UNIS'TOT'EN TERRITORY—Indigenous resistance to oil and gas pipelines rages on in northern BC. The Unis'tot'en, a clan of the Wet'suet'en Nation, have built a protection camp to block the Pacific Trails Pipeline. For the third time, they called for a convergence in their unceded territories.
This year's camp attracted over 150 people who came from as far east as Montreal and as far south as Florida. The camp organizers reached out to grassroots, community based allies, opting not to tap large environmental NGO's for material support.
Out of the proposed pipeline projects that would cross through Unis'tot'en land, Pacific Trails is the first one slated to begin construction and poses an immediate threat. The natural gas transport project is owned by a partnership between Apache Canada, EOG Resources—formerly Enron Oil and Gas—and Encana. The 463 kilometre PTP pipeline would connect the Spectra Energy Westcoast Pipeline in northeastern BC to a liquified natural gas port on the Pacific Coast, with the aim of transporting gas extracted through hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to overseas markets.
The much talked about Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline proposed for the transportation of tar sands oil to the west coast would be built side-by-side the PTP.
This video was originally published by the Vancouver Media Co-op. Franklin Lopez is a Vancouver-based filmmaker and creator of Submedia.tv.
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