20240822-gitanyow-simmons_23

Indigenous leaders burn pipeline agreement, set up B.C. road blockade

Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs are blocking a road that leads to a work camp for the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline, set to begin construction this weekend. Indigenous youth are at the forefront of opposition to the new fossil fuel infrastructure

Go here to read our latest coverage of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline.

Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs are leading a new wave of pipeline opposition on their lands in northwestern Canada — four years after nation-wide protests shut down railways and roads in a failed bid to halt construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline in British Columbia.

On Thursday, on a remote forest service road in northwest B.C., Gitanyow Simgiget (Hereditary Chiefs) burned a benefits agreement they signed with TC Energy 10 years ago in support of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline, saying it will “make our ancestors happy.” The burning ceremony came after the chiefs, supported by dozens of youth from surrounding communities, closed their territories to all traffic related to the new pipeline and set up a blockade.

Construction of the 800-kilometre pipeline — which will ship mainly fracked gas from B.C.’s northeast to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities on B.C.’s coast — is set to begin this weekend. If completed, the new pipeline would cross more than 1,000 waterways, including major salmon-bearing rivers and tributaries.

After closing the Nass Forest Service Road to all pipeline vehicles on Thursday, two chiefs of the Ganeda (Raven/Frog) Clan, Gamlakyeltxw Wil Marsden and Watakhayetsxw Deborah Good, set up a checkpoint where the road meets Highway 37, about 170 kilometres north of Terrace, B.C. The road is the shortest route to transport heavy equipment and supplies for a sprawling work camp being built to support pipeline construction.

“They’re trying to build a 1,000-man camp just down the road at Nass camp, and we’re here to tell them to go around,” Gamlakyeltxw said at the blockade before the agreement was burned. “They’re not welcome. And as far as we’re concerned, this pipeline needs a new environmental assessment.”

Simogyet (Chief) Gamlakyeltxw Wil Marsden holds a copy of a pipeline benefits agreement before burning it at a blockade on Gitanyow lands
Gamlakyeltxw Wil Marsden said the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline project, approved a decade ago, needs a new environmental assessment.

The Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline was approved by the B.C. government in 2014, based on environmental studies conducted in the early 2010s. Originally owned by TC Energy, the same company that built the Coastal GasLink pipeline, the project was recently sold to the Nisg̱a’a Lisims Government and Texas-based Western LNG. TC Energy declined to comment on the burning of the agreement or the blockade, instead referring The Narwhal to its website, which notes the company has “completed the sale of PRGT entities to Nisg̱a’a Nation and Western LNG.”

The Nisg̱a’a government, Western LNG and Calgary-based Rockies LNG are partners in a proposed floating LNG facility, Ksi Lisims, set to become the province’s second largest LNG export project. The project, near the Nass River estuary close to the Alaskan border, is currently undergoing an environmental assessment and has not yet been approved by the B.C. government. 

As heavy equipment and construction traffic started crossing Gitanyow lands this week, the chiefs announced they no longer support the project, citing climate impacts and the environmental damage caused during construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline. 

“I’m expecting a great-grandson in the next couple of months,” Watakhayetsxw said. “This is his land and I’m going to shout that to whoever can listen. And if we have to close Highway 37 to get that attention, we, the Ganeda, already agreed. [If] the time comes, we’ll shut down Highway 37.”

She described how large flat-bed trailers carrying construction equipment had thundered through their lands the previous night.

“Last night was the last straw, and I will die here if I have to,” she added.

‘Our rivers are drying up’

The Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline will stretch 800 kilometres, from the Treaty 8 territories in B.C.’s northeast that have been heavily impacted by the fracking industry to the mouth of the Nass River on the Pacific coast. It will be more than 100 kilometres longer than the Coastal GasLink pipeline

The pipeline’s environmental assessment certificate is set to expire on Nov. 25, unless the provincial government deems the project to have “substantially started.” That designation is given by B.C.’s environment minister based on the amount of construction completed, financial costs and other factors. It means the pipeline’s environmental assessment certificate — required for the project to proceed — remains valid instead of expiring.

The Nisg̱a’a Lisims Government, which supports the pipeline, has agreed pipeline construction can begin on Nisg̱a’a lands, which border Gitanyow territory. Construction begins today.

