|
Native protests threaten to swamp frontier energy projects Shut downs in British Columbia could spread across frontier areas; industry asks federal, provincial governments to address land claims issues By Gary Park PNA Canadian Correspondent
Years of warnings are turning into a tidal wave of protests by Canada's 1.4 million aboriginal people that threaten to swamp some of the most lucrative frontier energy projects.
The current flash point is in British Columbia, where Native leaders have forced Petro-Canada, Anadarko, Westcoast Energy and Canadian Natural Resources to shut down operations in the gas-rich northeast, serving notice of their determination to take a stand on a wide range of festering concerns from land claims and treaty rights to environmental and human health concerns.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, in a Sept. 11 presentation to federal and provincial energy ministers, made an urgent plea for governments to “provide leadership in addressing land claims issues.”
CAPP president Pierre Alvarez said “we are encouraging governments to resolve these issues as fast as they can.”
He echoed the most alarmist industry comments yet on the spreading blockades when Petro-Canada president Ron Brenneman said the actions in British Columbia “may just be the thin edge of the wedge. It can be significant for the industry even if it’s just northeast B.C., but the whole issue could spread beyond there. I think government have to stand up and take notice of what is going on.”
Petro-Canada first to be hit Petro-Canada was the first to be hit, shutting down three exploration wells that were due to come on stream at 10 million cubic feet per day and shelving plans to build a feeder gas pipeline.
Brenneman, in an interview with the National Post, bluntly said the federal and B.C. governments should “engage in dialogue with the First Nations groups, understand what their concerns are and try to reach some kind of resolution.
“They have some issues that they want resolved and the blockading is just a means of drawing attention. Their intent is not to shut down oil and gas.”
Under an 1899 treaty guaranteeing them a right to live off their land, the Treaty 8 Tribal Association demanding oil and gas companies negotiate agreements promising compensation for damages and assurances that aboriginals will receive economic benefits from resource development.
Treaty 8 administrator Judy Maas said the “struggle is about the very core of who we are as First Peoples on this land. Attempts by resource companies and governments to ignore our aboriginal and treaty rights and title violates our sacred treaty.”
But intensive industry efforts to achieve a resolution have so far been unsuccessful.
CAPP has met with senior officials in the British Columbia government to point out the need to resolve the disputes before major winter drilling programs have to be postponed.
Federal government says issue is provincial So far, the Canadian government has refused to initiate negotiations, saying the whole matter is a provincial issue, while the newly elected British Columbia government, despite assurances to the industry that it is developing a strategy, has been criticized by Native leaders for its refusal to talk.
The immediate threat is to the Ladyfern gas discovery, where production is expected to climb from 460 million cubic feet per day — 40 percent of Canada's incremental production this year — to 1.35 billion cubic feet per day over the next six months.
“We want to put all industry activity on hold for now and have the governments listen to our concerns,” said Bernie Metecheah, chief of the Halfway River First Nation, which led the blockade against Petro-Canada.
Jeff Rath, a lawyer for the Doig River First Nation, accused the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission and the British Columbia government of “provoking a confrontation with First Nations that will have a profound effect on the industry’s ability to produce gas from the Ladyfern field. Every single aspect of that project is going to get tied up in litigation, one way or another.”
The repercussions extend far beyond British Columbia. Matthew Coon Come, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, has warned of coast-to-coast confrontations as Natives challenge alleged federal government inaction on outstanding land claims and unresolved rights issues.
Conflict potential greater in north The potential for conflict grows as the industry moves more rapidly into northern regions, where aboriginal populations dominate and the communities, realizing the once-in-a-lifetime economic opportunities, are reasserting their ownership of natural resources.
Just a quick sampling of issues on the table shows the scope of an emerging crisis:
• The federal Indian Affairs Department estimates the potential liabilities of all aboriginal claims at C$11.8 billion.
• Federal officials are forecasting that land claims settlements, currently numbering more than 1,800, could result in a 50 percent increase in Indian reservation land, much of it in oil and gas regions.
• In British Columbia alone, there are 120 unresolved land claims, covering the entire land mass of the province.
• In Alberta, which provides about 80 percent of Canada's oil and gas production, the government has set the stage for a showdown by refusing to consult with First Nations before issuing oil and gas permits for “traditional lands,” or lands claimed by Indians outside of treaty areas. On top of that, two Alberta Cree tribes have embarked on a lawsuit, saying they are owed as much as C$2 billion in oil and gas royalties that were mismanaged by the federal government.
Suits could bring industry to standstill For now the industry is on edge as it watches developments in the Ladyfern area — a showdown that was foreshadowed last year by the CAPP in a letter to Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault.
The industry’s main lobby organization said attention to land claims and access to government-owned lands within aboriginal communities was “urgently required” if the industry was to continue spending C$20 billion a year on exploration and development.
As concern grows about the short-term, there is an unspoken fear that aboriginal communities may take their grievances to the Supreme Court of Canada, a process that would stretch over years, bringing much industry activity to a standstill.
Rath said lawsuits are “being actively considered ... governments are taking an approach that is going to guarantee more blockades and guarantee lawsuits.”
| 