[IPSM] Jim Prentice isn't bluffing (Railroading the Dehcho)

[Macdonald Stainsby]

introductory rant by Macdonald Stainsby...

For over thirty years, the Federal government (starting with Trudeau) 
have been trying to jam this project down the throats of the whole 
Mackenzie Valley. The united response of the Dene and Inuvialuit 
originally meant for a new strategy. Divide and conquer, while buying 
off the leaderships (appointed by Ottawa through the Indian Act) are 
slowly working to turn Sunni and Shia against one another while the 
energy resources are readying to walk away with the occupier-- nearly 
the same tactics have been employed in the north, pitting those dehcho 
who continue to defend their rights, their land and their traditions 
against plunder as those who wish to "prevent" development" for the 
other nations. This has worked slowly, but the recent language of the 
federal government and *articles like this one below* betray a fear that 
the pMGP is in trouble, that the colonizers wish to change their 
tactics, and that the racist media are going to go along.

We know that the "war on terror" is about oil and energy, we know it is 
going to be defeated not by singing songs but making it impossible to 
fund and direct this war, in whatever way that happens. If we can stand 
up for self-determination, against the rights of those who wish to cook 
our very planet, and those who wish to destroy the nations who live in 
the north, as majority residents on their own land, against those who 
believe profit is more important than our future, all human beings, and 
against those who wish to undermine an environment in which to be these 
same human beings is possible.

The Dene Thá of northern "BC" and "Alberta" also have a lawsuit against 
the pMGP; the Dehcho are really only following the federal government's 
own recommendations of 30 years ago.

Their fight is not only against the most rapacious energy and petroleum 
companies as well as a racist settler state that still officially 
parrots the "extinguishment" line (in other negotiations), but also 
*for* some of the most dramatic, anti-colonialist alternatives ever 
devised on Turtle Island. They have already set aside 50% of their land 
for permanent protection in areas that are generally close to pristine 
(unlike the south of "Canada").

A side note about how this "hearing phase" is going. The town of 
Wrigley/Pehdzeh Kí, the northernmost Deh Cho community in the Valley.

To force treaties in the south oer a hundred years ago, Canada drove 
what was left of the Buffalo/Bison herds across the border to their 
slaughter in the USA, forcing the nations of Cree and Blackfoot into 
starvation-- and eventually "land for food" --i.e. treaties as a means 
of surrender, not negotiation.

Now, the Dene and Inuivialuit of the north, considering the gas, oil and 
diamond resources alone, should be among the richest nations on the 
planet, yet instead (along with their northern cousins), as a result of 
colonialism and alienation from their own land (et al) have among the 
highest suicide rates on the planet. Back to Wrigley. Beautiful yet 
highly dysfunctional community, sitting on top of oil and gas on the 
edge of the mighty Deh Cho river. Because of the social breakdown legacy 
of residential schools, etc-- there is a lot of community violence 
(alocohol related often) and similar problems. There is no RCMP station, 
no fire station, no new housing, no real services (there is one store, 
open a few hours a week, where you can get a loaf of bread for about $6).

Much like the Treaties were used to get food instead of starvation, 
these pipeline proponents promise to bring in RCMP, a nurses station and 
maybe even a firestation. This is what the bargaining towards a pipeline 
is supposed to bring.

Colonialism has really not changed: Give us all of your land, your 
resources, do not oppose people we import to destroy that land and we'll 
give you the ability not to die. You don't own your resources and you 
have no say, we need this energy to help fund our war for more energy. 
There, we built a road across your land.

You too can be a part of it! Just don't do anything while this continues.

Macdonald

Jim Prentice isn't bluffing

JOHN IBBITSON
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060628.IBBITSON28/TPStory/National/columnists

Today, representatives of the Dehcho First Nation begin their annual 
general assembly, to decide whether Indian and Northern Affairs Minister 
Jim Prentice is bluffing.

He's not bluffing.

The Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline project is stalled. Although other 
bands in the Northwest Territories have reached agreements with the 
federal government that would permit the pipeline to pass through their 
lands in exchange for a share of the revenues, the Dehcho refuse to 
settle. They're not alone.

Imperial Oil, which plans to build the pipeline that would bring gas 
from the Mackenzie Delta down to Alberta and beyond, wants a greater 
return on its investment than the federal government is willing to permit.

Paul Martin's Liberals tried to reach a compromise, but failed. The 
Conservatives are determined to succeed. They've presented the Dehcho 
and Imperial Oil with ultimatums: Settle, or be left behind.

If the Indians and the oil barons understand politics in Ottawa, they'll 
settle.

Governing the territories is maddeningly complex. Along with the 
powerful federal presence and the increasingly autonomous territorial 
governments, many native groups are now self-governing, giving them a 
substantial say over development proposals. Achieving consensus can test 
the patience of the most dogged bureaucrat, though most observers agree 
even this hodgepodge is a vast improvement over the days when Ottawa ran 
the territories by whim.

The pipeline project actually has almost unanimous support. Even though 
the proposed budget has climbed from $5-billion to an unofficial 
$10-billion (and still climbing), natural gas prices have more than kept 
pace with rising steel and labour costs.

The territorial government is onside and among native groups only Dehcho 
leader Herb Norwegian and his supporters remain opposed. Not that they 
object to the pipeline; they simply want a better deal, one that would 
confer on the 4,500-member band effective sovereignty over an enormous 
swath of land.

The Martin government's efforts to woo the Dehcho went nowhere.

Mr. Prentice did not try to woo. About a month ago, he sent a proposal: 
control over about 15 per cent of the claim, along with a cash 
settlement and the right to negotiate self-government.

Mr. Norwegian considers this simply an opening bid. The Conservatives 
insist it's a final offer and warn that if it is rejected, Ottawa will 
proceed with the project without the Dehcho's consent.

The Dehcho could take Ottawa to court, but legal observers believe the 
federal case is rock solid. The darker threat is that the Dehcho will 
resort to civil disobedience to block the pipeline.

But many members of the community reportedly are ready to settle, and 
fear Mr. Norwegian's gamble could leave them with nothing. There is 
speculation Mr. Norwegian could be challenged at the assembly, or that 
the Dehcho could disintegrate into factions.

While the Conservatives wait to see how the situation plays out, 
Imperial Oil continues to demand an estimated $1.5-billion more in 
federal concessions before it will agree to proceed. Otherwise, 
according to insiders, it is threatening to scrap the project altogether.

Go ahead, the feds have told the oil company. TransCanada Pipelines will 
happily take your place.

By next spring, a raft of regulatory, environmental and social-impact 
studies on the pipeline will be complete. Then, it will be time for a go 
or a no-go. The Conservatives are determined to say go.

Not only will the pipeline bring huge economic benefits to the Northwest 
Territories, the gas is essential to prime further development of the 
Alberta oil sands. And the construction contracts will be a bonanza for 
the Ontario steel industry.

Dehcho leaders and oil executives should remember that electoral 
considerations trump all others for this Conservative government. 
Stephen Harper is bound and determined to get his pipeline announcement.

With or without them.

jibbitson at globeandmail.com


-- 
Macdonald Stainsby
http://independentmedia.ca/survivingcanada
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green
In the contradiction lies the hope
    --Bertholt Brecht.