First Nation blockades road ahead of LNG pipeline construction

A B.C. First Nation has established a blockade on its traditional territory to close the access point into the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline (PRGT) man camp. 

Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs decided to blockade the Cranberry Connector, a forest service road that passes over the Cranberry River, on Thursday after reports arrived from Gitanyow camps that large trucks and machinery were crossing their traditional territory. 

As the blockade was being established, a ceremony was held to burn 10-year-old pipeline benefit agreements over the PRGT. Gitanyow maintains that the agreements are outdated and that “the project route and scope have undergone significant changes since the existing environmental assessment was conducted in 2014,” a Gitanyow press release said. 

The PRGT pipeline was bought by the Nisga’a Nation and their industry partner Western LNG from TC Energy in March of this year. The proposed pipeline will connect Coastal GasLink to the Ksi Lisims terminal, jointly owned by the Nisga’a and Western LNG. 

The PRGT is designed to transport natural gas about 775 kilometres from northeastern B.C. to Ksi Lisims. 

Tara Marsden, Wilp sustainability director for the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs, said the Nisga’a and Western LNG consortium have been secretive during the beginning of pipeline construction. 

Marsden says that the Nisga’a and Western LNG are “withholding key information long enough that we can’t do anything about it,” she told Canada’s National Observer. For example, Gitanyow was told that construction was beginning on the nation’s territory on Aug. 24, but was never informed that vehicles were moving through it. 

In a statement, Western LNG said the company believes in free speech and peaceful assembly. It also expected “opposition and protest as a part of building any big project. In this case, the trucks found other routes to their destination and construction will proceed as planned.”

The company also said PRGT will continue to seek constructive dialogue with First Nations, focusing on “resolving issues and realizing opportunities.” 

Still, Marsden believes construction activities starting on Aug. 24 are urgent for PRGT given that the Nisga’a and Western LNG are seeking what regulators call a “substantial start” — in other words, trying to move the project far enough along in construction that it will be harder for the province to decline regulatory approval. 

She also called out the provincial government for consulting in “bad faith.” She points to the provincial election and a surging B.C. Conservative Party for a policy switch that is less favourable to Gitanyow laws. 

In advance of the October election, Marsden adds, the NDP has shifted from recognizing legal pluralism and an eagerness to reconcile Indigenous and Crown law. Now, “they are saying quite a different thing” by arguing that their permits and certificates are valid — “they’re really reverting back to probably over 20 years ago in terms of messaging.” 

Marsden has noticed a change since this election year. At the beginning of its time in government, the NDP recognized legal pluralism, as it was eager to reconcile Indigenous laws with Crown laws in its early days, but now, “they are saying quite a different thing,” Marsden explained. 

“They're saying: ‘our permits are valid, our certificates are valid’,” Marden said. “They’re really reverting back to probably over 20 years ago in terms of messaging.” 

In a statement to Canada’s National Observer, the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office said, “Gitanyow continue to have opportunities to provide information that will be considered as part of current environmental assessment processes related to both [PRGT and Ksi Lisims].”  

Gitanyow is now also exploring legal action against Ksi Lisims, given its potential impact on the Nass River, a significant harvesting river for the Gitanyow. 

Matteo Cimellaro / Canada’s National Observer / Local Journalism Initiative