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| Mayor John Helin (seen above from May of 2018) has issued a statement on behalf of the Lax Kw'alaams First Nation government applauding the Senate decision to recommend that the Oil Tanker Ban Bill not move forward |
While those that have expressed their disappointment at the recommendation from the Senate Committee for the Government to abandon the Tanker Ban Bill continue to marshall their supporters to push for it to be approved, the Lax Kw'alaams First Nation government has spoken out in favour of the prospect of the defeat of the Bill.
In an information release from this morning Mayor John Helin has welcomed the Senates recommendation not to move forward, a position that he notes he has raised with officials from Ottawa in the past.
“The senate’s decision is a victory for Lax Kw’alaams and all Indigenous communities looking to generate economic opportunities and build better lives for members, Lax Kw’alaams does not appreciate governments imposing their position on us, as was done in this situation. True reconciliation means something and self-determination means something, and imposing moratoriums without consulting those affected goes against these principles"
In May of 2018, Mr. Helin travelled to Ottawa as part of the House of Commons process towards the Oil Tanker Moratorium bill, noting at that time how the oil moratorium was "imposing hardship on his community without any consultation."
Mr. Helin also spoke to the issue of Bill C48 during the Committee hearings in April at the Highliner Inn, one of a number of First Nations Leaders from the Northwest who participated in the Committee Hearings last month.
From his contribution to the proceedings of last month, the Lax Kw'alaams mayor made note of the struggles in the fishing industry, a lack of attention found from Ottawa and how his community sits on the sidelines,
"Unfortunately, where some of our communities are situated, that’s all they have to look forward to, because they’re not situated close to Prince Rupert or close to Vancouver, or somewhere else where they can diversify into something else. A lot of our communities are in isolated situations, and unfortunately, because of whatever reason, there’s a lack of fish and lack of access to quotas.
And that’s what I mean when I talk about deaf ears in Ottawa. Jimmy Patterson bought a big chunk of the fleet here on the coast, and somebody mentioned a cannery in Prince Rupert. He owns that. He shut it down. He moved his workers to Alaska, for obvious reasons.
We sit on the sidelines because we don’t have access to the halibut quota, which is worth a lot of money. All the different species that are worth money, we can’t access. So it’s unfortunate in a lot of situations where a lot of our communities are situated.”
At that April Committee session the topic of the Eagle Spirit Pipeline and Terminal project also made for some of the current of the debate.
That project, is one that has been championed from its inception by Mr. Helin's brother Calvin, who is the President and CEO for Eagle Spirit.
At the time of his testimony, Mayor Helin noted that the scale of benefits that he negotiated in the past related to LNG, the opportunities available to improve life in his community means he must keep an open mind on all types of development.
Senator Cormier: I am trying to understand your position here, because I heard you say that there was no consultation from the federal government. I understand that there needs to be a strong consultation with all communities. You are against the bill, but you’re saying at the same time that there is no project that Eagle is a proposal. So what are you saying to your people who are for the bill because they want to protect their way of life, they want to protect the environment? What kinds of concrete benefits can you tell them to reassure them, to say that, well, if we go against the bill, then we’ll have a lot of jobs, jobs for young people? Do you have numbers? I mean, if I was part of your community, that’s the answer I would be looking for. I don’t understand right now, other than the no consultation factor, why you’re against it. So I would like you to speak in this, please.
Mr. Helin: I think it comes back to my opening remarks, about somebody slamming the door in your face without talking to you. Everybody talks about fishing from our community, but you can’t make a living doing that anymore. You have to evolve. There’s nothing that’s concrete out there, in oil or gas, right now. But you know that LNG project that was proposed here a couple of years ago, we negotiated $2 billion worth of benefits over the 40-year life of that project. Who else is going to give you that? With the federal government and their handouts that they give us, and all the social problems we have, all the housing problems we have, it’s hard for me as a leader to go to the membership and say, “Have an open mind.”
Senator Cormier: So do I read you well? Fisheries is from the past and oil is the future? Is that what you are saying?
Mr. Helin: Well, right now it is, because you can’t make a living at it. But we don’t give up on it. I’m not saying give up on it. That’s why I go to Ottawa and fight DFO.
The Chair: You think they can live side by side?
Mr. Helin: Oh, yes.
Mr. Helin's commentary and today's announcement on behalf of the Lax Kw'alaams Government puts them somewhat out of the circle of local politicians with Mayor Lee Brain, MLA Rice and MP Nathan Cullen all having strongly endorsed the need for an Oil Tanker Ban for the North Coast.
You can review the testimony of all of those who spoke to the Committee both in Ottawa and during their tour of the Northwest from the archive page from the Senate Committee here. Use the search engine under the title of Witnesses to find the testimony of those participants of interest to you.
For more items of note related to Federal politics see our archive page here, while a wider overview of the Federal scene in Ottawa is available through our political blog D'Arcy McGee.
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