Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould said the federal government holds the constitutional power to force through the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline but that doing so would follow the “misguided position of the Conservatives.”

The comments, released Tuesday in a 2015 letter submitted by Wilson-Raybould to the democracy advocacy organization, Dogwood Initiative, comes as Canadians await the federal government’s decision on the Trans Mountain and other pipelines expected this afternoon.

In her letter Wilson-Raybould argues Canada needs “greater citizen engagement in decision making.”

“In some ways Kinder Morgan is more complicated than Northern Gateway as it is a proposed expansion of an existing line,” Wilson-Raybould wrote. “I wonder if the Trans Mountain pipeline would ever have been approved in the first place if it was being proposed today?”

The letter casts light on the federal government’s broken promises when it comes to public involvement in pipeline project decision-making. On the campaign trail Justin Trudeau promised to send the Trans Mountain pipeline project review back to the drawing board under a new and improved environmental assessment process.

Trudeau later backtracked, admitting Trans Mountain would not be required to undergo a more robust environmental review. A recent report from a three person ministerial panel tasked with assessing the review process found the pipeline should not be approved without serious consideration of the project's impacts on indigenous rights, Canada's climate committments and marine mammal safety. The Trans Mountain review process has been called "fatally flawed."

Kai Nagata, communications director for Dogwood, said the letter highlights the government's departure from its election promises.

"I think this survey response highlights the gap between what people believed they were voting for and what they'll get if Kinder Morgan is approved," Nagata told DeSmog Canada. "At Dogwood we put a lot of faith in our political representatives, and work hard to give them the benefit of the doubt. That's why we went to such great efforts to engage with candidates across the province last year, and that's why people will feel so deeply betrayed if this Texas tanker project is approved."

Nagata added the pipeline's approval would put Wilson-Raybould in a difficult position.

"It certainly highlights the terrible position she'll be in as a B.C. MP, as an Indigenous lawyer and longtime advocate for First Nations rights — now forced to carry water for a government that clearly doesn't take those obligations seriously."

"If Kinder Morgan is approved over the objections of 17 B.C. First Nations, on the basis of Harper's National Energy Board review, I don't know if Wilson-Raybould will be left with much chance but to resign. It's impossible to reconcile her election promises to constituents last year with what will unfold if Trudeau forces through an approval of Kinder Morgan."

#KinderMorgan Approval Would Be ‘Misguided’ Says Justice Minister in Newly Surfaced Letter https://t.co/tnwsy8rMEZ #cdnpoli #bcpoli

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) November 30, 2016

Prior to the last federal election, Trudeau stated only communities — and not governments — are capable of giving permission for pipeline projects.

In her letter, the Justice Minister reiterated the sentiment: “There is no longer one government or person that can legally or socially make the final decision on this, or any other pipeline.”

The full text of Wilson-Raybould’s letter can be read below:

The question, “Who should make the final decision on Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain expansion?” really speaks to our evolving system of multi-level governance in Canada and the need for greater citizen engagement in decision-making. In some ways Kinder Morgan is more complicated than Northern Gateway as it is a proposed expansion of an existing pipeline. I wonder if the Trans Mountain pipeline would ever have been approved in the first place if it was being proposed today?

To answer the question though, it can be argued the federal government is responsible for pipelines and could try and use its constitutional muscle to push it through in the “national interest.” This, I believe, is the misguided position of the Conservatives. In reality, as with Northern Gateway, this is not going to happen, as there is no longer one government or person that can legally or socially make the final decision on this, or any other pipeline.

In the case of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline it will have a significant impact on our quality of life and local economy. Like all of you reading this, I am concerned, as should be every resident of the Lower Mainland, that this proposal may be approved without proper consideration of the impacts on our land, our waters, and First Nations. Clearly, the recent protests on Burnaby Mountain underscore the difficulty the proponent will have in obtaining a social licence for this proposal. And the recent oil spill in English Bay reminded us of what can happen without solid environmental protections (please see my blog).

Justin and the Liberal party have made it very clear that all energy infrastructure projects must earn the trust of communities if they are to proceed, and that any and all projects must not place our lands, waterways, and ecosystems at risk.

