Tag: pipeline

PETRONAS Pipeline Interest 11

~ The Koboi Project

To understand the escalating pipeline conflict between the Wet’suwet’en First Nation land defenders and Coastal GasLink, it is necessary to trace the line of financial interests behind this CAD $6.2-billion investment. According to CTV News on December 26, 2019 TC Energy announced the sale of a 65% share of this pipeline project to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and Alberta Investment Management Corporation (on behalf a number of its clients). In the oil and gas industry, pipeline infrastructure, which is located between extraction facilities and refineries/ export terminals, are referred to as the the ‘midstream’. Coastal GasLink is, in fact, the 3rd Oil ‘midstream’ Canadian infrastructure project that Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) has invested in. You could say that the Canadian oil and gas industry has delegated the most contentious aspect of the industry, the aspect that involves traversing First Nations territory, to KKR. So who are they?

Well, as Joyce Nelson informs us, KKR is a Wall Street ‘private equity’ firm with Canadian headquarters in Calgary. It is a massive financial entity that is in the business of investing in companies that are facing difficult scenarios, eventually re-selling the equity, to make large profits. In Western Canada KKR now owns the Encana Corp. natural gas pipeline and also has a stake in SemCams Midstream, which owns and operates 700 miles of natural gas pipelines in partnership with Energy Transfer. Energy Transfer is the company that, notoriously, subdued indigenous protesters from at the Standing Rock reservation in the U.S. in 2016 by marshalling effective state-supported repression.

In short, as nelson notes, “KKR not only has a primary position in the midstream natural gas industry of Western Canada, it also has scandalously partnered with a company well-versed in stopping indigenous protests”. Further, as if to underscore its access to the apparatus of the state, KKR has appointed retired four-star U.S. general and former director of the CIA, General David Petraeus as chair of KKR Global Initiative, its own in house intelligence agency.

Indeed, in the conflict over Coastal GasLink’s passage across unceded Wet’suwet’en territory, the hereditary Chiefs of the Gilseyhu, Laksilyu, Tsayu, Laksamshu, Gitdumdenet bands and their supporters are valiantly facing-off against the mighty governments of BC and Canada, as well as the combined corporate interests of TC Energy Corp, LNG Canada (Shell, Petronas, PetroChina, Mitsubishi Corp, Kogas Canada), Alberta Investment Management Corporation, as well as those of the insidiously tentacular Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Image https://www.foxnews.com/politics/petraeus-resigns-after-affair-with-biographer-turned-up-in-fbi-probe-fox-news-confirms

https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/tc-energy-to-sell-a-65-per-cent-equity-interest-in-coastal-gaslink-pipeline-1.4744497

https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/02/12/wall-street-invading-wetsuweten-territory/

PETRONAS Pipeline Interest 8

~ The Koboi Project

According to the CBC, 6 people were arrested by the RCMP on Feb 06, 2020 pursuant to an injunction against those blocking construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory in northern B.C. Wet’suwet’en Nation hereditary Chief Na’Moks is reported to have said, “They came in with armed forces to remove peaceful people that are doing the right thing at the right time for the right reasons. We’re protecting the land, the air, the water. Our rights and title, our authority as hereditary chiefs. And we’re exercising our jurisdiction … We’ve never ceded nor surrendered our lands. We’ve never signed a treaty. We are the law of the land, we are free people and I will go to my territories.”

The injunction which was issued by the BC Supreme Court, and the consequent arrests, seem to be at odds with Bill 41 of the BC legislature which embraces the UN Declaration  on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and which, as summarized by West Coast Environmental Law, “requires the government to prepare an implementation and action plan in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous people” Most significantly, this act also seems to recognize the authority of Indigenous governing bodies, like the hereditary chiefs that Chief Na’Moks refers to above, which stand outside the ambit of the Indian Act.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, is reported to have said “It’s an absolute outrage and deeply frustrating that the RCMP is acting in the capacity of a goon squad on behalf of business and industry”. This is where Malaysia’s premier Crown corporation PETRONAS is implicated as one of the corporations with a significant interest in seeing the pipeline implemented, with investments at both ends of it (upstream and down.)

Image https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/wetsuweten-arrests-coastal-gaslink-pipeline-1.5454007

https://www.wcel.org/blog/bill-41-new-law-uphold-indigenous-rights-in-bc

https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html

PETRONAS Pipeline Interest 7

~ The Koboi Project

The Coastal Gaslink pipeline infrastructure that will connect the PETRONAS’ North Montney gas fields to the LNG Canada export terminal on BC’s West Coast must  pass through Wet’suwet’en territory and the Wet’suwet’en are objecting and resisting on the basis of Aboriginal title. In Delgamuukw v. British Columbia (1977) the Supreme Court of Canada court defined Aboriginal title as Indigenous peoples’ exclusive right to the land, and affirmed that such title is recognized as an “existing aboriginal right” in s.35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. The Canadian Encyclopedia notes however that, such rights as are recognized and affirmed are, however, not absolute and that Government regulation can infringe upon these if it meets the test of justification under s. 35(1). 

