front lines of resistance to Alton Gas’ highly contested natural gas
storage project. The Alton Gas project threatens to pump up to 10,000
cubic meters of brine per day into the Sipekne’katik (Shubenacadie)
River.
Grassroots grandmother Dorene Bernard spoke about how deeply
connected these two struggles are, recounting an exchange with
Wet’suwet’en hereditary Chief Na’moks: “He came to tell us about their
fight to protect their land and their water, to protect their rights to
title to their land. We walked together and I told him my story: here we
were on the other side, in Mi’kma’ki, and they were in British Columbia
on the Pacific Coast and we had the same issues. We’re talking about
our treaty rights and title to our land: what happens to our lands, what
happens to our waters and the lack of respect to our people.”
The five clans of the Wet’suwet’en Nation and their hereditary chiefs
have rejected all pipeline proposals, including the CGL project,
asserting their sovereignty on unceded territory.