Kelly Lake Cree Nation Denounces Pipeline Bombings
On October 17th, the Kelly Lake Cree Nation released a statement (below) denouncing the recent attempts to sabotage a nearby gas pipeline in northeast British Columbia.
On October 11th and 16th there were two separate explosions directed at the pipeline, which is owned by the Calgary-based EnCana corporation.
Neither explosion caused any serious damage to the pipeline, however the second one created a small rupture that forced its temporary closure. As root force explains, "workers had been on high alert since the first incident, [so] they discovered the leak before much of the gas... could escape or affect nearby communities."
Six days ago there was a third explosion at the pipeline, which caused a second rupture. Once again the pipeline was closed and repaired.
A word to the uninformed
Following the discovery of the second rupture, a company spokesperson said there was "very minimal damage" to the pipeline and no cause for alarm. Nevertheless, it is important to understand what the local communities could have - and may still be faced with. The pipeline carries "sour gas," a natural gas that contains high concentrations of the odorless and toxic compound Hydrogen sulfide.
Hydrogen sulfide occurs naturally in the environment as well as in our bodies, so it's harmless under normal circumstances. However, too much exposure to the toxic compound can prove fatal.
Its effect on the human body resembles that of Hydrogen cyanide, which, as you may already know, is listed as one of the world's chemical warfare agents. Low level exposure to Hydrogen sulfide can result in nausea, shortness of breath, eye irritation and fluid in the lungs. Exposure to high concentrations can cause death. The compound essentially deprives the human body of its ability to process oxygen -- and it does so quietly.
That said, EnCana is undoubtedly monitoring the levels of Hydrogen sulfide around the pipeline. If the levels begin to climb (or skyrocket as a result of an explosion) an emergency evacuation procedure would be set in motion.
Blame the Indian
There's a lot of 'speculation' coming from non-natives and the media about who's behind these incidents. For the most part they are blaming the easy red target, the Kelly Lake Cree.
It's true that the First Nation has been protesting against the company over a number of concerns, including matters of financial compensation and health and safety issues. However, by the same logic and reasoning non-natives could just as well be responsible for it. After all, there were non-natives taking part in the protests too!
Furthermore, all the protests have been peaceful. Even when Kelly Lake members set up a roadblock last June, and were faced with "angry and dangerous" non-native Canadians who "blasted through" with their cars, nearly running over four people---the First Nation remained peaceful.
Adding more fuel to blame the Cree Nation, an 'unrecognized band' according to the federal Government, there was an anonymous letter sent out before the first bomb went off. The letter warned the company to shut down its operation and leave the region, stating in part: "We will not negotiate with terrorists, which you are as you keep on endangering our families with crazy expansion of deadly gas wells in our homelands."
The statement clearly implicates someone from the Kelly Lake Cree — but ,again, it could have just as easily been authored by a non-native.
If there's any doubt in your mind about this possibility, just think of all the times that non-natives (and again, the media) blamed members of the Six Nations for sabotage around Caledonia, Ontario.
Almost all of those incidents later turned out to have been led by non-natives.
It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the history was repeating itself here, especially with the specter of racism on the rise as it is in Canada.
Meanwhile, the Kelly Lake Cree Nation maintains that they’re not the ones to blame.
Encana Explosion Media Release - Updated October 17th 2008
As’in’a’wa’chi Ni’yaw Traditional Territory (Kelly Lake) – As a community we are
of course frightened and concerned regarding the series of atrocities that occurred within this area this past week. Through media reports, it is my understanding the two serious incidents occurred on subsidiary lines which did not include the mainline short of an H2S leak.
Our people are living with anxiety and are uneasy with the unknown of whether
there may be further destruction that may cause a fatal blow-out. The citizens who live in the area, who are working with pipelines, trappers and hunters are on high alert. There continues to be extreme heightened awareness regarding human safety and who would do such a thing to endanger the lives to people in the area and to our community? What has come to my attention regarding some negative comments made indirectly through local media which mentions the proximity of the explosions to the Kelly Lake community.
We wish to reassure the Public that we do not support illegal activity or unlawful acts of violence that would involve or endanger the lives of people. I can assure you the citizens of Kelly Lake would never be involved in such actions. Any unlawful act is not restricted to any particular race, color, creed or political motivation. There is no defense for people who choose to go against the law. Our only concern is that the media does not give a negative reflection related to Kelly Lake, to the public.
It's irrational to society when people create meaningless labels intended only to incite irrational emotions and the media is used to place biases the public may find
personally disagreeable. As you know we have lived in this area since time immemorial and a majority of our families work in the oil and gas sector. Our first concern is that if any pipeline ruptures, the human, wildlife and environmental impacts would be devastating to all surrounding communities. We acknowledge that our community periodically has had differences in values but like other concerned Canadians this type of extreme activity of placing people’s lives in danger would not be tolerated.
As we have made all Industry groups aware during meetings we do face many challenges
regarding the health and safety of our community. This expression is brought out through the many meetings we have had with industry groups with regard to emergency response preparedness and evacuation planning for the citizens of Kelly Lake.
