First Nations push back against Clark’s LNG dream

BC First Nations say it’s the first legal challenge to the Christy Clark government’s trumpeted LNG industry.

Two First Nations near Fort St. John have filed a judicial review of B.C.’s decision to issue an Environmental Assessment Certificate for TransCanada’s Coastal GasLink Pipeline Project in October.

Tribal Chief Terry Teegee with the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council says he foresees more push back to resource projects.

“Over the past year, the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline was approved, three major LNG projects were approved, as well as Site C, so we got a lot of really big development projects that have been approved that have national and provincial significance without proper scrutiny from First Nations.”

The natural gas pipeline would go from northeastern BC to Kitimat. The push back comes in the wake of other resource project approvals like the Site C Dam which left many Aboriginal groups unhappy.

“I think there would be more push back to these types of projects because the environmental process is too weak and it doesn’t address a lot of the concerns of First Nations.”

“I think there would be more push back to these types of projects because the environmental process is too weak and it doesn’t address a lot of the concerns of First Nations.”

https://www.am730.ca/syn/112/59786/59786