Legal broadside alleges federal environment minister failed to consult aboriginal communities
Gordon Jaremko, edmontonjournal.com
Published: Thursday, October 26, 2006
A legal storm rocked a $4-billion plan to put oilsands production on global markets by building a pipeline from Edmonton across British Columbia to a new supertanker terminal at Kitimat.
Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, a Prince George coalition of eight B.C. First Nations along the proposed Gateway Pipeline route, launched a protest lawsuit today in the Federal Court of Canada.
The legal broadside alleges federal Environment Minister Rona Ambrose failed to consult aboriginal communities properly before setting up a "joint review panel" of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and the National Energy Board to consider the project.
The lawsuit demands a halt to the regulatory process until Ambrose co-operates with the natives, saying her decision fails to comply with years of aboriginal rights rulings by the Supreme Court of Canada.
The B.C. natives want a decision-maker role as judges of the project comparable to aboriginal seats on an environmental joint review panel currently holding hearings on the $7.5-billion Mackenzie Gas Project, Carrier Sekane Chief David Luggi said in an interview.
The Gateway proposal poses risks to natural resources such as water and salmon on territory claimed by the tribes in decades of B.C. negotiations still underway, Luggi said.
Discussions with Enbridge have fallen short of convincing the communities the project will do no harm, he said. The history of pipelines show they are always environmental risks and oil spills are inevitable, Luggi added.
"It’s just a matter of time," the chief predicted.
More than four years of talks by Enbridge with about 40 aboriginal communities along the Gateway route will continue to identify their concerns and strive to find ways of responding, company spokesman Glenn Herchak said.
The project remains on schedule for completion in 2010 or 2011 at the latest and Enbridge does not interfere in aboriginal rights disputes between Ottawa and natives, Herchak said.
It is too soon even to speculate on effects of the court case, said Robert Deslauriers, environmental agency communications director Robert Deslauriers said.
Natural Resources Canada has been assigned responsibility for aboriginal rights issues associated with the Gateway project and is setting up a process to consult all the B.C. native communities affected, Deslaurieirs said.
Luggi said he accepted an invitation to meet Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn in Ottawa Dec. 7. Ambrose should also attend, the B.C. native chief added.