First Nations from north-central B.C. have taken their protest of the $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline overseas to Europe, telling the Royal Bank of Scotland to stop financing the project and the Calgary-based company.
The Yinka Dene Alliance -- which is being supported by the Indigenous Environmental Network and the United Kingdom Tar Sands Network -- say the Royal Bank of Scotland has raised more than $266 million US for Enbridge Inc., including $100 million in financing in the last six months alone.
"(Royal Bank of Scotland) should not make money from business with Enbridge, whose proposed pipeline will result in the pipelines spills that threaten our salmon economy, our water security and our cultural foundation," said Jasmine Thomas, 24, a member of the Saik'uz, who went to the U.K. to deliver the message.
The Yinka Dene Alliance -- which represents the Saik'uz, Nadleh Whut'en, Takla Lake, Nak'azdli and Wet'suwet'en -- has already delivered a similar message to the major banks in Canada.
Royal Bank of Scotland representatives in Canada and the U.S. -- the bank has an office in Calgary -- would not speak directly to the protest.
But the United Kingdom-based bank did issue a prepared statement from its office in Stamford, Conn.
Royal Bank of Scotland said as a large international bank it provides support across many industries that reflect the makeup and choices of society and the economy. "We recognize the concerns raised regarding the extraction of oil sands and our lending is subject to the achievement of strict social and environmental standards," said the bank in the statement. "We welcome the efforts of the Alberta and Canadian governments as well as the industry to reduce the sectors effect on the environment."
The controversial pipeline project has attracted increasing protest from First Nations and environmental groups, as well as some northern B.C. communities, unions and tourism groups. The primary concerns are the risk of a pipeline spill on salmon-bearing rivers in northern B.C., and the impact of a spill in northwestern coastal waters.
Enbridge has touted the economic benefits of the project to the region and Canada, saying it will be built to the highest safety standards. The company has also said the pipeline and tanker traffic can be operated safely.
The proposed 1,170-kilometre pipeline is meant to open up new markets in Asia, particularly China, for crude from the Alberta oilsands. The proposed route would take the pipeline just north of Prince George, ending in Kitimat, where large tankers would be filled with oil for transport overseas. Condensate, an oil thinner, would be returned on smaller ships and transported by a smaller, twin pipeline back to Alberta.
Enbridge has offered a benefits package to First Nation, including a 10 per cent ownership stake in the pipeline valued at $280 million over 30 years. The benefits package -- which also included an offer of $400 million worth of jobs and contracts -- has already been rejected by the Yinka Dene Alliance.
The pipeline is still in the preliminary stages of a federal panel review, expected to take about two years.