Further, we believe in the need to respect Aboriginal title and rights, including treaty rights. In BC this is of particular importance where serious weight must be given to the issue of un-extinguished Aboriginal title and the requirement for “consent” if projects cross unceded Aboriginal title lands. This situation applies in both the case of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain and Northern Gateway.

The Liberal party understands that in order to properly assess the impact of proposed projects Canada needs open, clear and efficient processes that have reasonable, even-handed rules, clear beginning and ending points, so ultimately decisions can be relied on. We need to restore public trust around processes for approval for resource and industrial development projects.

Unfortunately, and due to Mr. Harper’s actions, we no longer have this in Canada. The Conservatives have eviscerated the environmental assessment process previous Liberal governments had brought into law. A Liberal government will launch an immediate, public review of Canada’s current environmental assessment processes, and based on this review, will replace Mr. Harper’s changes to the environmental assessment process, with a new, comprehensive, timely, and fair process.

For me this is incredibly important and necessary as we start to assess the impact of our actions and seriously address climate change.

Image: Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould via Flickr

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For the past couple weeks, Canadians have been wringing their hands about the suicide epidemic in the Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Cross Lake, Manitoba.   In the community of 6,000, six people have killed themselves in two months and more than 140 suicide attempts have been made in two weeks, leading the First Nation to declare a state of emergency.   Much of the blame has been placed on historic injustices — the very real fall-out of colonization and the residential school system.   But another historic injustice has also come to light: hydro development — which can be traced back to the Northern Flood Agreement of 1977. That agreement forced people from their homes and disrupted hunting, trapping and fishing.   In 2015, Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger personally apologized for the damage caused by hydro development to Cross Lake’s traditional land, way of life and cultural identity. He also acknowledged that Indigenous people were not properly consulted on the Jenpeg hydroelectric dam, 500 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

The apology followed a six-week occupation of the generating station by frustrated residents who said their traditional lands are regularly transformed into a floodway and the promised economic benefits of the dam never materialized.   After the apology, Chief Catherine Merrick said: “It is not possible to capture in words the damage done. Much of the harm is irreparable. It has forever changed our ways of life and our health.”

B.C. Pushes Ahead With Dam Despite Irreparable Damage to First Nations

If you’ve been following the story of the Site C hydro dam in B.C., you could be excused for feeling a very scary sense of déjà vu right about now.   A two-month occupation of land slated for the Site C dam in northeastern B.C. just ended after a court ruling in BC Hydro’s favour.   Indigenous protesters and local landowners camped out for two months in the Peace River Valley this winter to stop BC Hydro from logging at the site of Rocky Mountain Fort.   Four legal challenges to the 1,100-megawatt dam are still in the courts, but Premier Christy Clark has vowed to get the dam “past the point of no return” before the provincial election in May 2017.

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If built, the $8.8 billion dam will be the most expensive public project in B.C. history and will flood 5,000 hectares of land, the equivalent of about 5,000 rugby fields.   The joint federal-provincial panel asked to review the dam found it will have significant adverse effects on First Nations practices and heritage and that many of those effects cannot be mitigated.   Sound familiar?

‘A Denial To Our Identity’

Helen Knott camped out at Rocky Mountain Fort for three days a week for two months, taking vacation time from her job as a social worker.   The 28-year-old is a member of the Prophet River band and her great, great grandfather Chief Makannacha was the reluctant final signatory to Treaty 8 in 1899.

That treaty states that First Nations have the right to continue with their way of life “for as long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the rivers flow.” The contravention of the treaty for the Site C dam has led Amnesty International to get involved because of its violation of human rights.

Helen Knott at the Rocky Mountain Fort protest camp in the Peace River Valley.

Knott struggled with addiction and suicidal thoughts while she was growing up and says the fear of youth suicide is very present in the communities she works in. She worries the construction of the dam “will contribute to a larger sense of disconnection.”

“The land is a part of who we are as Indigenous peoples … continuing to destroy our land is a denial to our identity,” she told DeSmog Canada.

