Hearings for the controversial Northern Gateway Pipeline got underway in Edmonton yesterday, as a string of native elders told the panel reviewing the project that they feared it would endanger their way of life.
The elders from the Samson Cree nation told the three-member panel the pipeline would disrupt their traditional hunting and gathering grounds and would skirt several traditional ceremonial sites.
The proposed pipeline would start in Bruderheim and run to the British Columbia coast at Kitimat, carrying as many as 500,000 barrels of bitumen per day through Sturgeon County and the Alexander First Nation. A second pipeline would run parallel carrying dilutent back from the coast.
Six days of hearings will take place in Edmonton as part of a broader, nearly two-year process to decide if the pipeline should be approved.
Victor Bruno, one of several people from the Samson Cree nation to speak Tuesday morning, said he has long been concerned about Alberta's industrial activity and he is concerned the pipeline will further spoil the natural landscape.
“I have always had grave concern on all the industrial activities that are being carried out in Alberta, but this one particularly added some heaviness in my heart,” he said. “We want to see our children, our great-great-grandchildren enjoy Alberta as it is, let's not spoil it anymore.”
Bruno said he was concerned about how close the pipeline passed through routes for the Lac St. Anne pilgrimage and to Poundmaker Lodge where an annual powwow is held, along with several other ceremonial sites.
“Nothing will be the same, I believe that once you have designated a sacred area and the elders have always maintained it, it should not be disturbed.”
Derwayne Buffalo, who hunts in the area, said he was concerned about what the pipeline could do to the animal populations he depends on.
“Animals are always migrating all over. They don't just stay in one area and the water table around the areas, you never know what kind of species are going to be affected,” he said. “We don't know if it is going to burst, how safe it is and for the animals they are going to migrate in different areas.”
Several Samson women also testified and said they were concerned about the impact the pipeline might have on their ability to gather traditional medicines and herbs.
Lorna Saddleback told the panel they passed all of these traditions along to their children, who don't understand why the process is unfolding as it is.
“I really don't have the answers for them.”
Protestors
The opening of the hearings attracted about 30 protestors who called for the project to be scrapped. Mike Hudema, a spokesperson for Greenpeace, said the pipeline would just lead to greater and reckless expansion of the oilsands.
“This pipeline is a pipeline to disaster. What it would do is it would lock Canada into a dirty, a dangerous and a devastating energy future.”
He targeted Enbridge specifically and said with the company's safety history they should not be allowed to build.
“What we know is that spills happen, they happen all the time and Enbridge has a hideous track record of letting them happen.”
The hearing continues through this week and into next. Sturgeon County Mayor Don Rigney is set to speak next Tuesday and the representatives from the Alexander First Nation were scheduled to speak today.
