ABSTRACT: No Place for Indians: (presentation to soils science group, Land and Food Systems, UBC. Nov. 9, 2012).
Energy exports and related development projects are rapidly restructuring traffic and access along BC’s North Coast. Famed for both the well known Inside Passage and lesser known ‘Outside’ Passage, this area of the coast lies mostly beyond the gaze of the rest of North America. Recent development plans to export tar sands crude to the Orient has brought the region under closer scrutiny as urban-based environmentalists voice their opposition and concerns. While much of the public focus has been on the risks associated with oil spills on land and sea the significant impact on Coastal First Nations will be reduced access to traditional waterways and fishing grounds. Between the proposed tar sands facility and planned LNG plants more than 1000 large bulk tankers (oil and LNG) will be travelling through this part of BC’s north coast leaving no place for Indians in their wake.
