I take exception to the opening statement in the column entitled “Pipelines, protests and silent LNG supporters”: “A large, funded and organized environmental movement is once again squaring off against the giants of the energy sector in British Columbia.”
This statement is in no way substantiated. It refers to the stand-off between the RCMP and the supporters of the resistance against the Trans-Mountain pipeline, notably the traditional chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en Nation.
I would like to speak to my own experience. As a resident of Dodge Cove, I was part of a group of residents who opposed the development of the Aurora LNG export plant by Nexen-Inpex-CNOOC on Digby Island.
In 2017, the proponent withdrew their application because of economic factors. However, in the two and a half years prior to that withdrawal, we, along with a tiny band of supporters who gave us time and energy (notably young musicians, filmmakers, journalists, and scientists and citizens) fought through a maze of legalese and process the like of which I could never have imagined.
There was no “large, funded and organized environmental movement” helping us, nor helping many of the grass-roots campaigns citizens mount against what most assuredly are large, funded and organized corporations.
Those corporations often have not only their own deep pockets but government backing in the form of licences, agreements and tax breaks, along with tacit support in back-room meetings.
READ MORE: Aurora LNG backs out
My community felt like a David up against a Goliath, not like a Titan in a clash with an equal as the column states. I think this is the case for most if not all citizens groups and factions within First Nations that challenge corporations and governments that seem to hold all the power.
On a final note, I like it when op-ed columns are signed. In my opinion, no signature gives opinion the appearance of unbiased reporting, which it most assuredly is not. I prefer to know whose opinion I am reading.
Lou Allison,
Prince Rupert
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