From: Cees de Valk
Dear Minister, dear CEAA,
I am writing you to ask you to withhold your permit for development of the Pacific NorthWest LNG terminal project. I am not an environmental campaigner and I frankly do not care about CO2 emissions (fossil fuels from other sources will be consumed instead of those from the project anyway). However, the overwhelming opposition from the First Nations in the region is a factor that should carry a heavy weight in this matter:
(from the SWCC:) - The Lax Kw'alaams First Nation already voted 100% against this project in May, despite an offer of $1.4 billion from Petronas. - The Lelu Island Declaration was signed by First Nations leaders from across the Skeena watershed, as well as Grand Chief Stewart Philip of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, MLAs Jennifer Rice, Doug Donaldson, and Robin Austin, and MP Nathan Cullen, to protect the proposed site – and its salmon – from LNG development. - Lelu Island has been occupied by Lax Kw'alaams members since August 2015, who have been working to prevent further work on the rejected project. - Madii Lii territory, which the fracked gas pipeline would pass through on the way to Lelu, has been closed to pipeline development by Luutkudziiwus people since Aug. 2014. - Over 100 first nation leaders, scientists, fisherman, and organizations across the province signed a onto a letter from Lax Kw'alaams Hereditary Chief Yahaan to Trudeau requesting the project be rejected. - The Haida Nation passed a resolution banning LNG tankers in their waters in Nov. 2015. The tankers from this project would use this area.
This alone should be more than enough reason to stop the project. In the 21st century, Canada can no longer get away with development at the expense of the First Nations or their livelihoods. You may sincerely believe that the project would ultimately be for their own good, but these people are perfectly capable of weighting the arguments, and they have reached a conclusion which cannot be ignored. Pushing this through against the wishes of the First Nations will only make any kind of resource development much more difficult in the future, putting the long-term economic development of the Province and the Country at risk.
By demanding broad consensus with the First Nations as a precondition for approval of projects like this, development may move slower now than you might like to see. However, on the long term, also in view of the demographics, it will ensure that all Canadians can keep profiting from the natural resources of the Country.
Kind Regards, Cees de Valk
Cees de Valk