When the pipeline was first proposed in the early 2010s, some Gitxsan and Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs signed contracts with TC Energy and the provincial government, outlining their support for the project and related infrastructure. The contracts detailed how the company would compensate the nations financially in return for permission to build the project through their lands. They also included clauses saying the nations’ leaders should suppress any opposition to the pipeline from community members, including on social media.

Investigating problems. Exploring solutions
The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for a weekly dose of independent journalism.
Investigating problems. Exploring solutions
The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for a weekly dose of independent journalism.

But youth say things have changed over the past decade — and that they didn’t have a say in the decision.

At an Aug. 19 youth-led community meeting in the Gitanmaax Hall on Gitxsan lax’yip (territory,) attended by dozens of young people, many spoke in opposition to the pipeline.  

Drew Harris, an event organizer who introduced herself as Wet’suwet’en on her mother’s side and Gitxsan on her father’s, said the prospect of another pipeline and increased fossil fuel expansion is frightening in the face of climate change

B.C. is on the cusp of the biggest fossil fuel expansion in the province’s history. LNG Canada — a liquefaction and export facility in Kitimat which will be supplied by Coastal GasLink — is set to begin shipping compressed gas to overseas markets later this year or early next year.

“The youth and future generations were left out of [the pipeline] conversations, and I’m scared for my future,” Harris said. “Our rivers are drying up. Our fish counts are going down. If we continue to contaminate our waters, pollute our air and deplete our food sources, where does that leave us?”

Dozens of community members seated in the Gitanmaax Hall on Gitxsan territory, with maps of the PRGT pipeline on the wall behind them
More than 300 community members gathered in Gitanmaax Hall on Aug. 19 to listen to youth talk about the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline and its potential impacts on their futures.

Patience Muldoe choked back tears as she addressed more than 300 community members seated in the hall.

Muldoe is Gitxsan and grew up on the land. She’s a young member of Wilp Gutginuxw and the Gisk’aast (Fireweed) Clan and a university student and researcher with Gitxsan Watershed Authority. Speaking at the youth-led meeting, she talked about her deep connection with the lax’yip.   

“I can’t even imagine a pipeline … ” She trailed off, her voice choked with emotion. “I can’t even imagine a pipeline going through the places where I shot my first moose, where I shot my first grouse.”

Building the pipeline would bring hundreds of workers to the territory, who would cut a wide swath through forests and wetlands rich in biodiversity and crawling with wildlife. 

Muldoe told community members how she had just come back from one of those rivers on the lax’yip, where she smudged and swam. 

“I wouldn’t even feel safe going on my territory,” she said. “Just let that sink in.”

Honrei Morgan, another organizer and a youth from Gitanyow, said the risks far outweigh any potential benefits the pipeline project could bring.

“I urge everyone here today, mostly the youth, to find whatever it is that will ignite that spark in you to try and protect our lands,” he said. “Because I can tell you right now, no matter how much money may be offered and how much economic growth can come from this pipeline, no sane person can go and be connected to the land and learn about all the great things that it can provide to us and want to destroy all of that and sign it all away to something as crazy as a pipeline.”

Honrei Morgan, a Gitanyow youth, speaks at a community meeting in Gitanmaax, with other youth behind him
Honrei Morgan told around 300 community members he and his peers believe any potential financial benefits of pipeline construction on their lands are not worth the risks associated with expanding fossil fuel infrastructure.

Naxginkw Tara Marsden, a Gitanyow member from Wilp Gamlakyeltxw who works with the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs, said the decision to sign on to the project in 2014 was based on information available at the time. She questioned whether the Gitanyow were given all the data needed to make an informed decision. 

“How much information do we have? What is the information that’s available to us? Is it only what the company is telling us? Is it what the government’s telling us? Or is it our own science, our own data?”

Since signing the agreement, the Gitanyow have implemented extensive fish and wildlife programs, gathering vital data about habitat and impacts, including how climate change is affecting their lands and waters. Naxginkw said this makes all the difference. 

“We make decisions that affect so many people: people seven generations from now, people downstream, people upstream,” she said. “A billion-dollar cheque is not wealth — that will be gone. Investing in our young people and giving them a chance at a healthy future, that is wealth.”

