They Sold the Ground Right Out from Under Them: BC Fights Its Indigenous People

NOTE: Contact info for financial and government backers of this invasion follows the article, along with a sample email/letter you can send.

 

When people talk about the “Wild West”, they’re usually talking about the American West and “cowboys and Indians”. But here in Canada, we had a Wild West too, complete with a gold rush. And we still do (not the gold rush part).  Instead of cowboys we have Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Mounties) although they’re rarely on horseback nowadays except for performing in the Musical Ride. Remind you of the cavalry in cowboy movies?

You have to understand, the RCMP are Canada’s all-purpose police. They can be militarised like soldiers to fight terrorists or be down-home cops subcontracted to small towns that don’t have their own police force. They can also be everything in between. Right now they are probably considering their next moves.That’s because last month, the world reacted in horror as it was revealed that RCMP were policing Indigenous resistors with “lethal overwatch” (snipers) and other disproportionate violence at this time last year.

What were the Indigenous folks resisting? A Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) pipeline being built through their unceded territory, disrupting their traplines, their healing centre and more. They had not consented to this invasion but big money was waved around and the Canadian Prime Minister and the British Columbia Premier were both waggling their metaphorical tushes like excited puppies.

The project (scroll past the photos to see timeline) was begun in 2012 under a previous government. According to the TC Energy timeline, BC Oil & Gas Commission approvals were received in 2016. A new BC government and premier were elected in 2017 and were expected to bring relief from what many perceived as a crooked predecessor government. Ha! The new premier – John Horgan — immediately broke election promises including the LNG pipeline. Final approval from the Environmental Assessment Office — including approval of the pipeline route that invades Unist’ot’en territory — was given in 2018 under Horgan’s government.

The story is complicated on two fronts. First, you have to understand that traditionally the Wet’suet’en people were governed by their hereditary chiefs. The settlers came along and forced them to elect band councils. Duties were divided between the two. Then you need to know that within the Wet’suet’en there are clans and within the clans, there are houses. The Unist’ot’en are part of the Dark House of the Gil Seyu Clan. See a diagram of this here.

The business side of the story is also complicated. LNG Canada is a joint venture among Shell, PETRONAS, PetroChina, Mitsubishi and KOGAS. These guys hired Transcanada (recently rechristened TC Energy), a multinational pipeline firm trading on the TSX and NYSE, to create and run Coastal GasLink. Coastal because the pipeline ends at the coast after travelling from the BC interior. Coastal GasLink went through all the hoops to get permits from the BC Oil & Gas Commission and the Environmental Assessment Office. Both of those are supposedly the responsibility of the Ministry of Energy, Mines & Environment, currently under Minister Michelle Mungall, one who faithfully repeats Horgan’s scripts. 

The problem was that Coastal GasLink was supposed to consult with the Indigenous folk on the land of the pipeline route. They only consulted with the band councils and thought that was good enough. The hereditary chiefs had steadfastly refused all pipelines. But they weren’t consulted. 

So Coastal GasLink was blockaded. The court granted Coastal GasLink an injunction and they invaded Unist’ot’en territory with militarised RCMP. That was a year ago. Both sides agreed on a safety protocol. 

It appears that there were at least two possible routes. A Member of Parliament from that region wondered why Coastal GasLink couldn’t detour around the Unist’ot’en camp. It is unclear whether Coastal GasLink ever considered this. 

But now the you-know-what hits the fan. This past November 2019, all members of the BC government, not just Horgan’s party, were congratulating themselves for legislating the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into law. Of course they didn’t mention it wasn’t retroactive: projects already in the works wouldn’t be affected. 

Meanwhile, TC Energy “monetized” (unloaded?) a 65% stake in Coastal GasLink to Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCO) and Kolberg Kravis Roberts (KKR). And a few days ago the Unist’ot’en, backed by Wet’suet’en hereditary chiefs, evicted Coastal GasLink from their land. Right after a second injunction was granted to Coastal GasLink. 

But there’s more.This time last year, the United Nations told BC to halt work on the Site C dam saying it was possibly violating international law as it displaced Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. A couple days ago the UN said work must stop not only on Site C, but also on the LNG pipeline and Prime Minister Trudeau’s pet, the TransMountain pipeline purchased a couple years ago from Texas-based Kinder Morgan. 

So the BC government should be well and truly embarrassed. The BC Human Rights Commissioner is calling on the Canadian government to stop eviction of the Wet’suet’en.  The historical lack of treaties (which Horgan’s government made no effort to remedy since their election), the UNDRIP premature self-congratulations, UN warnings and the bureaucratic autopilot of the Energy Ministry are the backdrop as the world waits to see what will happen between the Unist’ot’en and Wet’suet’en people and the RCMP. Predictably, Horgan and Mungall at the core of this mess, are trying to distance themselves. 

This isn’t the first time the Horgan government has invaded Indigenous land for resources. And both the Mounties’ commanders and the injunction-granting judge are apparently ruled by the term “public interest” instead of the slightest bit of empathy for these invaded people. 

