Sixty more islanders give the thumbs downHow many ‘no’s’ is the Joint Review Panel looking into the Enbridge pipeline project going to have to hear before it realizes how islanders feel? There’s no real answer to that question, but the panel¬- back on Haida Gwaii last week- heard another 60 or so islanders say “no, no, no” again.This time, the hearings, in Old Massett last Friday and Saturday, were for those registered as oral presenters. Each was given 10 minutes to make his or her views clear to the panel.Friday June 1Douglas Daugert.I would like to submit, as a person living here directly along the path of this project, that my knowledge, experience and reason lead me to oppose the Northern Gateway pipeline, as I predict too high a risk of catastrophe, too near a certainty of compromise to the environment and too much uncertainty in its benefits.Dierdre BrennanWe used to joke that the broker we were, the better we ate because that was when the treasures came out; canned fish, clams, deer meat and berries. The. project puts this kind of food security and self-sufficiency for the next generation seriously at risk. This project threatens not only the last remaining temperate rain forest on earth, but many protected areas and every body of water from the tar sands to China.Estrella HepburnI believe the ocean and the earth are more important than some money in a few people’s pockets. Money never lasts anyway, you always need more. This place and the way of life cannot be sacrificed for that.Susanne SunaGreed is in the process of ruining the very qualities of this land and seascape that I came here for. What is going to become of these pristine beaches if they are polluted by crude oil? We humans should finally admit that we are not as smart as we always think. We have done so much damage already, maybe we should take the whales for an example and stop acting like Gods. Maybe you should act responsible and forget about tankers and start to think about future generations instead.Dominic Legault.We have spoken clearly as individuals and as a united island community. And no means no.Pat Parish.it was interesting that the start of the hearings coincided with an Enbridge spill. Pipelines spill, tankers spill. What I see here is a process where the Prime Minister has indicated that we’re terrorists. I suspect that we shall see you all in court. That’s my statement. Thank you.Babs StevensAgain, I say no to the pipeline and tankers in Haida territory. There is something seriously wrong with democracy when the Prime Minister has made his decision before the hearings are over.Marnie YorkSo, no, no, no, no, do not jeopardize my life, my community’s life. The one best thing about anything that could be said here is it’s going to unite the whole First Nations of BC and everybody else that respects the environment and tries to live a better life. You’re going to unite everybody on this.Suzanne ThibodeauSo to the people of Enbridge, I challenge you to change your path. You are talented, intelligent and resourceful; help the people you have harmed come up with environmentally helpful projects and business ventures so that the earth will thrive as a safe and beautiful place for us all to live.John Smith?If this venture goes ahead, there will be disaster on the horizon and it will only be a question of when and how much toxic material will be released. It will become a part of the environment that shapes us. Our way of life will be decimated or at least, at best crippled for the future and the future will be diminished. But for what?Louise Van der LindenNecessity is the mother of invention. Human ingenuity is limitless. We lived without carbon products for a very long time and we can do it again. No pipelines, no tankers, we need to find another way. Susanne KoenigI don’t see that Haida Gwaii would have any benefit of the tankers coming by. Even if there was no spill, the ballast water could get emptied here and we could get — and while they’re in line, they’ll probably clean out the tankers and drop all their cleaning agents in the water. Yeah, I don’t see how anything good would come economically, or any how else, to Haida Gwaii.Roberta KennedyRight now, my heart is very heavy. As I think about the potential, I know that there will be a spill. There’s not an if or a maybe, there will, and we can’t let it happen.Saturday June 2Jo-Anne ZaleskiThe 100-Mile Diet is not a fad here; it’s always been here. Going to the grocery store to buy food is, for me, often a depressing and financially crippling affair.If you take all the lubrication out of the earth, who is to say that that will not cause an earthquake? Isn’t that stuff there for a reason?Natalie AffolterThe reality which faces all people of Haida Gwaii is that we have nothing to gain and everything to lose.Mary DisneyIn all my life I never thought I would have (to) justify the existence we have here on Haida Gwaii. Brag about it for sure, but never feeling — having to feel you have to