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House Hansard - 273

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 1, 2024 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 273 - Feb/1/24
Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)
  • Feb/1/24 7:24:39 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise tonight in Adjournment Proceedings to pursue a question that I asked in question period back in October 2023. On October 6, I asked about the delays on the Trans Mountain pipeline and the decision of our Crown corporation, us, our government and all Canadians to violate a sacred commitment that we had made to the first nations at the Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc Nation. It often goes by the initials SSN. It is near Kamloops, and the people have a sacred area of their territory that they call “Pípsell”. I know this area well because I worked with that first nation when it conducted its own independent environmental assessment of a proposed open mine called the Ajax mine that was to be raised. The reason the first nation turned down the Ajax mine was that it would violate the sacred nature of the Pípsell, and it must be protected. When that same first nation negotiated with our Crown corporation, Trans Mountain expansion, TMX, about bringing a pipeline through its territory, the members of the first nation agreed but on a strong condition that if, and only if, the Pípsell was protected. TMX operators said they had engineers. They could do microtunnelling. They could drill around the Pípsell. They would not disturb the Pípsell. That was just up until this fall when TMX discovered its engineering was not so good. TMX operators discovered they could not do microtunnelling. They went back to the Canada Energy Regulator and said that they could not keep their word to the first nation; they would have to drill right through the Pípsell. The first nation went to the Canada Energy Regulator and made the case that it should not be allowed. The Canada Energy Regulator said that it was so sad, but if it did not violate its commitments to the first nation, in other words, if it did not violate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that free, prior and informed consent means something, then the cost of the pipeline would go up again, and there would be further delays again and that the pipeline must be built. Why? It is now an article of faith for the Liberal government that the pipeline must be built. It does not need evidence, and there is not evidence in favour of building that pipeline. There has never been a cost-benefit analysis on building that pipeline, and I know because I went through the National Energy Board hearings at the initial process. It gets worse because the Canada Energy Regulator gave TMX permission to proceed. As I pointed out in my question in October 2023, the Canada Energy Regulator did not give reasons for its decision, so the first nation was unable to put together a case to go to court to get an injunction against the construction, and TMX operators decided to start building on the very day that was the statutory holiday in Canada to mark reconciliation: the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The answer I got from the parliamentary secretary at the time was that the decision was made by an independent regulator. I knew that. I did not ask the Government of Canada why it made the decision to ignore the sacred nature of the commitment. I asked why the government did not tell TMX, which we own, to stop construction until its operators gave the first nation the legal reasons on which they could base an appeal. It has continued to get bad. Predictably, the pipeline is delayed again. The costs are now $35 billion. When will we stop the madness, and cancel the pipeline?
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Context: House Hansard - 273 - Feb/1/24
Mr. Marc Serré
  • Feb/1/24 7:32:04 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Government of Canada has invested millions of dollars in partnership with first nations, Métis and Inuit communities. I will give some examples. There is the Old Crow solar project in Yukon with the first nations of Vuntut Gwitchin. There is also the Burchill Wind Farm in New Brunswick, with the Tobique First Nation. The Oneida Energy Storage project, with the Six Nations in Ontario, is another example. There is the Bekevar Wind project and the Awasis Solar Project with the Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan. These are examples of investments we have made with first nations. I could name many more, but these projects are just some of the ways we are partnering with indigenous leaders to deliver energy security, clean power and emissions reductions.
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