It’s all hard to make sense of; another Eagle Spirit media release prepared by a PR consultant saying that Eagle Spirit has a lot of support for their oil pipeline and tanker idea, but not much in the way of independent reporting and still no indication of which first nations in particular (if any) have endorsed the idea through their elected governments. The voices of support seem to be coming from diverse elders and traditional authorities and a youth representative.
It seems reminiscent Enbridge, which also claimed first nations support while details of official endorsements were sketchy at best.
I doubt that Coastal First Nations, which works with several first nations on land and marine planning, would say anything other than what they said after the previous Eagle Spirit release: “Literally no First Nation on the coast is in favour of Eagle Spirit,” said Art Sterritt, executive director of Coastal First Nations. “It’s a bit misleading for Eagle Spirit to hold a press conference in Calgary and announce things have changed in British Columbia, because they haven’t.”
I seldom read The Tyee because of their pro-NDP bias, but this is an interesting article that followed the previous media release: < haidagwaiicoast.ca/2015/02/13/co … -bc-coast/ >.
At least this time Eagle Spirit moved the venue for their event from Calgary to Vancouver. Perhaps next time they’ll have it in Rupert or PG for that matter, which might give those with a different point of view a better opportunity to provide some thoughts on their oil tanker idea.
sry wasn’t meant to mud sling for as previous posts from last year would show I am in support of the pipeline no matter who builds it, but if they ppl in that article were opposed to enbridge due to environmental concerns but changed their mind because friends of theirs want to build the same pipeline, what other word could I have used without sounding like i was slinging mud. and I do applaud them for changing their minds it does take courage on their part.
I don’t believe you were mudslinging. It is hypocritical to reject one proposal because of environmental and cultural concerns and turn around and accept another when the same concerns are there. The Lax Kw’alaams rejected the Petronas benefit proposal, but they and others support a pipeline that will carry Alberta oil thru to their territory. To me this screams power and greed. BC won’t benefit from this pipeline or refinery.
There’s an interesting article about the challenges the new NDP government in Alberta faces with their idea of building a new refinery to add value to the resource, much of it coming from the Tar Sands. Apparently a refinery has not been built in this country since 1984, surplus capacity in American refineries makes the idea economically shaky, and the big money that would be required is unlikely to be forthcoming, at least from the private sector. An investment from the province also seems unlikely in view of Alberta’s fiscal deficit and declining revenues due to depressed oil prices.
It would be interesting to know what Eagle Spirit makes of these grim forecasts. If industry is correct about this, those in Lax Kw’alaams who look forward to seeing oil tankers ply coastal waters may be in for a long wait, even if Eagle Spirit manages to cobble together a right-of-way through various first nation territories by rallying the support of unelected hereditary figures, which seems to be where much of their support is coming from.
[quote]A First Nation in B.C. is contradicting recent claims from Eagle Spirit Energy about its support for a pipeline that would transport crude oil through its territory from Alberta to B.C.'s northwest coast.
Eagle Spirit Energy met with dozens of First Nations communities last weekend. On Tuesday, it announced that 200 representatives from 30 First Nations, including the Lax Kw’alaams, spoke out in support of the company’s proposed pipeline project.
But Lax Kw’alaams Mayor Garry Reece says that’s not entirely correct.
“That’s not the case,” said Reece. “There’s some that support it, yeah, but that’s a handful of them.”[/quote]
[quote]A First Nation in B.C. is contradicting recent claims from Eagle Spirit Energy about its support for a pipeline that would transport crude oil through its territory from Alberta to B.C.'s northwest coast.
Eagle Spirit Energy met with dozens of First Nations communities last weekend. On Tuesday, it announced that 200 representatives from 30 First Nations, including the Lax Kw’alaams, spoke out in support of the company’s proposed pipeline project.
But Lax Kw’alaams Mayor Garry Reece says that’s not entirely correct.
“That’s not the case,” said Reece. “There’s some that support it, yeah, but that’s a handful of them.”[/quote]
[/quote]
Seems to me there is quite a lot of dissension in the Lax Kw’alaams band.
Reece also stated that the vote against Petronas was unanimous, but ppl around town have been saying the Eagle Clan voted for it, so how can it be unanimous against? Reece and his council are hanging by a thread at the moment as we all know from the internal fighting that the papers have reported.
Whatever the details, it seems clear that Mayor Reece has the majority of the elected council behind him. My understanding from reading the Federal Court decision a while back is that the majority of the council petitioned the court to judicially review his removal from office at a meeting where some councillors were not present. The outcome was that Mayor Reece was reinstated and John Helin’s appointment as an unelected mayor was declared null and void. Deputy Mayor Helen Johnson and others on council were on the losing side of that legal challenge.
According to the recent Black Press article and Eagle Spirit’s media release, ‘Matriarch’ Johnson, some hereditary figures and apparently some band councillors are now advocating for Eagle Spirit’s (Calvin Helin and Aquilini Group) oil pipeline, refinery and tanker idea. The supporters have been described as “representatives”, and seem to have held themselves out as having authority to sign a memorandum of understanding on behalf of their community (as did others on behalf of other communities) but who they represent and how they acquired such a mandate is not clear, at least from the outside.
I cannot imagine the feds or the Province or potential corporate partners being very comfortable with uncertainty about the bona fides of Eagle Spirit’s supporters, especially now that Mayor Reece has stated a clear position on behalf of the elected government, including about the need for further study before any decision is made. In the midst of all of this confusion, what the democratically elected government says should be taken as the final word on the matter, until it says otherwise.
in the article it’s funny the comments make it look like Shawn Thomas made it up LOL here is another article almost identical lets see if the same ppl think it was made up by Shawn Thomas