First Nations Win Permanent Protection From LNG Projects

Above Photo: Declaration Signatories. Dan Mesec

First Nations, Mlas and MP Sign Declaration for Permanent Protection of Lelu Island from Petronas LNG Project

Prince Rupert, BC: Lelu Island and Flora Bank, critical habitat for wild salmon at the mouth of the Skeena River in northwestern B.C., have been declared permanently protected from industrial development by an unprecedented coalition of First Nations leaders, local residents and federal and provincial politicians.

The signing of The Lelu Island Declaration presents a major obstacle to plans by Malaysian-owned oil and gas giant, Petronas, to develop a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant near Prince Rupert. The declaration also deals a huge blow to the provincial government’s stated aim to get major LNG plants under construction before next year’s provincial election.

“The Lelu Declaration sends a powerful message to Premier Clark and Prime Minister Trudeau,” said Hereditary Chief Yahaan of the Gitwilgyoots Tribe of the Lax Kw’alaams. “The support to stop this LNG project is overwhelming. Nations are united from the headwaters of the Skeena River to the ocean. Together, we will fight this to the end.”

The declaration was the culmination of a two-day Salmon Nation Summit, where more than 300 hereditary and elected First Nations leaders, scientists, politicians, commercial and sport fishermen, and other northern residents came together to defend wild salmon from the proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG project.

Signatories to the declaration included hereditary leaders from the Nine Allied Tribes of the Lax Kw’alaams First Nation, and hereditary leaders of the Gitxsan, Wet’suwet’en, Lake Babine, and Haisla First Nations. Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs also signed the declaration.

The Petronas project was also emphatically rejected by NDP MP Nathan Cullen (Bulkley Valley), and three northern NDP MLAs: Jennifer Rice (North Coast), Doug Donaldson (Stikine), and Robin Austin (Skeena). All four of the region’s elected representatives signed the declaration. “This project isn’t going to happen. This project can’t happen,” Cullen said. The three MLAs released a letter that said, in part, “the proposed PNW LNG facility poses an unacceptable risk to the Flora Bank habitat that is an irreplaceable link in the Skeena River salmon ecosystem.”

Gerald Amos, Chair of Friends of Wild Salmon stated, “We honour the support of our elected representatives. Unlike the Clark government, they are prepared to stand up for an economy that recognizes our Aboriginal title, plays a part in the fight against climate change, and favours long-term prosperity for all the people of the Skeena, over short-term gain for foreign investors.”

The Lelu Island Declaration states: “The undersigned First Nation leaders and citizens of the Nine Allied Tribes of Lax Kw’alaams hereby declare that Lelu Island, and Flora and Agnew Banks, are hereby protected for all time, as a refuge for wild salmon and marine resources, and are to be held in trust for all future generations.”

The declaration extends an invitation to all First Nations, the governments of Canada and British Columbia, and all communities and citizens that depend on the health of Lelu Island, Flora and Agnew Banks and the Skeena River estuary, to join in defending this sacred and unique place and to protect it for all time.

Chief Na’MOKS of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation said, “Once again First Nations are being forced to take action because the government refuses to obey the laws of the land. We are salmon people and if we don’t defend Flora Bank, there will be no protection for our salmon. The salmon is who we are, and without them we lose our identity and our future.”

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said, “Contrary to the false assertions of the B.C. Liberal government and Petronas’ public relations machine, there is formidable opposition to the LNG project proposed for Lelu Island. What binds people together throughout northwest B.C. is the undeniable fact that wild salmon are at the centre of our livelihoods and existence. It is essential that the Trudeau government immediately intervene in the fundamentally flawed Canadian Environmental Assessment process to ensure that the Indigenous rights of the nations of the Skeena watershed are upheld.”

Media contacts:
Hereditary Chief Yahaan (Donnie Wesley), Tsimshian Nation: (250) 615 7787
Chief Na’MOKS (John Risdale), Wet’suwet’en Nation: 250-643-0771
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President, Union of BC Indian Chiefs (250) 490 5314
Gerald Amos, Chair of Friends of Wild Salmon: (250) 632 1521

Declaration text:  http://bit.ly/20nclg3 
Signed Declaration photo: http://bit.ly/1ZLuUYX

For pictures and MLA letter, contact Greg: 250-634-1021
For video clips for TV, contact Quinn: 250-641-7364