IN THE HOUSE – Why are Liberals robbing First Nations of future prosperity with Northern Gateway?
Comments from Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Cathy McLeod in the House of Commons on Tuesday and Wednesday (Nov. 29-30, 2016).
MR. SPEAKER, indigenous support for the northern gateway continues to grow, but the Liberal government has thrown up its hands and walked from the table.
I would like to quote from the 31 first nations that are equity partners.
They said:
[This] project is a new way of doing business and sets a precedent for collaborative partnerships between First Nations and Métis communities and the resource industry.
Our ownership…will ensure a sustainable, prosperous future for generations to come.
Is the minister going to betray these first nations that have negotiated in good faith?…
Mr. Speaker, 31 first nations and Métis communities, who are equity partners in the northern gateway pipeline, did not mince words. They said, “We are profoundly shocked and…deeply disappointed that a Prime Minister…would now blatantly choose to deny our 31 First Nations and Métis communities of our constitutionally protected right to economic development.”
They went on to say that this decision “will eliminate significant financial and social benefits committed to our communities.”
They negotiated in good faith. Why are the Liberals robbing them of the opportunity for future prosperity?
Source: Open Parliament.ca.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Wow… Cathy is sounding like a Trump-ish climate science denialist. She makes it sound like the First Nations communities were planning to build and own the pipeline. Not the case! Best they’d manage is a lump sum payment to traverse their territory, or perhaps some sort of annual payoff to continue the arrangement. A tiny piece of the action at best.
But it’s not like something they have is being taken away. In fact, just the opposite. In this day and age, the idea that oil is somehow linked to ‘future prosperity’ is simply ignorant. Every barrel of oil that doesn’t get burned is a barrel that won’t contribute to climate change… won’t contribute to terrestrial animal habitat loss… won’t contribute to declining fish stocks. These are the issues that First Nations discuss regularly as being important – so how is the pipeline not being built really an insult to them (or anyone else calling the planet home)?
It’s not! This is shoddy politics at best. Cathy should be ashamed at being so ignorant of our realities. She should instead be piling on Justin with the rest of them, for breaking his promise to protect our coast… but that simply wouldn’t be a believable coming from any Conservative!
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The silent majority are just sitting back and saying nothing, we need a battle between the two sides for or against oil pipelines. Might do some good to read the open letter from Mayor Laurie Ackerman of Fort St. John, otherwise known as the Energetic Capital of BC.
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Do you have a link to Mayor Ackerman’s letter?
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Took a bit, but I found it Mel.
Click to access Mayors%20letter%20VancouverSun.pdf
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Here goes Cathy again.
Her statement should read “We are profoundly shocked and…deeply disappointed that during the last election the Canadian people did not provide the opportunity for a Conservative Government to ignore obvious environmental science and reject the opinion of British Columbians, so we could slam Northern Gateway through via proroguing of Parliament and blatantly shut down debate.”
Whereas the First Nations signed on the deal will not enjoy the increased benefit from the building of this pipeline, its not as if their present livelihood is being ripped away. They will carry on exactly as they had before. Every involved Nation knew full well that any benefit accrued as a result of the pipeline would be contingent on a project green light.
The fact that Cathy focused specifically on the First Nation response to the cancellation, screams of populous soundbite media pandering. Let us not forget the loss of increased employment, both short and long term as well as the loss of any economic benefit throughout the region in the non First Nations communities.
This statement speaks more about you and your party than it does either the government or the loss to northern communities.
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