It's only OK to be vocal if you are opposed to pipelines

I'm tired of decreasing job security. I'm tired of reading stats that show that majority of Canadians support a project that's ALREADY been approved. I'm tired of the new reality, where that fact somehow doesn't matter. I'm tired of hearing how investment is leaving Canada, how the delays are costing our economy. I'm tired of being unable to ignore the unrelenting truth we live with - how such opposition is ESPECIALLY costly to us, and our families. We were too busy working (or looking for work) to notice that we are being stalemated by a vocal minority, who seemly don't have any problems with foreign oil, nor the ability to look in the mirror and remember that demand is a product of their OWN consumption!! People who callously cheer on news of our job losses, project cancellations, etc - yet lay claim to the moral high road. The worst thing? I'm tired that things have come to the point where the only place I can freely share these opinions is here.

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Non-status Indian...

Feb 23, 2018 at 1:01pm

... my family has been in America time out of mind. I say America because we never had any political subdivisions. We never made any deals with the Crown. Our traditional law is that we are free to camp, hunt, fish, take timber, build fires, etc everywhere. This pipeline threatens our traditional uses, not our traditional territory but our uses. The law is all about uses.

Non-status indians have only been acknowledged by the Supreme Court of Canada since 2016. They are not federated, so they cannot be consulted. The report that Martyn Brown links to has only one mention of non-status Indians, and it says that for Metis rights, there is a "test" that involves much more than heritage, traditional law---basically, it is designed to prevent native americans from reclaiming their heritage, which has been interrupted, not destroyed, by public education and the imposition of written law. The report, however, confines this to Metis, because it is still a very open question who the non-status Indians are and what qualifies one as a non-status Indian. The University Professors tend to favor an "oppression olympics" system, where if your family (as mine did), displayed august liberality and interbred with French and other Europeans, and thereby avoided the worst of the colonial racism, that they somehow "disqualified themselves" by not being racist. I mean, my family knows that there are noble, beautiful people who would make great additions to our family, from all over the world.

The non-status Indians are not federated, they're not people who were, like the Red River metis, somewhat codified by military conflict with Canada. The Inuit tell a story about how they dispossessed the previous occupiers of their lands---they were "big people" who were "easily scared." Little people often fight because they don't know the consequences of fighting. Big people know violence is not a solution to problems.

That said, if the Crown attempts to use the Military, there will be hundreds of not thousands of people holding a line within Burnaby. This pipeline will never be built. It will never be built. The status Indians have an important interest, but it must be remembered that they are not the only "Indians." For many of us, our traditions are in our family law, not in "Tribal Councils."

Cool story bro...

Feb 23, 2018 at 1:05pm

Maybe if you acknowledged the really scary warnings scientists are voicing about the serious and (possibly) apocalyptic effects of climate change then people would more readily consider your opinions and take them seriously. Also, then you would understand the we are facing really difficult decisions about balancing current economic prosperity vs. the prosperity of future generations.

bfwer

Feb 23, 2018 at 1:19pm

This is a great post about the uneven playing field on this issue. Most opponents of the pipeline don't know shit about the impact on the broader economy. To all the pipeline opponents, sure, you may have "moral high ground" but who gives a fuck. It's overrated. "Moral high ground", at the expense of jobs and development, (foundations for living in a capitalist society) is ignorance. Amateurs everywhere. It never fucking ends. And guess what, the pipeline will be built, and I can't wait to watch the drama as all the environmentalists, with no economic sense, cry about it.

Do you

Feb 23, 2018 at 2:17pm

Realize that there will be very few jobs for Canadians in making the pipeline? There is no "Buy Canadian" clause so all the pipes and equipment will come from the US and China,creating jobs there.
Then,when it's all done,the oil tanker traffic will interfere with the regular container ships,so they'll go to Seattle,and we'll lose port jobs. There will be few jobs at the terminal and lastly...if there is an oil spill,the tanker companies are only liable to pay a billion. After that,we pay. So basically,all they are on the hook for is a few days profits...
Exxon Valdez cost $7 billion total,and that was 30 years ago.

Wilbur

Feb 23, 2018 at 7:07pm

People from Alberta spend literally Billions in BC! Don't these people have any idea how economies work!? Every single job is important in Canada these days with the anti-everything crowd trying to tear it all down.

Own it

Feb 24, 2018 at 3:26pm

Speak up as you please, but own it. When the thing leaks, as they all do, own that too. Remember to say, "I supported it for the job and the economy. Now that it has leaked and cost the people of BC more jobs than it ever could create and ruined the economy to an unprecedented level, I take the blame." Otherwise, yes, STFU.

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