Haida Nation blasts Enbridge about “deliberately misleading” info in Northern Gateway filing

Haida Nation President Guujaaw is making some serious allegations about “deliberately misleading and false information” in Enbridge Northern Gateway documents provided to the federal Joint Review Panel which will soon commence hearings on the controversial oils sands pipeline project. Specifically, Guujaaw rejects Enbridge’s claim that the Haida are in the process of “relationship building” with the Calgary-based company which is seeking to build an oil transmission pipeline from Alberta to the BC coast at Kitimat. Haida have an interest in the project because oil tankers will carry oil sands crude past Haida Gwaii, which includes a national park and designated UNESCO world heritage site.

Guujaaw’s observation that Enbridge has listed as an aboriginal organization Haida Gwaii Community Futures, a business support organization that derives its funding from the federal government, is non-aboriginal in its makeup and is not part of the Haida aboriginal government, is interesting.

It hasn’t been a good week for Enbridge. Earlier, a majority of Gitxsan hereditary chiefs renounced a much-trumpted profit-sharing deal with Enbridge.

Here’s an email to the Panel, which was cc’d to me on Friday by Guujaaw.

From: guujaaw [mailto:guujaawhaidanation.net]
Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2011 2:46 PM
Subject: Enbridge

December 20, 2011

Enbridge Northern Gateway Project
Joint Review Panel
444 7th Avenue S.W.

Calgary, Alberta T2P 0X8

Attention: Secretary to the Joint Review Panel

Re: statement contained in Volume 5A: Aboriginal Engagement, Appendix D: National and Regional Aboriginal Organizations.

To whom it may concern:

Enbridge has provided deliberately misleading and false information contained in their Section 52 Application claiming that the applicant has built relationships with the Haida Fisheries Program, Haida Development Corporation (sic, presumably Haida Enterprise Corporation) and Haida Child and Family Services. Haida Gwaii Community Futures is not an ‘Aboriginal Organization’ and has no idea how they got on the list.

Representatives of the above organizations are in no way engaged with nor have they given any reason to believe they are “relationship building” with Enbridge. We would like to have all of these names stricken from Enbridge’s filed documents as it is libellous bringing these organizations into disrepute, not only with their own constituents, but also the many First Nations, organizations and people who are committed to the health of this planet.

Respectfully,

Guujaaw
President of the Haida Nation