First Nations,whose territory covers the entire B.C. coast have expanded their opposition to the transport of crude from the Alberta oilsands to include Kinder Morgan's pipeline to the south.
Representatives of more than 61 First Nations signed a declaration Thursday in Vancouver banning all such exports through their territories and comes on the first anniversary of a similar declaration that was limited to the Enbridge proposal through Northern B.C.
"North or south, it makes no difference. First Nations from every corner of B.C. are saying absolutely no tar sands pipelines or tankers in our territories," said Chief Jackie Thomas of Saik'uz First Nation, a member of the Yinka Dene Alliance, in a statement.
"We have banned oil pipelines and tankers using our laws, and we will defend our decision using all the means at our disposal."
Kinder Morgan is planning an open call to determine commercial interest for expanding capacity of its Trans Mountain Pipeline south to the Lower Mainland.
The 1,150-kilometre-long pipeline brings oil from the Alberta oilsands into B.C. near Valemount and south into the Lower Mainland, with connections to the U.S. at Sumas, and also overseas through a terminal in Burnaby.
The plans call for the 300,000 barrels-per-day pipeline to be expanded to 700,000 barrels per day and the intent is to use a phased approach to reach its goal.
In June 2010, Kinder Morgan filed a letter with the National Energy Board asking that it defer further consideration of Enbridge's Northern Gateway until it can "demonstrate that adequate commercial support for the project exists."
Enbridge denies First Nations opposition to Gateway is unanimous and repeated its offer to give aboriginals an economic stake in the project that would be worth about $1 billion.
The company says protecting the environment is one of its key concerns and it's confident Gateway can be built and operated safely.
-- with files from Canadian Press
