If we look at the First Nations of the North, and even the province, there’s quite a solidarity on this issue,” says Ross Hoffman, Associate Professor of First Nations Studies at UNBC. “It’s a solidarity that I haven’t seen in many, many years … It’s been a long time since we’ve seen pretty well every leader in this province who represents a community, or a nation, standing together on something.” Hoffman says he expects the issue will end up in the courts, which may serve to unite First Nations communities even more and bring to a head the issues around land claims in B.C. “It’s unfinished business, in the sense that when Brit-
ish Columbia became a province, the federal governneed to deal with this matter and negotiation was the ment was stating to them they need to deal with the recommendation,” he says, adding it’s not that attempts aboriginal land question,” he says. “The province rehaven’t been made but “it needs to be a major focus.” fused. That’s why we’re in this place today where there’s Enbridge has made attempts to reach agreements with 20 years of treaty negotiations with not a great deal of First Nations, giving part ownership of the project to progress.” bands that sign on. And the province, in dealing A good portion of the Northern Gateway with mines and other development, has develpipeline will go through un-ceded territory. oped revenue-sharing plans with First Nations. Hoffman says the federal government Hoffman, however, says these types of plans should have put more energy into resolving aren’t the solution. the land claims issue, knowing that issues “I don’t believe it’s a corporate responsibility,” such as the Northern Gateway pipeline were he says. “I think negotiated deals with corporalooming on the horizon. tions are a way to avoid the more lengthy, ongo“I think they really dropped the ball on ing, positive solutions,” he says. “Those deals this one,” he says. “This could have been part corporations make with individual nations can of that process.” be divisive.” Even with landmark cases such as Calder He says it is a political, legal matter that needs in 1973 and Delgamuukw in 1997, there was UNBC to be addressed at that level first. an urging, by the courts, to negotiate treaties He adds that First Nations are not against ROSS HOFFMAN rather than let the courts decide. economic development. “There’s another example of where the message went “They want to be involved in the discussion, in a really to the federal and provincial governments, saying you meaningful way,” he says.
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