Approximately 75 people marched through downtown on Saturday to protest inaction on climate change, increased development of the Alberta oil sands and the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline.
The Defending our Climate, Defending Our Communities rally was held locally by the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council and the Sea to Sands Conservation Alliance. It was one of approximately 50 rallies planned across the country on Saturday as a national day of protest.
Carrier Sekani Tribal Chief Terry Teegee said the Prince George rally was particularly aimed at the federal joint review panel reviewing the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline and federal government.
"The answer is still no, we weren't adequately consulted... and we don't want the project," Teegee said. "We want to defend our democracy and defend our environment."
In the case of the Carrier Sekani member bands, he said, the federal government has failed to meet its legal obligations to consult and accommodate First Nations. Currently no treaty exists between the member bands of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council and the Government of Canada on the use of Carrier traditional lands.
"It's more than a matter of consultation... for us it's a decision-making authority," Teegee said.
But concerns about potential oil spills and out-of-control climate change are not exclusive to First Nations, he said.
If the federal government approves the project - and especially if it approves the project against the recommendation of the joint review panel, which is expected to release its report by the end of the year -there will be, "all sorts of people, not just First Nations, protesting, blocking the bulldozers," he said.
Green Party of Canada and Sea to Sands Conservation Alliance member Hillary Crowley said developments in Canada can have a global impact.
At the Warsaw Climate Change Conference which started last week, she said, a member from the Philippines made an impassioned speech about the impact climate change has in creating more powerful storms - like the record-setting typhoon Haiyan which killed thousands of people in the Philippines this month.
"I want the [Northern Gateway joint review panel] to know that Canadians do care, and we do not want the pipeline and the tarsands," she said.
For protest attendee Ray Brown, he said it seems that corporate interests have trumped protecting a clean environment for citizens.
"I'm trying to tell people to wake up," Brown said. "This is [some of[ the last clean water in most of the world."
March participants George and Frances Collett said the proposed pipeline is too great a risk for the environment.
"My big concern is the possibility of an oil spill - the bitumen spilling into the environment," Frances Collett said.
George Collett said it doesn't make sense to ship oil to China while North America is still importing oil from the Middle East.
If the pipeline is approved, the federal license should state that, "the first time one barrel of oil is spilled, shut it off and dig it up," he added.
