Members of the Yinka Dene Alliance will be hand delivering letters to staff of resource companies working on their traditional land on Friday, asking them to first get approval before continuing with any work.
Nadleh Whut'en First Nation chief Martin Louie said pipeline companies like Northern Gateway, TransCanada, Spectra as well as mining companies like New Gold, will get notices asking them to fully explain their projects before proceeding with any preparatory work.
The issue came to a head a week and a half ago when Enbridge Northern Gateway sent a fax to inform the band that it would have staff in the region doing some exploratory work. The fax arrived after Louie refused to accept registered letters Northern Gateway had tried to send him.
"I'm not saying that Enbridge isn't allowed to go through our land, but there's a process they have to go through," Louie said.
Northern Gateway is seeking to build a heavy oil pipeline from northern B.C. to Kitimat. The proposed route goes through the territory of a number of Yinka Dene Alliance bands, which are located west of Prince George.
Louie said the consultation process as part of the National Energy Board's Joint Review Panel was imposed on them and has been insufficient. Before any more work proceeds on the project the Nadleh Whut'en leadership want to hear more from Northern Gateway about the plans and any impacts on their community.
"As a chief and council over here, we're actually asking them to come and talk about the whole project with us and give us the overview," Louie said. "We're just trying to make everything more transparent than is happening right now."
Northern Gateway spokesman Ivan Giesbrecht said the company informed all First Nations communities in the area about its work plans and has held meetings with some of them. He described the work as "preliminary reconnaissance" and "minimally invasive."
"Northern Gateway does not undertake any geotechnical investigation work without first obtaining the necessary permits from provincial agencies, who regulate such activity," Giesbrecht wrote in an email to the Citizen. "In addition, Northern Gateway ensures appropriate road use agreements are in place prior to use of any existing forest service roads."
Giesbrecht said the company welcomes "opportunities for future dialogue" with members of the Yinka Dene Alliance in the future.
Louie hopes the cease and desist letters will let the companies involved know the local First Nations groups are serious about further consultation.
"It will let them know that we're watching," he said. "We know all the things that are going on."
Louie is also looking for answers from the provincial government as to why Northern Gateway has been allowed to proceed with the work given B.C. has told the National Energy Board it doesn't support the project as currently constituted.
"[Premier] Christy Clark promised a lot about how these things are going to be carried out and she promised that nothing would be done until after all the hearings were done, but things are already happening," Louie said.
