“Many First Nations are opposed to this sort of project.”: Teegee on proposed Alberta pipeline

“It’s going to be very difficult to get any project like this through British Columbia.”

That’s from BC Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Terry Teegee after Alberta and Ottawa worked towards an agreement to build a new pipeline along BC’s coast.

In an interview, Teegee told Vista Radio there are no shortage of concerns from area First Nations if such a project gained momentum.

“The Hecate Straight is a very precarious where a tanker would come in and we all know the ongoing effects of what we see on Exxon Valdez (in 1989) laying aground in Alaska along the coast. When it comes to the risks, its a matter of when and where this pipeline breaches.”

Simply put, Teegee believes the proposed route of the project has a lot more risk than reward and that the opposition of such a project will likely come in many forms.

“The area especially on the coast and the Interior I would say contributes to the B.C. economy and right now we are at over $21 billion dollars and 200-thousand that have jobs who would be at risk in these areas especially along the coast. I think we are very concerned about the risks.”

“Many first nations as far as I know that I have seen either publicly or have put statements out are opposed to any sort of project in the route that they are proposing in the northwest coast not only going across the terrestrial lands of British Columbia but also the coastal lands where there is an ongoing tanker ban.”

“This project would be imposed on British Columbia to take a lot of the risk as well as completely ignoring the fundamental obligations of the federal government and the province of B.C. to uphold the United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” added Teegee.

Teegee concluded many first nations will likely not support this project looking at different avenues to get their concerns out whether its publicly or via the court system.

-Story by Brendan Pawliw-MyPGNow