Indigenous rights collide with $35B Western Canada pipeline expansion

Trans Mountain, the company that’s building the federal government-owned pipeline expansion from Alberta through B.C., says its project, which is billions of dollars over budget, is now 95 per cent complete.

Except there’s a problem.

Some residents of an Indigenous community are opposing construction on part of the pipeline, near Jacko Lake, B.C.

From a giant mining project in northern Ontario known as the Ring of Fire to the recently completed yet still-controversial Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline in northern B.C., Canada continues to struggle to find the sweet spot between resource development and securing free, prior and informed consent from Indigenous communities like Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation.

You wouldn’t know it listening to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has repeatedly emphasized his government’s commitment to reconciling with First Nations, Inuit and Metis Peoples.

But the legal system, says UBC law professor Gordon Christie, still has a long way to go before it meaningfully addresses the fundamental principle that Indigenous Peoples in Canada must grant free, prior and informed consent.

Despite the Charter of Rights and Freedoms existing for 30 years, “we have a pretty anachronistic, old-school system still,” Christie tells Global News.

The Canadian government, he says, talks a good talk about respecting Indigenous communities’ wishes when it comes to resource projects.

But it’s clear, Christie adds, that the Crown does not want to give up the supreme decision-making power it has enjoyed for 150 years.

It’s a power, he adds, that is built upon the “doctrine of discovery,” which allowed European explorers to steamroll over Indigenous rights and title to their own land. |Read more https://globalnews.ca/news/10103531/indigenous-rights-collide-with-35b-western-canada-pipeline-expansion/| globalnews.ca/news/10103531/in…

#bcpoli #TransMountain #pipeline #indigenous #sacred #JackoLake #environment

Environmental concerns loom over Glencore takeover of Teck coal mines

A prominent conservation group in southeastern British Columbia says it will push the federal and provincial governments to pressure Swiss-based coal giant Glencore PLC into addressing serious environmental problems with the B.C. steelmaking coal mines it wants to acquire from Teck Resources Ltd.

“Allowing Glencore to take control of Teck’s coal mines could be disastrous,” said Randal Macnair, a conservation coordinator for the B.C. environmental group Wildsight, in a post on the group’s website.

Wildsight pointed to Glencore’s history as the former owner of the Anaconda Aluminum Company in Montana, now costing the U.S. government tens of millions of dollars in cleanup costs. “Money for cleanup must be a top priority before any transfer of ownership takes place,” Macnair said. “Adequate funds must be held to cover the costs of reclamation as well as water quality environmental remediation so Canadian taxpayers aren’t left holding the bill.”

Wildsight said the deal should not be approved until there is a review by the International Joint Commission (IJC), the binational agency established by the Canadian and U.S. governments to resolve trans-border water issues.

The group was commenting on last week’s announcement of a US$8.9-billion takeover offer from Glencore – along with partners Nippon Steel of Japan and POSCO steel of South Korea – for the coal operations of Canada’s largest diversified mining company. If approved by the federal government, the deal would give Glencore control of Teck subsidiary Elk Valley Resources, which operates four sprawling open-pit coal mines in the Elk Valley of southeastern B.C. The remaining assets – primarily copper and zinc – will remain with Teck. |Read more https://www.corporateknights.com/mining/environmental-concerns-loom-over-glencore-takeover-teck-coal-mines/| corporateknights.com/mining/en…

#bcpoli #coal #mining #teck #glencore #steelmaking #cleanup #costs #environment

Alberta UCP MLA’s Voted to Keep Healthcare Access Fees

Dr. Luanne Metz
@luanne_metz
For immediate release
November 20, 2023

EDMONTON – The UCP has voted against Bill 201, the Alberta Health Care Insurance (Access Fees) Amendment Act, that would ensure no Albertan would have to pay out of pocket to access health-care services in Alberta.

“I am disappointed that the UCP would vote against every day Albertans,” said Gurinder Brar, MLA for Calgary-North East who introduced the bill last month. “The line to see a doctor is getting longer every day under the UCP, and we haven’t seen this government take real action on ensuring all Albertans have access to a family doctor when and where they need one.”

Over the summer, a clinic in Calgary attempted to charge additional fees for physician access, which was finally halted after significant public opposition.

“The corners that physicians are being backed into by the consistent undermining of our health system by the UCP goes directly against the very values of public health care,” said Brar. “That’s why this bill was so important. It would fully protect Albertans’ rights to quality public health care, which the UCP is insistent on dismantling.” |Read more https://twitter.com/luanne_metz/status/1726746645935849630| twitter.com/luanne_metz/status…

#abpoli #healthcare #access #fees #affordability #Bill201