In terms of the community disaster drill that was held on our traditional lands this past summer, I want to assure you that at no time did my people threaten the safety of the public or industry. In fact a majority of the Public acknowledged the importance of working with First Nations people and stated that they have the same health and safety concerns in the Northeast part of the Province. There are other non-aboriginal people in the area who have witnessed the cumulative impacts of energy development in Northeast British Columbia. Engaging in any shocking and cruel act-that may endanger the lives of the Public- is not a way of life or teaching of our people. We are hard working tax-paying members of society who want the same as the average citizen of Canada. The health and safety of our country is paramount.
We are not opposed to development within our traditional lands and we believe that working with industry on all energy related matters will provide a voice for First Nations to look at the enormous opportunities and challenges ahead.
We have expressed our deep concerns on how large-scale projects in northeastern BC, not
only impact our Aboriginal Title and Rights but as well as the immediate and cumulative
environmental impacts of such proposals. We are the stewards of the lands that we continue to inhabit and as Canadians we should all be very mindful of our future generations’ environmental inheritance. We also know that it is of more important to work together on these vital issues. We do not believe in violence and I am not aware of any citizen of Kelly Lake who has ever engaged in acts of extreme violence.
We know that it’s not industry’s obligation to consult with First Nations and we want the public to know that we are proactively engaging the federal and provincial governments to ensure our voices are heard. This process is through legal and negotiated mechanisms that we are actively engaging in at this time.
We are concerned for Public safety, Encana and its employees and the terrible position we all have been placed in this past week. We sent a letter to Encana advising the same. On behalf of the citizens of Kelly Lake, we are watching out for unusual activity in the area. Should we observe anything, we will advise Encana and the R.C.M.P. We will be attending the town hall meeting in Tomslake, B.C. to find out further information regarding the support that our community also needs regarding the health and safety of our citizens. We are in support of the efforts of the RCMP and hope they will find the offenders soon, so they can be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law.
With respect,
Kwarakwante Cliff Calliou
Tribal Chief
Kelly Lake Cree First Nation
- About
- Spread the Word
The person who wrote will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law. Chief Calliou has never been linked to any criminal activity, does not have a police record and it sounds like some disgruntled member of society associated with native politics. This link will be forwarded to the RCMP in Dawson Creek for further investigation.
T.Glancy
it is sad when a community is divided. what is even sadder is when people feel inferior to others and put negative and untrue statements regarding chief calliou.
it is a fact that the woman who posted the above comments has a sister who was one of the suspects sending a bomb threatening letter.the accused “ian gladue”is also the great chief claire gauthiers nephew.im not one to throw stones,but we got to get some facts,the chief gauthier relatives have a long list of fraud charges and theft.its not alligations its a known fact with charges being laid.also how can claire be a cheif when he sold his self out to another reserve he is in fact a member of saulteau indian band.im curious to see where anyone,besides his family has gained from his leadership.im not throwing alligations,just the facts.
please refrain from untrue statements and only report the facts.. thank-you
Hmm? Well, I’m not going to step in to the fray here, and I’m not a position to know the facts, but I agree with you wholeheartedly, Brad. A community divided is a terrible thing. We all saw what it can do in Barriere lake last year.
It is better to focus on what everyone agrees on (the unacceptable and useless bombings!), rather than what we don’t.
Brad harris the facts about chief calliou are in fact true and who are you to point throw alligations around about claire gauthier and his family are you a close member to the community? probably not so keep your two cents to your self. claire has been a great leader in kellylake and works well with the oil companies and is well known in the oil field and provides jobs for many of the members of the community. as for Ian gladue there was nothing proven with him it was all alligations and nothing became of it. so would you kindly keep your rude *** comments two your self ….
Some people really need to get their facts straight. Ian Gladue is of no blood relation to Claire Gauthier, Ian’s mother was once in a common-law realtionship with Claire’s deceased brother, but Ian’s father was Kevin Wallan, no relation to Claire Gauthier. Secondly, the grounds for suspecting Claire’s sister in the bombings was the she happened to mail a letter the same day as the bomb threat letter was mailed. There was also 3 other people who happened to be in the post office at that time. As for the sexual predator assusations, I have no idea whether they are true or not, however just because someone has never been arrested does not make them innocent, natives have a VERY long history of enduring sexual abuse and not reporting it to the authorities. If people want to interview Cliff for anything involving Kelly Lake perhaps they should also make it known that he does not have the support of the whole community and can only speak for himself and his family.
As for Claire’s relatives being charged with fraud, since when is someone guilty for crimes that other family members have commited? If we are judging people based on family I guess that would make Cliff a woman beating rapist seeing as that is what his newphew Ian Gladue was charged with.
