The provincial government is less optimistic than Enbridge about the level of aboriginal support for the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline.
Enbridge has claimed it has the support of 60 per cent of affected First Nations but the company is withholding disclosure of which First Nations they have signed any agreements with.
"We are not aware of any First Nation in BC that has taken a positive position on this proposal," said Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Minister Mary Polak. "If you look at the public hearings, 97 percent [of Aboriginal speakers] expressed opposition," and the other three per cent took no position.
She stopped short of agreeing that First Nations needed to unanimously support the pipeline in order for it to be built. She said that the government was insisting on "giving First Nations a meaningful role" in the Enbridge proposal.
Polak clarified that in today's economic climate, most businesses recognize that it makes fiscal sense to work with First Nations on industrial projects.
For Enbridge, or any resource company wishing to work in BC, Polak said the expectation is for extraordinary consultation between the proponents and Aboriginal peoples.
"There is more to relationship-building than just minimum legal obligations," she said, adding that "it is not the same thing to say First Nations have a final say or a veto over the project."
Enbridge has already disclosed it intends to offer a 10 per cent ownership stake in the pipeline to the affected First Nations along its right of way. The company also promises Aboriginal jobs, plus other initiatives for northern communities that First Nations would benefit from.
Not good enough, according to the BC government's 56-page position paper released on Monday.
"With respect to Northern Gateway, we are concerned that, to date, BC First Nations do not appear to have been appropriately and meaningfully engaged in the project," the statement said. "And as a result there appears to remain significant opposition to the project within those communities."
