Great coverage of First Nations and fracking in Canada (video)

[Paul Mobbs]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/n-b-fracking-protests-and-the-fight-for-aboriginal-rights-1.2126515

N.B. fracking protests and the fight for aboriginal rights

CBC News, 19/10/13


Protests this month at a potential shale gas site in New Brunswick
involve an issue that has been at the heart of resource development
battles across Canada — the duty to consult and accommodate aboriginal
people when the development is on their traditional land.

The latest round of the protests by Elsipogtog First Nation members and
their supporters resulted in a violent clash Thursday when the RCMP
moved in to enforce a court injunction against the protesters' blockade.

But long before that, local First Nations leaders were raising concerns
about the failure of government and industry to consult with them before
development went ahead.

Rulings by the Supreme Court of Canada and lower courts have established
a duty to consult and accommodate aboriginal people when development is
considered on their land, even non-reserve traditional lands. Since the
mid-'80s, aboriginal groups have recorded 186 victories in lawsuits over
resource development, a 90 per cent success rate.

The exploratory drilling in New Brunswick also faces opposition from the
local non-aboriginal community. Allan Marsh, the chair of the nearby
local service district for Saint-Charles, told CBC News that the
provincial government "isn’t listening to any of the other messages that
it’s getting."

His county council voted nearly unanimously for a moratorium on shale
gas exploitation, Marsh added.

Environmental concerns are also a key issue for many of the protesters,
a topic CBC News covers in other stories.

<snip>


-- 

"We are not for names, nor men, nor titles of Government,
nor are we for this party nor against the other but we are
for justice and mercy and truth and peace and true freedom,
that these may be exalted in our nation, and that goodness,
righteousness, meekness, temperance, peace and unity with
God, and with one another, that these things may abound."
(Edward Burrough, 1659 - from 'Quaker Faith and Practice')

Paul Mobbs, Mobbs' Environmental Investigations
3 Grosvenor Road, Banbury OX16 5HN, England
tel./fax (+44/0)1295 261864
email - mobbsey at gn.apc.org
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