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Pipeline Politics in the West From Coal Trains to Classrooms Workshop North Seattle Community College June 27, 2013

Pipeline Politics in the West From Coal Trains to Classrooms Workshop North Seattle Community College June 27, 2013. David A. Rossiter, Huxley College of the Environment, WWU. Context I – Political Economy. PM Harper’s stated (2006) aim for Canada to be an “Energy Superpower”

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Pipeline Politics in the West From Coal Trains to Classrooms Workshop North Seattle Community College June 27, 2013

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  1. Pipeline Politics in the WestFrom Coal Trains to Classrooms WorkshopNorth Seattle Community CollegeJune 27, 2013 David A. Rossiter, Huxley College of the Environment, WWU

  2. Context I – Political Economy • PM Harper’s stated (2006) aim for Canada to be an “Energy Superpower” • Reversion to staples dominated economy • Retreat from international climate change mitigation efforts • Scramble to secure “world price” and get ahead of “bitumen bubble”

  3. Source: ags.gov.ab.ca

  4. Mining the Sands Source: treehugger.com Processing the Sands Source: digitaljournal.com The Sands Source: eoearth.org In-Situ Production Source: blog.skytruth.org

  5. Source: blogs.nicholas.duke.edu

  6. Enbridge’s Proposal • Application – May 2010 • Route – 1,177 km pipeline through cordillera + shipping through fjords • Capacity – 500,000 barrels of “dilbit” / day • Twinned • Cost - $5.5 billion CAD Source: Sierra Club

  7. Context II – “The Land Question” • BC largely untreatied, unceded • Legal recognition of aboriginal title • Royal Proclamation 1763 • Calder Decision 1973 • Constitution Act 1982 • Delgamuukw Decision 1997 • Haida Decision 2004 • Wilson (Tsilhqot’in) Decision 2007

  8. BC’s Disrupted Resource Economy • Uncertainty = lack of investment • Forests, minerals, energy • 2002 referendum • 2009 Recognition and Reconciliation Act; “New Relationship” • Presently – “Unstable Properties”

  9. Contexts Collide • Joint Review Panel initiated by NEB Jan 2012 • Summer 2012: visibility and opposition increase • First Nations’ near universal opposition • ie. March 2010: Coastal First Nations declaration banning supertankers • Environmentalists raise alarm • Rising provincial uncertainty • BC’s search for “better deal” / June 2013… “NO”

  10. Fantastic Topographies: Enbridge • Pipeline as national project • “(a)lthough the net benefits to the Canadian oil industry resulting from the Project are very large, total benefits flowing to all Canadians are greater” (Northern Gateway application, 2010). • “It’s a path” – Hill and Knowlton’s contribution

  11. Constraining Stakeholders • Northern Gateway is committed to meaningful and open discussion with stakeholders, including communities and private landowners, and participating Aboriginal groups... Public consultation is an integral component of the Project because of NG’s belief that the Project can be improved by gaining local knowledge, insight and recommendations... NG encourages stakeholders and participating Aboriginal groups to share their thoughts and help identify environmental, economic and social opportunities for communities throughout the life of the Project. • Northern Gateway application, 2010

  12. A Place for First Nations? • Northern Gateway will set aside scopes of work from major contractor bid packages and provide sole-sourcing opportunities to qualified Aboriginal businesses and joint venture companies who meet the required safety qualifications and offer regionally competitive pricing • Northern Gateway application, 2010

  13. Fantastic Topographies: Gov’t of Canada • PM Harper and Minister Oliver: • activist opposition “radical”, “foreign”, “terrorist” • ie. Tides Foundation • punitive measures through tax code • support for project as “nation building” • abstracting local place to national space • Conservative strategist Rick Anderson: • “Would we be able to build Canada’s transcontinental railroad if it had to go through today’s process? Does anybody today regret that we built it?’’ (2013)

  14. Aboriginal Countertopographies • Save the Fraser Declaration Nov. 2010: • “We have inhabited and governed our territories within the Fraser watershed, according to our laws and traditions, since time immemorial. Our relationship with the watershed is ancient and profound, and our inherent Title and rights and legal authority over these lands and waters have never been relinquished through treaty or war.”“This project...and the federal process to approve it, violate our laws, traditions, values and our inherent rights as Indigenous Peoples under international law. We are united to exercise our inherent Title, Rights, and responsibility….” • St’at’imc Chiefs and YinkaDene Alliance (NadlehWhut’en, Saik’uz, Takla Lake, Nak’azdli, Wet’suwet’en and Tlazt’en Nations)

  15. Conclusions • Reduction of debate to environment vs. economy astonishing given: • Centrality of land claims to BC politics • Consistent, near unanimous voicing of First Nation’s territorial claims at hearings and beyond • At root, issue is not “environmental” or “economic” but rather one of relations among people, place, and power • Hearings (and other forums) as sites of opposing “wills to power”

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