“Having young people witness us fight through the courts and through the Rocky Mountain Fort camp … and seeing the dam going forward any way, what does that say to them about their rights as Indigenous people?”

Cultural Factors Protect Against Youth Suicide: Study

Two B.C. researchers have looked closely at how cultural factors impact youth suicide rates.

They identified six markers of “cultural continuity,” including indications of whether each of B.C.’s 197 bands had: achieved a measure of self-government; litigated for Aboriginal title to traditional lands; accomplished a measure of local control over health, education and policing; and created community facilities for the preservation of culture.

Based on these factors, the researchers were able to establish an overall “cultural continuity index” ranging from 0 to 6.   First Nations communities that had all six markers of “cultural continuity” had suicide rates of zero. Yes, zero.   “First Nations communities that succeed in taking steps to preserve their culture, and that work to control their own destinies, are dramatically more successful in insulating their youth against the risks of suicide,” the researchers concluded.   The paper, “Cultural Continuity as a Protective Factor Against Suicide in First Nations Youth” by psychology professors Michael J. Chandler and Christopher E. Lalonde, notes that Canada’s young Indigenous peoples generally suffer the highest suicide rate of any culturally distinct population in the world. In B.C., that rate is anywhere between five and 20 times higher than that of the general non-Indigenous population.   But while some Indigenous communities experience epidemic rates of youth suicides, many others experience no suicide at all.   The researchers note:

“A promising key to unlocking the puzzle of why suicidal behaviors are so prevalent among the young is to be found in the characteristic pitfalls that mark the course of development that ordinarily leads young people to form some coherent sense of their own identity. A common obstacle facing young persons as they approach this identity-securing task is, our earlier research has shown, the joint necessity of constructing some sense of responsible ownership of a personal and collective past, and some commitment to one’s own future prospects. Without some sense of personal (not to mention cultural) continuity, it would appear, life is easily cheapened, and the possibility of suicide becomes a live option.”

 The researchers continue: “Nowhere is this more apparent than in the identity struggles of young Indigenous persons who are required, not only to clear the standard hurdles of normal growth and development, but are often forced to construct a sense of selfhood out of the remnants of a way of life that has been largely overthrown.”   Is it any wonder Indigenous youth sometimes feel helpless when their communities are being destroyed before their very eyes?

Trudeau's Commitment to a New Relationship with First Nations

Last weekend, Site C protesters tried to catch the eye of federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould while she was in Victoria for the Liberal Party of Canada’s policy convention.   Wilson-Raybould, a member of the We Wai Kai Nation and former regional chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, twice took part in the annual Paddle for the Peace before being elected as a Liberal MP last year.

Asked about calls for a moratorium on continued construction of Site C while legal challenges are before the courts, Wilson-Raybould said she could not speak to that issue, referring questions to the federal ministers of environment and the natural resources.

The fact is that the federal government is responsible for issuing several permits required for construction to continue. Let’s not forget that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised a new relationship with First Nations.   “It is time for a renewed, nation-to-nation relationship with First Nations peoples, one that understands that the constitutionally guaranteed rights of First Nations in Canada are not an inconvenience but rather a sacred obligation," Trudeau said to First Nations chiefs in December.   If we want to begin to put an end to a vicious cycle that devalues the Indigenous way of life and contributes to social problems like youth suicide, the time to fulfill that sacred obligation is now.

You can click here to read more about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and climate change.

Image: Garth Lenz

— With files from Judith Lavoie

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Heavy machinery is muddying the waters of the Peace River and trees are being felled in preparation for construction of B.C.’s controversial Site C dam, but First Nations and area residents believe the $9-billion dam can still be stopped in its tracks.

The hydroelectric megaproject will wipe out prime farmland and flood 107 kilometres of river valley bottom and, at a rally outside Victoria Courthouse Wednesday, George Desjarlais, a West Moberly First Nation elder, said the court challenges will continue and the battle has only just begun.

“We don’t know how to quit, we don’t back away, we don’t stop, we do not give up,” he said to cheers and drumming from the crowd of about 200 people.

