Environmentalists have impoverished First Nations, pro-pipeline chief says

Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline has been vehemently opposed by many First Nations groups, but voices on the other side of the divideemerged Wednesday to launch astrong defence of the oilpatch.

Chief Jim Boucher told the Assembly of First Nations' gathering in Gatineau, Que,. that his community has seen a financial windfall from its involvement in oil and gas extraction, and that environmentalists should be ignored because they are to blame for widespread poverty in Canada's north.

His community of Fort McKay, north of Fort McMurray, the epicentre of the oilsands, has an unemployment rate of zero, an average annual income of $120,000, and financial holdings in excess of $2 billion, thanks to its willingness to do business with Canada's oil and gas companies, Boucher said.

That moneyhas been pumped into education, long-term care homes for seniors and other infrastructure projects.

"When it comes to pipelines and oilsands development, it's clear from our perspective that we need to do more," he said, during an opensession onenergy policy at the special assembly. "We're pro-oilsands;if it weren't for the oilmy people would be in poverty right now."

• Chiefs focus on Trans Mountain
• Leaders who backpipelines face 'stigma'
• 'No warning intended' toprotesters

The chiefsaid his community is truly self-governing only fourper cent of itsrevenue comes from the federal government and other First Nations can follow the same path to prosperity if they take a stake in the development of natural resources on their land.

Change of heart

Bouchersaid he wasn't always a strong supporter of the oilsands, but had a change of heart after the fur trade became unviable in the 1980s.

"Please don't buy into the environmentalist argument," he said to his fellow chiefs. He noted it was environmentalists and animal rights activists who lobbied the European Union to ban fur imports.

"They're the ones who, at the end of the day, were successful in creating poverty in northern Canada, right across the board. That's why we see all the communities impoverished."

He said ending oilsands development would be devastatingand would put his people back on social assistance, "where we really don't want to be," adding he thinks some environmentalistgroups have co-optedFirst Nations communities as part of their fight to put the fossil fuel industry out of business.

Dean Manywounds, vice-chair of the Indian Resource Council, a group formed by chiefs from oil and gas producing First Nations, said chiefs wanttheir communities to be economically self-sustaining, as they were prior to contact with European peoples.

"The resources are all around us, and we do have to participate," he said. "We have to find a way to build a successful future for our people and our kids."

Pro-pipeline chiefs reluctant to talk

Chiefs supportive of Trans Mountain have avoided the media this week at the special assembly.

National Chief Perry Bellegarde has said these chiefs are afraid to speak for fear of being "stigmatized."

"There's a stigma now attached to supporting economic development. There's a stigma that somehow you're not a First Nations person, if you support a pipeline," he told CBC News before the assembly's start.

Quebec Chief Serge Simon, a Mohawk from Oka, was up on stage after Boucherand Manywounds to make the case for keeping oilin the ground, adding it could contaminate water supplies.

He is vehemently opposed to pipeline development and has formed an alliance with other chiefs across the country they've dubbed themselves the "Treaty Alliance" to actively subvert pipeline construction, and to push for cleaner energy supplies.

"I'll tell you eventually Chief Boucher and his peopleare going to need friends when this finally crashes," he said. "We would welcome them with open arms in Mohawk territory, if they want to invest in the East and diversify their investments."

Despite the opposing views, Simon said he is not looking to deepen divisions amongst First Nations peoples, adding he agrees more often with the likes of Boucher than he disagrees.

"I'm not going to let the industry divide Chief Boucher and myself. I just don't agree with expansion of the tarsands. They're already using the existing infrastructure, andmore pipelines will simply mean an expansion."

• Canada's child welfare to face scrutiny
• Carr's comments onprotests 'unfortunate'
• Standing Rocktactics could cometo Canada