Paper pushers and enforcers probably can’t imagine what it’s like. But extraction industry displacing Indigenous people has happened before here in BC. Rachelle Van Zanten sings about how it was back when the Tahltan people were defending their land from Shell: 

When does it end?

Many people around the world stand in solidarity with the Wet’suet’en and Unist’ot’en. The Wet’suet’en are calling for a Week of Solidarity from January 7-12, 2020. Events around the world are listed on Facebook at http://bit.ly/2QzKnB4.

What You Can Do:

In my experience, the government of British Columbia is largely unresponsive to feedback. So following is a list of the partners, subsidiaries and government named above, along with contact information.  You can phone, email, fax, snail-mail. In some cases, for example Shell gas stations, you can give them a notice and tell them you will no longer buy their product. Low level employees will likely be unaware of the situation. Don’t argue with them just tell them to pass the notice on.

Here is a sample notice/email. Word it as you like but be sure to cover all five points listed to educate those who aren’t aware. If you copy/paste this to gmail, the links will still be active.

Contact forms usually inactivate links and so do some email providers. If you are using one of those there is a copy of this letter with references noted in the text instead of links. Find it at the end of the contact info that follows.

 

Sample Letter/Email

Your company is backing a racist, highly immoral and legally questionable invasion of Indigenous territory in British Columbia, Canada. You need to know that:

1) The province of British Columbia has never bothered to complete treaties with many of its Indigenous nations, including the unceded Wet’suet’en land where you are sponsoring an LNG pipeline. British Columbia continues to invade Indigenous land without consent in order to extract resources.

2) Coastal GasLink claims consent was received from elected band members but they never obtained consent from the hereditary chiefs per Wet’suet’en law. There is some indication that a pipeline route around the disputed area was considered but Coastal GasLink’s route reasoning is unclear.

3) The United Nations racism committee has demanded work on this project and two others be stopped until Indigenous consent is obtained. The hereditary chiefs demand British Columbia settle the title issues with their land before more work proceeds.

4) British Columbia has legislated the United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples into law but specifies the new law is not retroactive and therefore does not apply to this LNG project.

5) While militarised RCMP, authorised for “lethal overwatch” (snipers) enforce a court injunction requested by Coastal GasLink, the British Columbia Government, specifically Michelle Mungall, Minister of Energy, Mines & Petroleum Resources, and John Horgan, BC Premier, distance themselves from the invasion they enabled.

Because your company is financially backing this effort and the British Columbia government is so far unresponsive, I am suggesting you and your partners and subsidiaries suggest to the BC Government that they act to resolve the situation per their new UNDRIP law. Failure to do so, on your or their part, may lead to widespread adverse publicity and boycotts. There are many people worldwide outraged at the Wet’suet’en’s treatment at the hands of the British Columbia government and your partners and subsidiaries.

In hopes of an expedient, fair, non-racist resolution,

(your name)

 

Contacts for Parties Named Above:

LNG Canada:

1-855-248-3631   feedback@lngcanada.ca, info@lngcanada.ca, info@jfjvkitimat.com,

Shell Oil

Carel van Bylandtlaan 16, 2596 HR The Hague, The Netherlands Postal address: PO box 162, 2501 AN The Hague, The Netherlands Tel. +31 70 377 9111

Shell Canada Limited 400 – 4th Avenue S.W. Calgary, Alberta T2P 0J4 Shell Canada Switchboard: (403) 691-3111  Shell Canada Switchboard Toll Free: 1-877-656-3111 

generalpublicenquiries-ca@shell.com

Petronas

Tower 1, PETRONAS Twin Towers Kuala Lumpur City Centre 50088 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  +(603)2051 5000

contact form at https://www.petronas.com/contact-us

PetroChina

Address: 9 Dongzhimen North Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, P.R.China | Postcode: 100007

PetroChina Canada Suite 2700, 707 – 5 Street SW Calgary, Alberta T2P 1V8 Phone:403.265.6635Call: 403.265.6635 Fax: 403.265.6636Call: 403.265.6636

Email: info@PetroChinaCanada.com

Mitsubishi

CONTACT CUSTOMER RELATIONS 1‑888‑576‑4878 P.O. Box 41009 Mississauga, Ontario L4W 5C9      mitsubishi-canada@mmcan.ca

Mitsubishi International Corporation: 655 Third Avenue New York, NY 10017  (212) 605-2000

Kogas

Kogas Canada Ltd Suite 1110 Royal Bank Building, Banker’s Hall, 335 8th Ave SW, Calgary, AB T2P 1C9           403-532-8550 fax 403-532-0115

contact form at https://www.lngworldnews.com/contact/

TC Energy

450 – 1st Street Southwest Calgary, AB T2P 5H1 Canada 1-403-920-2000, 1-800-661-3805,  1-403-920-2200

