Dear Editor:
Regarding your Nov. 27 story, 6 Hours to Contain Inlet Oil Spill, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation takes exception to District of North Vancouver Coun. Alan Nixon’s comment about Tsleil-Waututh “setting their hair on fire” and the implication that Tsleil-Waututh is impulsive and unreasonable when it comes to Kinder Morgan’s expansion proposal for the Trans Mountain Pipeline.
Tsleil-Waututh did not come to oppose Kinder Morgan’s proposed pipeline expansion overnight. We have experienced harm from the original pipeline since its oil first arrived on the shores of Burrard Inlet in 1953, and we do not want our traditional lands and waters to further deteriorate.
Tsleil-Waututh possesses the constitutional Aboriginal right to fish, hunt and gather, protected by section 35 of the Constitution. Today, we can no longer eat clams and mussels harvested in the inlet due to high levels of pollutants. Due to the urban expansion and growth on the inlet, erosion has increased with the result that the bones of our ancestors are spilling out from their resting places along the shoreline down onto the beaches below. This shoreline erosion is growing worse and worse because of increasing tanker and tug traffic, and the pounding, undermining effect generated by the vessels’ large wakes and waves.
Coun. Nixon also suggests Tsleil-Waututh should work with the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC). In fact, Tsleil-Waututh has been working with WCMRC since 2012 on the development of several oil response initiatives, including the refinement of a geographic response plan for Burrard Inlet.
It is well known that Tsleil-Waututh has always taken a proactive approach in establishing working relationships and stewardship initiatives with government and industry who make up the community of the inlet. For years, Tsleil-Waututh has been working to restore the health of Burrard Inlet through habitat restoration, ongoing environmental monitoring, and collaboration with our neighbours. We are demonstrating that it can be done. Indian River salmon returns are now recovering due to Tsleil-Waututh’s efforts, and we are now focusing on shellfish to further restore the key foods that have sustained our people for millennia.
The objective of our nation is to heal our traditional lands and waters. The proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline will not aid in this pursuit, and this is why we oppose the expansion proposal.
Ernie George, director treaty, lands and resources,
Tsleil-Waututh Nation
