From CBC.ca

First Nations say they will fight oilsands, pipeline

Minister of Natural Resources says pipeline projects are in First Nations' economic interest

The Canadian Press - Posted: Mar 20, 2013

First Nations condemn pipelines2:57

An alliance of First Nations leaders is preparing to fight proposed new pipelines in the courts and through unspecified direct action.

Native leaders from Canada and the United States were on Parliament Hill on Wednesday to underline opposition to both the Northern Gateway and Keystone XL pipelines.

The first would tie the Alberta oil sands to the West Coast, while the second would send bitumen to refineries on the American Gulf Coast.

Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said the federal government is consulting with First Nations, and is ready to hear their concerns.

"We're making every effort to respond to the concerns we have heard on the West Coast," he said after a caucus meeting.

'We have to wake up to the crazy decisions that this government's making to change the world in a negative way.'-Chief Reuben George, Tsleil-Waututh First Nation

"I've had quite a few conversations with aboriginal leaders and aboriginal people. And I've found those conversations very constructive. They want to do the best for their communities and we want to do the best for their communities as well. So I remain very hopeful."

Speaking to CBC News, Oliver said there was an "enormous economic benefit" at stake for First Nations.

"There is an opportunity to transform many aboriginal communities which have been suffering from high unemployment for far too long," he said. "There is an opportunity for jobs, for economic activity, for equity participation, and I would hope that when they see that there isn't an environmental risk that they would embrace these opportunities for their communities."

Oliver said the government supports peaceful protests as part of a democracy, but "we do expect people to live within the confines of the law."

Chiefs brush off federal appointment

Some of the chiefs brushed off the federal government's appointment this week of a special envoy to look at tensions between natives and the energy industry.

Vancouver-based lawyer Doug Eyford is to focus on energy infrastructure in Western Canada, but some native leaders say he has no credibility.

He is to examine First Nations concerns about the troubled Northern Gateway proposal, as well as the development of liquid natural gas plants, marine terminals and other energy infrastructure in British Columbia and Alberta.

He will discuss environmental protection, jobs and economic development, and First Nations rights to a share of the wealth from natural resources.

"He's going to be reaching out to find out more about their interests and their concerns and to look for ways that resource development can help improve the lives of aboriginals, create more employment, create more opportunities for communities," Oliver said.

Some native chiefs, however, said Eyford has already failed. Although he is also the federal government's chief negotiator on comprehensive land claims, they said he hasn't accomplished much on that file.

Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation said natives are determined to block the pipelines.

"It's going to be a long, hot summer," he said at a news conference.

"We have a lot of issues at stake."

'We're going to stop these pipelines.'

Phil Lane Jr. of the American Yankton Sioux, said native groups south of the border will stand with their Canadian cousins.

"We're going to stop these pipelines on way or another," he said.

Chief Martin Louie of the Nadleh Whut'en First Nation in northern B.C., said the pipeline opponents will never back down.

"If we have to keep going to court, we'll keep doing that," he said.

He said the stakes are high and go beyond native issues.

"We're the ones that's going to save whatever we have left of this Earth," he said.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt said he hopes no one resorts to violent confrontation.

"The rule of law applies," he said. "We are free to express our opinions. That's the genius of Canada but we do it within the respect of the rule of law. I think they will do that. I hope so."

Chief Reuben George of the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation on Vancouver Island said it's time to act against the federal government's resource development agenda.

"We, as a nation, have to wake up," he said. "We have to wake up to the crazy decisions that this government's making to change the world in a negative way."

Valcourt said it's not an either-or argument: "This is about responsible development. I think we have the genius in Canada to be able to develop our natural resources while protecting our environment."

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First Nations battle pipelines13:49

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From Rabble.ca

Harper government in frenzy as doubts grow over Keystone XL pipeline

BY DAVE COLES | MARCH 19, 2013

Stephen Harper's government and a big part of Canada's ruling establishment are in a frenzy over Keystone XL. 

The Conservatives and their provincial allies have spent millions (probably tens of millions) of dollars in public money to push a pipeline that will export Canadian jobs, trample First Nations rights and, overall, be bad for the environment. But it'll be good for the profit margins of some of their oil industry friends. 

In recent weeks, a half dozen Conservative ministers have trekked south to push for the approval of the pipeline while Harper has made it the top priority for Canada's embassy and 22 consular offices in the U.S for the last three years.

 With a team at the Washington embassy devoted entirely to KXL, Canadian officials have presented at town council meetings, responded to critical press commentary, taken newspaper reporters to high-end restaurants and organized countless other activities in their zest for the pipeline. In a recent example of this diplomacy at work the Canadian consul general for the Pacific Northwest, Denis Stevens, spoke to Idaho's House and Senate saying that KXL "would allow you to free yourself completely from oil imports from Venezuela."

Next month, Alberta Premier Alison Redford will make her fourth trip to Washington in 19 months and over the weekend the provincial government took out a $30,000 half page advertisement in the New York Times promoting KXL. For his part, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has flown to Washington, worked with U.S. governors to push the pipeline and paid $50,000 for a Canada West Foundation study that absurdly claimed Canada loses between $30 million and $70 million every day the pipeline is not built. 

TransCanada has spent millions of dollars lobbying federal and state politicians as well as establishing pro-KXL 'grassroots' groups such as Nebraskans for Jobs and Energy Independence. The Calgary-based company has been supported in their efforts by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and business columnists who are taking an increasingly strident tone.

In a ludicrous article entitled "The New York Times calls for war on Canadian oil,"Financial Post editor Terence Corcoran condemned an editorial by the U.S. paper stating: "It looks like the Keystone XL pipeline is coming down to a nasty war on Canada." 

Apparently, Thomas Mulcair and half of all Canadians who tell pollsters they oppose KXL are part of this war on Canada.

A number of media outlets insinuated that the leader of the official opposition was a traitor for voicing mild criticism of KXL during a recent trip to Washington. An Ottawa Citizen editorial demanded "Whose side is Mulcair on?" while a Calgary Herald editorialfoamed about how Mulcair allegedly "disparage[d] Canada," "oppose[d] our own country on foreign soil" and (in case the point still wasn't clear) "there is nothing loyal about attacking one's own government and country with our nation's largest trading partner."

The Conservatives stoked this McCarthyite sentiment with foreign minister John Baird saying Mulcair was "trash talking Canada" and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall claiming Mulcair "betrays our country's national interest."

Unfortunately, the least principled political leaders will tend to succumb to this type of intimidation. The new head of the Saskatchewan NDP, Cam Broten, caved in the face of Premier Wall's demand to "have the courage to stand up, go against Mr. Mulcair and support the Keystone pipeline." (Real political courage, of course, is to stand with the federal and provincial government, big oil and entire media establishment.) 

In a bad omen for his leadership, Broten responded to Premier Wall's pressure by telling reporters: "To clear the record ... I support the Keystone XL pipeline because of a triple bottom line assessment looking at environmental, economic and social reasons."

But Broten is wrong on all three counts. KXL will accelerate already unsustainable rates of Alberta bitumen extraction, undermine a domestic industrial policy and does not have a social license. 

Despite near unanimous support from big media commentators, half of the public isn't on side. A November poll found that 47 per cent of Canadians were against KXL and 53 per cent in favour while a January study found 41.7 per cent with an unfavourable impression and 45.2 per cent favourable. Both of these polls were taken prior to the big demonstration against KXL in Washington last month. 

With results like this and a growing doubt around the ability of oil companies to live up to their environmental responsibility, it is no surprise that half the public can see right through the KXL frenzy. 

Dave Coles is President of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.