Russ Girling CEO: 1 (403) 920-7888, russ_girling@transcanada.com

AIMCO

Alberta Investment Management Corporation 1600 – 10250 101 Street NW Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3P4, Canada 1-780-392-3600  email website form at https://www.aimco.alberta.ca/

Alberta Investment Management Corporation First Canadian Place 100 King Street West,  Suite 5120, P.O. Box 51 Toronto, Ontario M5X 1B1, Canada 1-647-789-5700

Alberta Investment Management Corporation 4th floor, 72 Welbeck Street London, UK       W1G 0AY        +44 (0)20.3102.1909

Alberta Investment Management Corporation 17A rue des Bains (Geiben House L-1212 Luxembourg Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg +352 26.73.65.42

KKR

KKR 9 West 57th Street Suite 4200 New York, New York 10019 + 1 (212) 750-830
KKR 600 Travis Street Suite 7200 Houston, Texas 7700 + 1 (713) 343-5142
KKR 2800 Sand Hill Road Suite 200 Menlo Park, California 94025 + 1 (650) 233-6560
investor-relations@kkr.com

 

Coastal GasLink:

#630 609 Granville St Vancouver BC V7Y 1G5 1-778-328-5301
coastalgaslink@tcenergy.com

450 1st St. SW Calgary AB T2P 5H1
760 Kinsmen Place, Prince George, BC V2M 0A8 1-250-596-8057

 

Government of British Columbia 

British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines & Petroleum Resources
1810 Blanshard St, Victoria, BC    V8T 4J1 Phone: (250) 952-0628                          

Minister Michelle Mungall Phone: 250 953-0900 Fax: 250 356-2965  EMPR.Minister@gov.bc.ca
Deputy Minister Dave Nikolejsin Phone: 250 952-0504   Fax: 250 952-0269

British Columbia Office of the Premier
John Horgan  250-387-1715  Fax: 250-387-0087  premier@gov.bc.ca
Deputy Minister Don Wright 250 356-2206
Deputy Minister Bobbi Plecas 250 356-8794 Bobbi.Plecas@gov.bc.ca

BC Oil & Gas Commission
2950 Jutland Rd, Victoria, B.C., V8T 5K2   250-794-5200
OGC.Communications@bcogc.ca

6534 Airport Road, Fort St. John, B.C., V1J 4M6
#101, 4701 55th St, Fort Nelson, B.C., V0C 1R0
#3-1445 102 Avenue, Dawson Creek, B.C., V1G 2E1
#203 – 1500 Hardy Street, Kelowna B.C., V1Y 8H2

contact form at   https://www.bcogc.ca/contact

BC Environmental Assessment Office
2nd Floor 836 Yates St Victoria BC V8W 9V1  250-356-7479  eaoinfo@gov.bc.ca

BC Government directory https://dir.gov.bc.ca/ enter ministry name to get contact info for staff

 

Sample letter with no links, references in parentheses:

Your company is backing a racist, highly immoral and legally questionable invasion of Indigenous territory in British Columbia, Canada. You need to know that:

1) The province of British Columbia has never bothered to complete treaties (https://opentextbc.ca/geography/chapter/4-3-territories-natural-resources-and-treaties/) with many of its Indigenous nations, including the unceded Wet’suet’en land where you are sponsoring an LNG pipeline. British Columbia continues to invade Indigenous land without consent in order to extract resources.

2) Coastal GasLink claims consent was received from elected band members but they never obtained consent from the hereditary chiefs per Wet’suet’en law. There is some indication (https://www.northernsentinel.com/news/move-natural-gas-pipeline-mp-suggests-2/) that a pipeline route around the disputed area was considered but Coastal GasLink’s route reasoning is unclear.

3) The United Nations racism committee has demanded work on this project and two others be stopped until Indigenous consent is obtained  (https://toronto.citynews.ca/2020/01/06/un-racism-committee-calls-for-halt-to-site-c-trans-mountain-and-lng-pipeline/). The hereditary chiefs demand British Columbia settle the title issues with their land before more work proceeds.

4) British Columbia has legislated the United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples into law but specifies the new law is not retroactive and therefore does not apply to this LNG project.

5) While militarised RCMP, (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/20/canada-indigenous-land-defenders-police-documents) authorised for “lethal overwatch” (snipers) enforce a court injunction requested by Coastal GasLink, the British Columbia Government, specifically Michelle Mungall, Minister of Energy, Mines & Petroleum Resources, and John Horgan, BC Premier, distance themselves (https://vancouversun.com/news/politics/b-c-government-resists-intervention-in-lng-canada-pipeline-dispute)  from the invasion they enabled.

Because your company is financially backing this effort and the British Columbia government is so far unresponsive, I am suggesting you and your partners and subsidiaries suggest to the BC Government that they act to resolve the situation per their new UNDRIP law. Failure to do so, on your or their part, may lead to widespread adverse publicity and boycotts. There are many people worldwide outraged at the Wet’suet’en’s treatment at the hands of the British Columbia government and your partners and subsidiaries.

In hopes of an expedient, fair, non-racist resolution,

(your name)