Indigenous chiefs to sue re: Trudeau Liberals' tanker ban

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Gone_Fishin
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Indigenous chiefs to sue re: Trudeau Liberals' tanker ban

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Indigenous-led energy company plans GoFundMe to legally challenge federal tanker moratorium

Eagle Spirit Energy has launched GoFundMe account to raise funds for legal effort
CBC News · Posted: January 26th 2018, 1:21:05 PM | Last Updated: January 26


Image
Calvin Helin, shown in an image from the CBC TV series 8th Fire, is chairman and president of Eagle Spirit Energy. He says the company has launched a GoFundMe account to raise funds for a legal campaign challenging the federal oil tanker ban off B.C.'s coast. (CBC)


Over the past several years, Indigenous groups have gone to court to try to stop energy projects, arguing they were not adequately consulted.

But this week, an Indigenous-led energy company announced it will sue the federal government for the opposite reason.

Eagle Spirit Energy wants to build a pipeline from Alberta to northern B.C. — with backing from the Vancouver-based Aquilini Investment group — but says a federal oil tanker ban, Bill C-48, is getting in the way.

Eagle Spirit Energy has also launched a GoFundMe account to raise funds for the legal effort, said Calvin Helin, chairman and president of the company. ​

The GoFundMe campaign is attributed to an organization called the Chiefs Council, which Eagle Spirit Energy says represents 30 First Nations from Alberta to the B.C. Coast. However, Eagle Spirit has not provided a list of who is on the Chiefs Council.

Several First Nations on the proposed pipeline route confirmed to CBC they were not affiliated with the GoFundMe campaign.

Helin is critical of the oil tanker ban, which was set up in part for the protection of the Great Bear Rainforest, which he said is a "fictional idea cooked up by American environmentalists."

​However, some local Indigenous voices have expressed concern, too.

Jess Housty, an elected councillor with the Heiltsuk First Nation on B.C.'s coast, has been supportive of the moratorium and other efforts to protect the rainforest and coastal waters.

"If a pipeline were to go through, while the Nations whose territory it passes through might feel that it is positive economic development, we need to be aware that there are other Nations elsewhere whose values are put at risk," she said.

Helin appeared on the Calgary Eyeopener to discuss the project Friday. Below is an abridged version of that conversation.

Q: Your backers are the Chiefs Council and they plan to sue the federal government. Can you tell me why?

A: What's happened over the past five years is we've been essentially working on behalf of a group of chiefs from Bruderheim, [Alta.] all the way out to the northwest coast in B.C. to my community called Lax Kw'alaams. The interest in owning their own projects and being involved in projects like a pipeline came from concern for the environment.

snip

Originally, when Northern Gateway was proposed, most of the chiefs felt, at least on the coast, there wasn't an adequate environmental plan. So we went out and hired experts throughout the world and developed what I think is probably the highest environmental model for land and ocean in the world for such a project.

...The leaders have to look at holistic development, unlike environmental groups that have a one-dimensional approach to things. First Nations leaders ... once they feel the environment is taken care of, they have to look at holistic or balanced development, where they have to consider the social welfare of their communities, they have to consider the employment opportunities and the business opportunities.

The leaders want to create their own source of revenue but they want to do it in a way in which the environment is protected, and there is a middle way.

Q: Bruderheim is about 50 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, for those who don't know, and the pipeline would go to the West Coast. But you can't really go ahead with it if you can't move it from the terminus to market, and because of the tanker ban of the federal government, you can't do that … is that the core of your issue right now?

A: That's the core of the issue. But I believe the reason why these environmental groups — and a lot of them are American-financed — they've come up here and they fly in celebrity environmentalists and they land in our communities ... they know nothing about our area, they know nothing about our regions. And they're telling us what we've got to do because it's in their financial interest to do so. We don't need trust fund babies coming into our community … creating parks in our backyard when our people are literally starving.

Q: Just so I'm clear, you've got chiefs the whole way along from Bruderheim all the way to the terminus in favour of this pipeline, and the only stumbling block right now is the federal government?

A: Yes. It's taken us five years to do this.... And with the Trudeau government coming in, he's basically said before the election the Great Bear Rainforest is no place for a pipeline. Well, the Great Bear Rainforest is this fictional idea cooked up by American environmentalists about this magical rainforest, and they've forced this on our particular community. No one in our community was even talked to about this.

Q: We're going to follow this lawsuit with great interest.