In addition to an application by West Moberly and Prophet Lake First Nations, asking the B.C. Supreme Court to quash construction permits, First Nations are appealing the granting of provincial and federal environmental assessment certificates, arguing the decisions infringe on treaty rights.

A decision on the West Moberly and Prophet Lake application is likely to take several weeks, said lawyer Matthew Nefstead.

Requests for judicial reviews were previously turned down and efforts by the Peace Valley Landowner Association to obtain a judicial review were also rejected.

But Site C opponents believe the tide is about to turn.

Bolstering their hopes is the new federal Liberal government and promises by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to respect treaties, strengthen environmental assessment processes and restore environmental regulations.

“I think we are a long way from the point of no return when it comes to shutting this project down,” Ken Boon, president of the Peace Valley Landowner Association, said in an interview.

“We are not planning on Site C destroying this valley and, with the new federal government, there’s still a need for a lot of federal permits for this to proceed,” he said.

A bonus is that Canada’s new Justice Minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, a member of the Kwakwaka’wakw First Nation, has twice taken part in the annual Paddle for the Peace, Boon said.

“When we saw her appointment we all said ‘yes.’ We all have great expectations. She understands the situation of Site C better than any former Conservative minister and understands the huge First Nations issues around Site C,” he said.

Wilson-Raybould could not be reached Wednesday.

Opponents of the dam are also buoyed by the provincial NDP energy plan, released this week, that makes no mention of Site C and instead looks at energy efficiency retrofits, upgrades to facilities such as the existing Revelstoke Dam and emerging energy sources such as wind and solar.

The NDP want Site C referred to the B.C. Utilities Commission and George Heyman, New Democrat spokesperson for the green economy and clean energy, said in an interview that a project that will have such a serious impact on First Nations should not go ahead without serious review.

Heyman stopped short of saying Site C would be cancelled if the NDP forms government, but pointed to the possibility that the courts will halt construction.

“We don’t know where the project will be at that point with the court cases. The project may be stopped either permanently or by injunction,” he said.

“On top of that we have said there’s a better way for British Columbians to deal with our power needs and capacity needs into the future without spending $9-billion and putting all the eggs in one basket,” he said.

Despite misgivings from some unions, the caucus is united behind the energy plan, Heyman said.

“There are twice as many jobs in retrofits and energy conservation than dam construction,” he said.

In the meantime, Heyman said no irreversible work should be taking place around the Peace River.

Boon has complained to BC Hydro about merchantable timber being mulched instead of harvested and sold and contractors walking machines across the water, sending silt and debris into the river, instead of building temporary bridges or using barges.

The construction activities violate regulatory conditions, he said.

“There are a lot of options and walking equipment through the river is not one of them. There’s a kind of wild west atmosphere down there and they know they have the full backing of government.”

Photo sent to me by a source. Appears to be two excavators dragging themselves across the Peace River at Site C. pic.twitter.com/bHX96iKmfw

— Jonny Wakefield (@jonnywakefield) October 19, 2015

Another one from @ArleneBoon pic.twitter.com/qRy9gb73xW

— Jonny Wakefield (@jonnywakefield) October 19, 2015

Desjarlais said it is devastating to watch the destruction.

“They have equipment in the middle of the river,” he said.

“They say they have permits, but we were never consulted. It’s damaging fish habitat, the hydraulic fluid and fuel and oil on the machines is all washing downstream.”

Meanwhile, a coalition of environmental groups is calling on Trudeau to keep Site C out of Canada’s climate strategy at the upcoming Paris climate talks.

“We ask that the federal government recognize that Site C is not a climate solution and that it not give support to the B.C. government in Paris regarding Site C,” says a letter signed by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Sierra Club B.C, Peace Valley Environment Association, Peace Valley Landowner Association, Wilderness Committee and Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.

Site C is a net contributor to climate change through direct emissions, loss of carbon sinks and indirect emissions from hydro electricity being used for fracking and LNG development, it says.

“Our message is don’t buy the greenwash,” said Ana Simeon of the Sierra Club.

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