As of right now the community as a whole has no leadership, everyone has their own family members rallying around them, but not much outside support. Besides Cliff’s family his main supporters are from Moberly Lake, and I don’t know about anyone else but I would like to know what kind of a deal was made with them seeing as none of Kelly Lake’s goings on would affect them in anyway unles of course money was changing hands.Kelly Lake is suffering from “too many chiefs and not enough indians” so interview and support whomever you like just don’t make the assumption that they speak for anyone but themselves, I personally refuse to be a part of whatever Cliff Calliou has going on.
way back when the first election came about in Kelly Lake i was not working for,or had anything really to do with KL even though i am from there. My grandmother is Mary GLadue, my mother is Elizabeth Gladue (and i used to live there as a kid)my mother and i were (are)very poor at the time and heard of these elections going on in Kelly Lake and that everyone who had ties there should attend because this was going to be big FINALLY KL was going to be a reserve and that meant money homes jobs a start of a good life but guess what ?That line was only pitched to us by Cliff Calliou so we would vote for him and after he LOST he formed his own band which i am a sorry member me and my mom and sister,cause he BOUGHT my vote for 50 bucks and im sure to anyone else who was “outside” and i would say this in a court of law.and some years later when my moms deteriorating health started to slip and we needed to go to vancouver for her heart operation we needed money because we had no real health plan in place and bc health does cover 90 % of it does not cover our stay, and i asked Chief Gauthier and Cliff Calliou guess who helped us out? even tho KLCN boasts a 5 million a year revenue? well it was CHief Claire Gauthier not Clifford Calliou.to him i thank and not only that over the years many people have come to him in this kind of endeavour and Chief Claire Gauthier has always helped funerals weddings carpayments you name it people come to him for help because they know they will get it CAN ANYONE SAY THAT ABOUT CLIFFORD CALLIOU?id ont think so kelly lake is not my home anymore so i hope people there get it right and not entrust it to someone like Clifford Calliou
a word to the UNINFORMED: Chief Gauthier has always been there for his people.he has helped with everything ranging from funeral, weddings carpayments, health issues he has always helped even if you just needed a couple of bucks for a movie.!:)CAN YOU SAY THE SAME OF CLIFFORD CALLIOU?Self Proclaimed Chief Of CREE NATIONS?(joke)i dont think that you will find one person who is from Kelly Lake who can attest to this FACT outside his family?DONT WANT TO THROW STONES BUT everyone who knows or is from there can tell you the difference between the two people.Clifford Calliou is a joke, he cares for no one but himself and i dont want anything to do with him even tho i am on his BAND LIST and he better not be using me and my families head count to be geting money…
WE WERE stupid enough to sign up with him but the 50 bucks helped.
I have known both of these men over the years and each one is doing good things for the community in different aspects. It is not necessary to defame a person in the hopes of making the other look better.
In the end the truth will come out. The issue is regarding the bombings. We hope that all communities involved will do everything that they can to stop these violent acts from causing harm or even death.
The two individuals writing this blog need to get a job and get off your butt; you are the reason why society blames natives for having high rates of high school drop outs, poverty and incarceration. Your ranting shows that you are a complete embarrassment to native people. I travelled to your community last year and felt privileged to meet Chief Calliou and many honest, good and very welcoming kelly lake people. This type of harassment and defamation would not be tolerated on the REZ. I did a background check with some of your people at Kelly Lake; it is my understanding that you 2 individuals are boyfriend and girlfriend. I also did some background check with one of my Treaty 8 brothers who is a chief. It is my understanding that Claire and his family are members of the Saulteau Band. It doesn’t make sense how Claire can be a Chief-last time i checked..Saulteau band has elected a new chief already. Ask yourself this, are you proud of yourself and do you get anywhere walking around with anger and unintelligence. I suggest you go get educated or get a job. To be a leader, you need to lead by example. Your statements are spiteful and resentful and place a negative reflection on the community. As far as the rest of the world’s concerned, you don’t have any business to speak on behalf of the community. You are not a chief nor is Claire and nor are you a leader to speak on behalf of your people. If you don’t believe in something, keep it to yourself; the rest of us don’t want to hear your grovelling. You should be ashamed of the accusations you make especially on the internet. The law calls this criminal harassment. You are a humiliation to Indian people and you should be ashamed that your lack of intelligence shows in the way you conduct yourself. I hope your accusations are substantiated with some facts. It’s obvious you both will end up prime suspects for criminally harassing a high profile leader in BC. Nowadays criminal harassment is a serious crime.
Allison, my “Blame the indian” comment wasn’t directed at anyone from KL. It was directed at all the white Canadians (and the media) who are pointing their fingers at KL because they’re racist and assume that someone from KL is responsible. That’s why I mentioned Caledonia… The same thing happened there many times (and in the end, it turned out that white folks were behind it all).
As for Calliou, I only assume he’s Chief from the press release. If he really isn’t the Chief it wouldn’t suprise me in the least. I’m fully aware of the problems with leadership today.
Just to clarify, there’s only one person writing this blog (Me)
That said, I’m (reluctantly) going to shut down comments on this thread now. Both sides have had their say and It’s impossible to be constructive when emotions and personal opinions are allowed to overrule the truth.
Secondly, this is an internal issue, and one that cannot be resolved on the net.
Respectfully.