Treaty 8 First Nations respond to B.C. MoU with PNW LNG

The Treaty 8 First Nations have reacted angrily to the government of British Columbia’s recent announcement that it has reached a project development agreement (PDA) and long-term royalty agreement (LRTA) with Petronas for the proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG project.

The leadership of Fort Nelson First Nation, Prophet River First Nation and West Moberly First Nations have released a statement claiming that the Treaty 8 First Nations were not consulted on the PDA or the LRTA.

The statement read: “If [the Pacific NorthWest LNG export] facility is built, it will cause significant and irreparable harm to the ability of Treaty 8 First Nations to practice their Treaty rights.

“To feed the Pacific NorthWest LNG facility, Progress Energy will need to drill thousands of new wells and install huge amounts of infrastructure, including roads, pipelines, and gas plants. Those activities will have serious adverse impacts on our lands, waters, animals, and other resources. They will compromise our territory and treaty rights for generations.”

The statement added that while the Treaty 8 nations are not opposed to sustainable and responsible natural resource development, they wish to be fully informed and involved in the decisions that will determine the future of their territory: “The PDA and LTRA are strategic decisions with major consequences for our territory and treaty rights. British Columbia must meaningfully consult and accommodate these Treaty 8 First Nations on such important decisions and all other aspects of this proposed project that could impact our rights. It cannot focus on the plant site and ignore the upstream developments. Failure to meaningfully consult us will only lead to more uncertainty in northeast BC.”

Edited from press release by Callum O'Reilly

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquefaction/22052015/treaty-8-first-nations-respond-to-bc-mou-with-pnw-lng-810/