APTN InFocus with Cheryl McKenzie
In this edition we show how some First Nations are earning revenue by working for themselves in the oil and gas industry.
We also discuss the decisions facing First Nations and Métis communities when deciding whether or not to make a deal with a pipeline company to enter their traditional territory.
Mounting court cases stemming from the Indigenous movement to protect the land and water is proving a tough sell for the energy industry. Which is creating a lot of political pressure for the Liberal government.
My reaction to this panel is that I get really pissed off when these so called native law experts like Bill Gallagher (Author of Resource Rulers http://billgallagher.ca/resource-rulers-book/ ) try to confuse our peoples with BS neo-liberal capitalist theories, especially when it comes to arguments for building our economic development around the extraction of fossil fuels and minerals during the era of climate change.
Bill Gallagher and others like former MP Bob Rae can just forget about their dreams of saving the indian thru extractivism…those days are over…the First Nations that continue down the path of extractive development face even harder times then those who preserve the integrity of their waters and lands in line with our original instructions from these mega mining interests.
In every instance First Nations who go down that path find their peoples not just be cash poor but without clean water or food security with no sacred medicines left in their lands to harvest. First Nations like Frog Lake Cree Nation whom have gotten in bed with big oil, try to dupe us all and sell their circumstance as success…my message to Frog Lake is simple: when that 10 000 BPD of oil you are extracting runs out in a couple years, you will find your selves in the same circumstance as Hobbemma and have no clean water left. Just ask Chief Bushy from Fort Mckay Cree Nation in the heart of the #tarsands how his people are doing with no clean water, no animals to hunt, no medicines to harvest, cancer rates thru the roof…..also at this point Solar represents 12-1 jobs compared to the fossil fuel sector, Tesla Renewables, the biggest renewable energy company in the USA made more in their last quarter then the entire fossil fuel sector did in the last year…at this point we have won the economic, scientific and justice based debates to get off this dirty resources and transition to a just economy that does not force First Nations or Canadians to sacrifice certain communities for the economic benefit of shareholders living thousands of miles aways from extraction.
Great job Rueben George!
#Keepitintheground #WaterisLife #StopKM