News that Gitxsan hereditary chiefs have decided to partner with Enbridge on its controversial Northern Gateway pipeline project has come as a shock to Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen.
"It's so opposite to everything I've heard when I've been in the communities," Cullen said Friday afternoon, adding he's received several phone calls from Gitxsan members who say they were left in the dark.
Cullen said he's doing some further investigation on the legitimacy of the announcement and predicted it will only stiffen resolve among those opposed to the project.
"Other leaders are going to learn pretty quickly that you can't go directly opposed to the people on oil," Cullen said.
Two other native leaders issued a statement reiterating their opposition to the project.
"Enbridge is just not going to happen," said Chief Na'Moks (John Ridsdale) representing the Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs. "We have said no and banned this pipeline from going through our territories - not only to protect ourselves and our lands, but also all the communities downriver from our lands.
Speaking for the Yinka Dene Alliance, Saik'uz First Nation Chief Jackie Thomas maintained the "wall of First Nations saying 'no' is unbroken."
"They plan to come through our territories and we've already said no, and we'll use every legal means we have to stop them," she continued and added a majority of British Columbians oppose the project.
