“First Nations people” refers to various aboriginal peoples in Canada. They believe in a Great Spirit that implies that the Earth is the mother of all spirits. To be more specific, they regard Earth as the inheritance of their future generations. In the contrary, governments explore nature more frequently nowadays. Therefore, there must be much controversy between governments and aboriginal people.

Take the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline for example. The First Nations claimed that the project violated their rights significantly such as lose of 22,000 square kilometers land. And they claimed that it was the central government’s duty to consult and accommodate the interests of them right from the start. So they headed to the court to stop the project. Apart from different understanding of nature, I believe that the aboriginal people are greedy. According to the Indian Act, they wanted to be independent, however, they were reluctant to give up the special protections that the central government gave them such as tax exemptions in the reserves.

Although this is a huge threat to this project, I think the central government should not give it up for the enormous benefit behind it. The pipeline could enlarge and diversify the market of for Canadian energy resources since it would be shipped to Asia directly. It could “produce approximately $2.6 billion in total local, provincial and federal tax revenues during 30 years of operation.” (CBC News)

Under this huge pressure, what would the central government do? But there is one thing for sure, it is never easy to trade with the First Nations.

Reference:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/northern-gateway-pipeline-benefits-vs-concerns-1.1135312