Economic development through agriculture, mining, forestry and hydroelectric power, as well as the related building of infrastructure and settlement of foreign populations, are held to be valid legislative objectives that satisfy the justification requirement.  These legislative objectives are, nevertheless, subject to accommodation of the aboriginal peoples’ interests in accordance with the honour and good faith of the Crown. Such accommodation of “aboriginal title” entails notifying and consulting aboriginal peoples with respect to the development of the affected territory, as well as providing fair compensation.

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/delgamuukw-case

https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1569/index.do

https://qweri.lexum.com/w/calegis/schedule-b-to-the-canada-act-1982-uk-1982-c-11-en#!fragment/sec35subsec1

PETRONAS’ Pipeline Interest 2

~ The Koboi Project

According to a post on the UNIST’OT’EN website Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs have submitted a formal request to the United Nations to monitor RCMP (police), government and Coastal GasLink (CGL) actions on their traditional, unceded territory. This request follows the directive from the UN Committee on Racial Discrimination (CERD) requiring Canada to halt the pipeline project and withdraw RCMP from our territory in order to avoid further violations of Wet’suwet’en, constitutional, and international law. This submission reveals the Chiefs’ perception of the imminent threat posed by the RCMP and security forces currently surrounding Wet’suwet’en villages and lands.

As I have noted before Malaysia’s PETRONAS crown corporation holds a 25% stake in LNG Canada’s Kitimat development which is totally dependant on this CGL pipeline. This pipeline is intended to transport natural gas from Dawson Creek to Kitimat and much of this gas will come from PETRONAS’ own North Montney fields. As noted in the Globe and Mail, the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination says that it is imperative that all affected First Nations give free, prior and informed consent before the pipeline proceeds. So once again, the interests of the exemplary Malaysian bumiputra (indigenous) led enterprise is contrary to the those of a group of indigenous people from British Columbia.

https://unistoten.camp/unintervention/

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-wetsuweten-coastal-gaslink-pipeline-rcmp-explainer/

PETRONAS’ Pipeline Interest 1

~ The Koboi Project
petronas

Malaysia’s PETRONAS crown corporation holds a 25% stake in LNG Canada’s CAD $ 40 billion project in Kitimat. This massive development is dependant on the Coastal GasLink pipeline that TransCanada is building to transport the natural gas from Dawson Creek to Kitimat. To realize the extent of PETRONAS’ interest in the completion of this pipeline, it is important to understand that much of the natural gas that will flow to Kitimat through the pipeline will come from PETRONAS’ own North Montney fields. While this pipeline has been approved by the B.C. and federal governments, it has been criticized by Amnesty International, the B.C.’s Human Rights Commission and the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. As noted in the Globe and Mail, the UN committee says that it is imperative that all affected First Nations give free, prior and informed consent before the pipeline proceeds. So once again, the interests of the exemplary Malaysian bumiputra (indigenous) led enterprise is contrary to the those of a group of indigenous people from British Columbia.

Although there are reportedly signed benefit with most of First Nations involved in the passage of the pipeline, there is opposition from the Wet’suwet’en Nation who have built the Unist’ot’en healing camp in its path. As explained in the Globe and Mail, the opposition to the pipeline “hinges on an old question many First Nations in Canada face: Whether authority over resource development lies with elected band councils, hereditary leaders or both. Five elected Wet’suwet’en band councils, whose authority is coded in the federal Indian Act, signed agreements with Coastal GasLink, along with 15 other B.C. elected band councils that accepted the pipeline. But the Wet’suwet’en also have a system of five matrilineal clans and 13 houses, each of which has at least one hereditary chief. Together the chiefs oversee traditional territories that, like many First Nations lands in B.C., were never ceded by treaty. Two house chiefs supported the pipeline, only to have their titles stripped by other chiefs. Eight of the house chiefs say the risk of environmental damage to the land is too great to allow the pipeline, and are part of the movement against it.”

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-wetsuweten-coastal-gaslink-pipeline-rcmp-explainer/

http://www.coastalgaslink.com/

Vaughn Palmer: NDP celebrates Petronas return, but LNG Canada hurdles remain

LNG Pipeline vs Wet’suwet’en

~ The Koboi Project

PETRONAS is now a partner in the LNG Canada Kitimat project which involves building an export terminal intended to get natural gas from the North Montney fields to market in Asia. The Coastal Gaslink Pipeline connecting Dawson Creek to Kitimat is an essential part of the overall scheme. Gas from PETRONAS’ own North Montney fields to be delivered via the North Montney Mainline to join the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline at Dawson Creek. While there has been extensive first nations buy-in into the project, including from the elected Wet’suwet’en band council, the hereditary Chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en nation, who claim responsibility for off-reserve affairs and for the stewardship of the larger territory through which the pipeline must pass have voiced serious objections. The Wet’suwet’en have established an Unist’ot’en checkpoint at in 2009 and have steadily developed the Unist’ot’en healing camp over the years. More recently and a second check point was established at neighbouring Gidimt’en to resist the passage of the pipeline.