A: This is an important issue for Canadians. If you look at what's happening with the oil industry, Canadians are losing $50 million a day. It's about $40 a barrel over four years in margin to the refineries in the U.S. What other country in the world would give away the value of these resources like that? It makes no sense, and it's harming people in northern Alberta and northern B.C. and the chiefs are going to do something about it.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/e ... 74?cmp=rss
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Ka-El
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Re: Indigenous chiefs to sue re: Trudeau Liberals' tanker ba

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This is the same group that proposed building a refinery here in BC to refine the raw product here in Canada making it safer and more profitable for export - never mind the momentous impact it would have on the local rural economies in the northwest and across BC and Canada ...

Proposal for oil refinery for Grassy Point near Prince Rupert, B.C.

Chief and Mayor of theLax Kw'alaams Band, Garry Reece, invited his members to a meeting in early October where an entrepreneur would propose construction of an oil refinery to be built at Grassy Point near Prince Rupert on B.C’s north coast. The refinery idea is a proposal by Eagle Spirit Energy Holdings, Ltd., founded by Calvin Helin, author of Dances with Dependency, who is a Lax Kw’alaams member himself. Grassy Point is also the site of a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal, which was the topic of another meeting, which included “a report on the activities associated with LNG on our traditional territory,” a letter from the chief reads. Eagle Spirit Holdings aspires to “work with communities to establish a First Nations Energy Corridor across northern British Columbia.” Helin has investors like the Aquilini family, which owns the Vancouver Canucks, news reports say. Helin describes his company as offering “a shimmer of hope that a third way may be possible” during a time when “Canada faces seemingly intractable conflict between First Nations and a resurgent resource sector.”

http://www.ammsa.com/publications/winds ... -rupert-bc

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Queen K
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Re: Indigenous chiefs to sue re: Trudeau Liberals' tanker ba

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https://www.msn.com/en-ca/video/news/justin-trudeau-has-hecklers-removed-from-bc-town-hall/vi-BBIEqFW

Trudeau has the RCMP remove disrespectful protesters from Nanamio's townhall meeting.

It's a great vid to watch.
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Ka-El
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Re: Indigenous chiefs to sue re: Trudeau Liberals' tanker ba

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Whatever other issues he might have bumbled on, I personally give Trudeau a lot of respect for having the balls to put himself right in front of the people at these town hall meetings. This is something new and courageous on the part of any politician we have ever seen in this country, and he seems to handle himself quite well.
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Queen K
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Re: Indigenous chiefs to sue re: Trudeau Liberals' tanker ba

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Exactly, I was rooting for him for sure.
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Ken7
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Re: Indigenous chiefs to sue re: Trudeau Liberals' tanker ba

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Ka-El wrote:Whatever other issues he might have bumbled on, I personally give Trudeau a lot of respect for having the balls to put himself right in front of the people at these town hall meetings. This is something new and courageous on the part of any politician we have ever seen in this country, and he seems to handle himself quite well.


He handles himself well when one of his planted questions are asked. IF it is not a plant he can not stop stumbling. What ever hope hes out next election, we can't afford him and his spending.

As for the topic, I wonder why the group does not put up their own money? They are the ones who will benefit financially and if they can be serious about anything put up or shut up already! Sadly they themselves can't get along as there at too many wanting the palms greased.
Ka-El
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Re: Indigenous chiefs to sue re: Trudeau Liberals' tanker ba

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Ken7 wrote: He handles himself well when one of his planted questions are asked. IF it is not a plant he can not stop stumbling. What ever hope hes out next election, we can't afford him and his spending.

You think he “plants” the hecklers? His handling of those pions is what we were referring to. As for the next election, as the right-wingers always like to say (and I agree it has pretty much always been proven to be true), “It’s the economy stupid!”

No doubt Trudeau has made some real bonehead moves during his term so far, but come election time – if people are still working and the economy is still growing, and especially if Trudeau ends up being seen as the protector of our economy through his trade deals he could be very hard to beat. People are not going to really care about the attack ads because they have figured out the hypocrisy of it. We all know who Trudeau is. It will be interesting to see who Sheer and Singh try to present themselves as during their respective efforts and if either are compelling enough to risk shaking the status quo.
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Ken7
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Re: Indigenous chiefs to sue re: Trudeau Liberals' tanker ba

Post by Ken7 »

Ka-El wrote:[
You think he “plants” the hecklers? His handling of those pions is what we were referring to. As for the next election, as the right-wingers always like to say (and I agree it has pretty much always been proven to be true), “It’s the economy stupid!”
.



When he is confident about his answer, it is guaranteed the question posed was a plant. No, the hecklers are nothing to do with his party but wish to try make him look dumber than, which in my opinion does not work.

If there is a valid concern, present the question he will open his mouth and will prove he is not all that.
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Glacier
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Re: Indigenous chiefs to sue re: Trudeau Liberals' tanker ba

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The first nations have a plan to get around the tanker ban... Alaska... http://business.financialpost.com/commo ... -in-alaska
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