Tag Archives: Coastal Gaslink

Energy, Indigenous Nations, Rivers & Oceans

Tensions rise as Coastal GasLink blasts a creek near a Wet’suwet’en camp

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Less than one kilometre from a Wet’suwet’en camp and village site, where cabins, tiny homes and a feast hall provide space for ceremony, cultural practices and opportunities to reconnect with the land, is a vast muddy clearing, guarded by private security workers. 

Here, the path of the Coastal GasLink pipeline crosses Ts’elkay Kwe (Lamprey Creek), a tributary of Wedzin Kwa (Morice River). This work requires digging a trench right through the creek to bury the pipe under it.

Ts’elkay Kwe is a known spawning channel for steelhead trout trout and other species, including coho salmon, according to a 2007 land-use plan. But steelhead and salmon throughout the watershed are in decline, in part due to widespread clearcut logging and climate change.

Continue reading Tensions rise as Coastal GasLink blasts a creek near a Wet’suwet’en camp →
Energy, Forests

Talk Is Cheap, Part 1: BC Fails to Fulfill its Carbon, Climate, Forestry Promises

The government of Canada, and the BC government, state publicly that they are committed to carbon reduction and proactive responses to climate change; yet both Canada and BC remain consistently among the world’s top carbon emitters per capita. In 2019 Canada was the world’s highest carbon emitter per capita.

On the one hand, our government proposes initiatives that would improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions — in sectors like transportation and construction. But on the other hand, they continue to subsidise existing and new fossil-fuel projects such as LNG Canada and the Coastal Gaslink pipeline — to expand fracking.

Canada’s Liberal government spent $4.5B to purchase the Trans-Mountain Pipeline in 2018, only to announce in Spring 2022 that no further funding would be allocated to the project as cost overruns neared 70%. But wasting money may be the least of our problems. These fossil-fuel projects have huge carbon impacts.

Continue reading Talk Is Cheap, Part 1: BC Fails to Fulfill its Carbon, Climate, Forestry Promises →
Energy

The northern B.C. pipeline you’ve never heard of — Enbridge’s Westcoast Connector

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

The Coastal GasLink pipeline is currently B.C.’s most infamous — with the arrests of Indigenous land defenders and journalists, repeated environmental infractions and celebrity activism from the likes of Mark Ruffalo, Greta Thunberg and Leonardo DiCaprio. 

But the list of controversial pipeline projects in the province doesn’t stop there.  

Continue reading The northern B.C. pipeline you’ve never heard of — Enbridge’s Westcoast Connector →
Indigenous Nations, Justice

Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs hosted a Peace and Unity gathering. RCMP made arrests

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

This week Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs welcomed a delegation from across the country and beyond to the yintah (territory) for a Peace and Unity Summit. Through the four-day event, the chiefs brought together Indigenous leaders, politicians, conservation groups and others to uplift Indigenous sovereignty, share space and join in solidarity with the Hereditary Chiefs in their opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

“It’s really heartwarming to see all the people coming together in peace and unity across Canada to maintain the solidarity of the Wet’suwet’en,” Dinï ze’ (Hereditary Chief) Madeek told attendees at the event.

“You make history by being peaceful. By being here, being together, being united, knowing that we all have the same heart,” Dinï ze’ Na’Moks said.

Arrests weren’t part of the plan.

Continue reading Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs hosted a Peace and Unity gathering. RCMP made arrests →
Justice

One-on-one with the leader of a special RCMP unit tasked with policing opposition to industrial projects in B.C.

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

“Beyond troubling” is how John Brewer, chief superintendent and gold commander of the RCMP’s controversial  Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG), described the conduct of some  of his officers after reviewing audio recorded in the minutes following police arrests of land defenders and journalists in November. 

Continue reading One-on-one with the leader of a special RCMP unit tasked with policing opposition to industrial projects in B.C. →