tell why it’s important. It is so out of my range of thinking to justify living here. Why do we have to justify to you that we don’t want any oil on our beaches or in our oceans? The people who live here, we say no.Valine CristBy now you know that Haida Gwaii is unequivocally opposed to Enbridge’s proposal. Locals have described extreme weather around Haida Gwaii, navigational issues with the proposal, and land and marine protected areas jeopardized by an inevitable oil spill. You’ve heard that we rely on the land and sea and our lives are wholly interconnected with the natural and spiritual worlds.I sincerely hope that the recommendation that you make reflects the voices that you hear in this review. But as I sit in front of you, I say respectfully and with complete conviction that regardless of the recommendation that you make, regardless of corporate interests and the Canadian government’s agenda, this pipeline will not be built.Margaret EdgarsWhat I wanted to say to the JRP is no, no, no, because our resource is at stake. Our people will die if our food is damaged. We have already lost a lot of our food we love to eat, like urchins.Kelsey KricheldorfThis proposed pipeline threatens not just the people of today, but our children, their children, and the children after them. It is entirely possible that if this pipeline is approved I will never see a tanker spill in my lifetime, but we all know that the more you gamble, the more you have to lose, and right now we are using the lifetimes of future generations as chips.I do not want this pipeline built. I would much rather watch my grandchildren play in the ocean on North Beach, build forts, and eat fresh crab like I did, than have to tell them why they can’t.Daphne WhiteBut I would like the National Energy Board, in your deliberations, to take into account that we have a claim to our territories here, and that, you know, it’s a reality and we are the protectors of our territory, so we want to ensure that our future generations have the choices, enjoyment and the economics as we have today. And this is the same with our brothers and sisters along the routes along where you have visitedElvis DavisHaida Gwaii is one of the cleanest places on earth, and we would like to keep it that way. It worries me that we were almost already brought to extinction by smallpox and now we have to fight to save the food we survive on. One oil spill can destroy all that. When are you going to learn that our kids are going to ask, “Why did you help kill the living things? Are you the reason there’s no food on the store shelves?”Taze KowalI feel like -¬ I feel like we’re being attacked, like our homes being threatened. And then my adrenaline is just pumping because I feel like you guys are trying to harm us and my family… And that’s just not going to happen, like I don’t know, you guys want to make money, you’re here to make money. So it makes sense to me that if it’s money you want, you just turn around and walk away and go somewhere else because it’s not going to happen, ever. I think I’ll stop because I’m too excited. My adrenaline is just pumping. I’m a fighter and I’m ready to fight.Michelle BrownBecause I feel a spill is inevitable, I just think we shouldn’t even be taking that chance. It might not happen this year or this decade but it will happen. I’m here to help stop it for future generations, for my children, for my grandchildren, and for all Canadians because all Canadians do depend on our forests and our fish.Jenny NelsonWhy would anyone choose to work with a pipeline company with such a lousy track record of.spills? That’s not sensible. It’s not sensible to create a protected place like Gwaii Haanas with one hand and threaten to destroy it with the other. It’s not sensible for government to ignore the in-your-face climate instability that threatens us. And not only ignore but gut policies, research and scientific bodies that help us to make informed decisions.Crystal Robinson.All I need to say is dagwiigaa, strong, be strong. Be strong for us Haidas. Dagwiigaa, strong, be strong. Haaw’a. And where will we go when we lose all our medicine and our food and our sustenance? Who will we be? It’s genocide; it will be complete genocide.Meredith AdamsI have been tear-gassed by riot police in two countries and arrested for environmental activism seven times in four countries, and I’ve witnessed the effects of industrial mayhem on five continents. And I have lived and fought for years with grief from the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness trying to stem the drive of industry. And I got really tired of fighting after 13 years. So I settled down and found a home, but now this danger is threatening my home and I won’t sit this one out. I will fight. The panel returns to the islands on June 13, holding hearings in Skidegate for oral presenters. The deadline to submit a written submission is August 31. Details are available at http://gatewaypanel.review-examen.gc.ca