‘Make our ancestors happy’

“You have to look at these young ones,” Watakhayetsxw said at the blockade Thursday evening. “That’s the reason I’m here. This land isn’t mine, it’s theirs.”

Gamlakyeltxw held up a handful of paper as he stood on the gravel road, his eyes shining. He explained how the agreement between the chiefs and TC Energy had come to be. 

“We were told that it was going to go through no matter what, and we said, if it’s going to go through, we’re going to do it right,” he said. 

He paused, looking at the agreement in his hands.

“I’m quite proud tonight to have you all here to witness burning this thing.”

Simogyet (Chief) Gamlakyeltxw Wil Marsden lights the pages of a Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline benefits agreement on Aug. 22, 2024
A pile of ashes after Gitanyow chiefs and supporters burned a PRGT pipeline benefits agreement
After burning the agreement, Gamlakyeltxw said he felt the actions of youth who attended the community meeting made the ancestors happy.

Calling the youth to join him, Gamlakyeltxw acknowledged their strength and power.

“You don’t have an identity crisis like we do. You’re proud of who you are and that’s a good thing, and that’s something we didn’t have.”

He knelt and lit the first page. As the youth followed his lead, adding pages to a cardboard box, the flames quickly consumed the document. Gamlakyeltxw grinned as one community member commented: “This is a cultural burn.”

As the flames receded, leaving a pile of ashes on the road, Gamlakyeltxw reflected.

“We just want to make our ancestors happy. I know they’re very happy we’re here.”

Like a kid in a candy store
When those boxes of heavily redacted documents start to pile in, reporters at The Narwhal waste no time in looking for kernels of news that matter the most. Just ask our Prairies reporter Drew Anderson, who gleefully scanned through freedom of information files like a kid in a candy store, leading to pretty damning revelations in Alberta. Long story short: the government wasn’t being forthright when it claimed its pause on new renewable energy projects wasn’t political. Just like that, our small team was again leading the charge on a pretty big story

In an oil-rich province like Alberta, that kind of reporting is crucial. But look at our investigative work on TC Energy’s Coastal GasLink pipeline to the west, or our Greenbelt reporting out in Ontario. They all highlight one thing: those with power over our shared natural world don’t want you to know how — or why — they call the shots. And we try to disrupt that.

Our journalism is powered by people just like you. We never take corporate ad dollars, or put this public-interest information behind a paywall. Will you join the pod of Narwhals that make a difference by helping us uncover some of the most important stories of our time?
Like a kid in a candy store
When those boxes of heavily redacted documents start to pile in, reporters at The Narwhal waste no time in looking for kernels of news that matter the most. Just ask our Prairies reporter Drew Anderson, who gleefully scanned through freedom of information files like a kid in a candy store, leading to pretty damning revelations in Alberta. Long story short: the government wasn’t being forthright when it claimed its pause on new renewable energy projects wasn’t political. Just like that, our small team was again leading the charge on a pretty big story

In an oil-rich province like Alberta, that kind of reporting is crucial. But look at our investigative work on TC Energy’s Coastal GasLink pipeline to the west, or our Greenbelt reporting out in Ontario. They all highlight one thing: those with power over our shared natural world don’t want you to know how — or why — they call the shots. And we try to disrupt that.

Our journalism is powered by people just like you. We never take corporate ad dollars, or put this public-interest information behind a paywall. Will you join the pod of Narwhals that make a difference by helping us uncover some of the most important stories of our time?

$375M Indigenous-led conservation deal just signed in the Northwest Territories

Get the inside scoop on The Narwhal’s environment and climate reporting by signing up for our free newsletter. On a wintry morning in Behchokǫ̀, a...

Continue reading

Recent Posts

Our newsletter subscribers are the first to find out when we break a big story. Sign up for free →
An illustration, in yellow, of a computer, with an open envelope inside it with letter reading 'Breaking news.'
Your access to our journalism is free — always. Sign up for our weekly newsletter for investigative reporting on the natural world in Canada you won’t find anywhere else.
'This is not a paywall' text illustration, in the black-and-white style of an album warning label
Your access to our journalism is free — always. Sign up for our weekly newsletter for investigative reporting on the natural world in Canada you won’t find anywhere else.
'This is not a paywall' text illustration, in the black-and-white style of an album warning label