On September 30, members of Elsipogtog First Nation and their allies
began a blockade to prevent SWN Resources Canada from conducting
exploratory seismic testing on Elsipogtog territory. On October 17, the
RCMP moved in to enforce an injunction ending the blockade.
The media has since been flooded with images of police in riot gear,
snipers in fields, physical confrontations, and police cars set afire.
The struggle has been reduced to the level of “just another native
protest.” But the issues that have led to this and many other actions to
date have brought together Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
As
James Anaya, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples, said in a statement on his recent fact-finding trip to Canada,
“the public interest is not opposed to, but rather includes, aboriginal
concerns.” In New Brunswick and across Canada, concerns about hydraulic
fracturing (fracking) have been uniting people across diverse
communities.
In his statement, the UN Special Rapporteur also observed that
“resource extraction should not occur on lands subject to aboriginal
claims without adequate consultations with and the free, prior and
informed consent of the aboriginal peoples concerned.”
There has long been a debate over fracking for shale gas in New
Brunswick. Much of the proposed development is on traditional Mi’kMaq
territory, including the territory of Elsipogtog First Nation. Former
Elsipogtog Chief Susan Levi-Peters has explained to the media that
while the treaty relationship compels the government to consult First
Nations on resource extraction, “we have been asking for consultations
for three years now and nothing has happened.” She also cited her
responsibility as an Indigenous person to care for the earth and the
water in the face of development projects such as fracking.
KAIROS has long advocated for an ecological economy, one that is
built upon the foundations of Indigenous rights and respect for all of
Creation, and that reduces our reliance on fossil fuels. KAIROS is also
deeply engaged in Canada’s process of Truth and Reconciliation and
believes that, if we are to be genuinely reconciled with our history and
to each other, we need to chart a new path forward.
For many, the events at Elsipogtog bring back memories of Oka and
KanehsatĂ :ke in 1990. Those events brought forth the Royal Commission on
Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP), which recommended that Canada chart such a
path, one of mutuality and respect. The majority of those
recommendations have languished on the nation’s bookshelf since 1996.
We are now, in this time of reconciliation, in this moment at
Elsipogtog, and within the larger struggle around resource extraction on
Indigenous lands in Canada, offered the opportunity at renewed
relationship again. Ellen Gabriel, a member of the Longhouse of
KanehsatĂ :ke, was actively involved in the 1990 struggles. In a message
to Elsipogtog that all Canadians should hear, she said: “Reconciliation
should be more than words on paper. There should be action. There
should be love. And there should be compassion.”
We pray for a just and peaceful resolution to the situation at Elsipogtog.