Last week, the Nadleh Whut’en First Nation welcomed their neighbors, the Carrier and Sekani First Nations, to an independent consultation about the impacts surrounding the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline.
The Nadleh invited the Carrier and Sekani to their territory, along with presenters from West Coast Environmental Law, the Pembina Institute, and the Office of the Wet’suwet’en to provide information about the environmental impacts of the project, as well as the environmental assessment and consultation process that the federal government has suggested.
The tanker traffic associated with the pipeline—a major concern for the Haida Nation—and the associated Tar Sands “Gigaproject” was also discussed.
The message coming out of the meeting is loud and clear: “Our Land is Not for Sale.”
“Our land has not been surrendered to the Crown,” explains Nadleh Whut’en Chief Larry Nooski, in a recent press statement. “Enbridge seems to think that all they need is approval from the federal government, but we want to be clear that this project will not proceed without the free, prior, and informed consent of our people.”
And “We stand behind the First Nations who are speaking out against the health and environmental impacts of the oil sands,” says Nadleh Hereditary Chief George George Jr: “we lend our hand in friendship and unity to the Fort Chipewyan and other First Nations affected by the oil sands.”
For more information, contact Chief Nooski at 250-690-7211
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