Liberal commitment to new beginning under fire

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/09/2016 (2755 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signalled it utterly rejects the disrespect for aboriginal rights shown by the former Conservative government of Stephen Harper. This was seen in May when Canadian ministers turned up at the United Nations in New York and announced Canada now fully supports and would sign the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.

The former government refused to sign. It feared the document’s requirement for informed consent to development on indigenous lands would give native people power to veto projects. The new government is trying to make a new beginning in relations with native peoples. Signing the declaration was a first step.

As a practical matter, however, development on indigenous lands seems to be happening under the Liberals pretty much the same as it happened under the former government — with or without the high principles.

In July, on the Friday of the August long weekend, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans issued, as unobtrusively as possible, a permitting document authorizing British Columbia Hydro to build a $9-billion dam and power station at a location known as Site C on the Peace River in northeastern B.C. The dam will fill a reservoir 83 kilometres long and flood 5,340 hectares of land covered by Treaty 8.

The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs objected to the federal green light. Treaty 8 First Nations were awaiting an appeal-court ruling on their lawsuit opposing the hydro project. Other owners of affected land are also opposed.

This week, the government announced its approval — with a long list of conditions — for the Pacific Northwest LNG project. The $36-billion project includes a pipeline through the mountains to Prince Rupert, B.C., to be built and operated by TransCanada Corp. and a natural gas liquefaction and export facility to be built on Lelu Island near Prince Rupert. Petronas, the Malaysian national oil company, would be majority owner of the plant.

The local First Nations communities have not consented to the project. The Skeena Corridor Nations issued a statement warning Ottawa that “providing a green light for this project at this time will only lead to protracted litigation.” The group includes the Lax Kw’alaams band, whose territory surrounds Lelu Island.

The Liberals’ plan was to avoid the kind of obstacles and delays that blocked the Northern Gateway bitumen pipeline through the mountains to Kitimat, B.C. They meant to make sure that, aside from formal approval through research and public hearings, development projects on aboriginal lands would have “social licence.” They meant to consult First Nations and the public so carefully and sensitively all parties would recognize their concerns had been heard and understood.

The Liberals’ plan has not yet failed, but it hasn’t succeeded, either. The First Nations affected by the Site C dam and the Lelu Island LNG plant may or may not have the power and determination to block these projects. Courts will have to decide whether the quality of consultation for the two projects should pass muster. The government’s calculation, apparently, is the broad public will not be much impressed with the objections. If the opponents can win wide public sympathy for their case, then the government may pay a political price for approving megaprojects that run roughshod over the ancient rights of native people.

That, finally, may be what “social licence” comes down to. Once the proponents have made their case and the opponents have expressed their objections, the government makes a political judgment about what the country will accept. If they judge the electorate’s mood correctly, the First Nations interest is overruled. If they misjudge, then the government’s parliamentary majority may be at risk. That’s not what the UN declaration says, but that’s the way we’re doing it.