So what is the significance of the blockade given the injunction and the overwhelming momentum of the provincial/ national /corporate resource agenda? Much of the land of  British Columbia was settled without treaties being reached with the respective First Nations. In a decision of the Supreme Court in Delgamuukw vs. British Columbia (1997), it was held that that Aboriginal title to land can be established if an Indigenous nation could prove exclusive occupation when the Crown asserted sovereignty. Delgamuukw did not however settle the Wet’suwet’en land claim and as such, it will require another trial to resolve the matter. According to law professor Kent McNeil, as reported in Houston Today, it is in this light that the hereditary Chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en are “asserting their title on the ground and they’re saying you can’t do this without consent because it passes through our territory.”

According to the Tyee, on January 7th, in pursuance of a court injunction against the two checkpoints (not the healing camp as it is not in the way of the pipeline), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) tactical unit breeched and dismantled the Gidimt’en checkpoint, arresting 14 protesters.  According to The Interior News, the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs have negotiated with the RCMP to allow Costal Gaslink workers passage through the Unist’ot’en checkpoint for the duration of the injunction which lasts till May 1st 2019. As with PETRONAS’ previously aborted solo project on Lelu Island, their current joint venture in British Columbia’s LNG sector faces the vicissitudes of Canadian Law and politics in the context of our colonial legacy. If it is established that the Wet’suwet’en have Aboriginal title, then, according to Kent McNeil, the Provincial and Federal governments would need their consent before approving resource activities on this land. Even if such a finding of title is not arrived at, as with the previous PETRONAS project, indigenous resistance and the due process may cause enough delay for the joint venture LNG Canada project to run into the ever imminent ‘unfavourable conditions’ in the ever volatile market.

Image: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/kitimat-mayor-defends-lng-project-1.4971781

http://www.coastalgaslink.com/

https://www.reuters.com/article/petronas-canada/petronas-says-involved-in-transcanadas-proposal-to-build-north-montney-mainline-extension-idUSL3N1R524E

https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1569/index.do

https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2019/01/08/LNG-Pipeline-Unistoten-Blockade/

https://www.interior-news.com/news/hereditary-chiefs-negotiate-injunction-agreement/

https://www.houston-today.com/news/unresolved-land-claim-at-heart-of-wetsuweten-pipeline-opposition/

 

A Key to the SNC Lavalin Affair?

~ The Koboi Project

new-chief cropIn a specifically Aboriginal perspective, Gord Hill (Zig Zag), a popular historian from the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation, addresses the corporate pressure on native governance in Canada. The caption to one of his powerful political cartoons addressing land tenure and band councils, in the context of the Indian Act reads “All Hail the New Chief – Chief Executive Officer that is!.” In this powerful expression of the complexities and complicities of contemporary native land tenure and economic development, it seems to me, that Zig Zag has given us a universally applicable image of the assertion of corporate will within neo-liberal regimes, where pressure is brought to bear on individual elected leaders, and whole polities even, through inducements and deterrents both legal and illegal. In the SNC Lavalin debacle we have a case-in-point. Here an elected indigenous leader, not just of her own people but of all Canadians, the Attorney General of Canada, was allegedly put under pressure in service of Lavalin’s corporate good.

At the end of her testimony to the House of Commons justice committee the former Attorney General states “…my understanding of the rule of law has also been shaped by my experiences as an Indigenous person and as an Indigenous leader. The history of Crown-Indigenous relations in this country includes a history of the rule of law not being respected. Indeed, one of the main reasons for the urgent need for justice and reconciliation today is that, in the history of our country, we have not always upheld foundational values such as the rule of law in relations to Indigenous Peoples. And I have seen the negative impacts for freedom, equality and a just society this can have first-hand.” It is, clearly, this indigenous perspective she must have of the sustained and insidious mechanism of influence, the co-option and/or coercion by the few, of those who are elected to serve the many, that made it impossible for Jodi Wilson-Raybould not to put her foot down for the rule of law, on behalf of all Canadians!

Image: https://warriorpublications.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/indian-act-chiefs-and-idle-no-more-snakes-in-the-grassroots/

https://globalnews.ca/news/5006450/jody-wilson-raybould-testimony-transcript/

 

 

PETRONAS Canada

~ The Koboi Project

petronas-canada

In an earlier post I had noted how on July 13 2018, LNG Canada formally welcomed PETRONAS as their fifth Joint Venture participant and how this investment was connected with TransCanada’s Coastal GasLink pipeline that is building to transport the natural gas from Dawson Creek to the LNG Canada terminal in Kitimat.  Much of the gas to be transported to market via the pipeline and terminal will , of course, come from  PETRONAS owned Progress Energy’s own gas fields in the North Montney area. On November 22, 2018 Progress Energy Canada Ltd. changed its name to  PETRONAS Energy Canada Ltd. (PETRONAS Canada). Mark Fitzgerald, President & CEO of PETRONAS Canada said, “The name change is a reflection of our parent company’s commitment to Canada and the strength of our business in the company’s overall portfolio.” Malaysian Crown corporation PETRONAS now not only owns one of the largest natural gas resources in the Montney basin, but is also a key player in getting Canadian LNG to market across the Pacific ocean.

Image: http://mole.my/petronas-jv-participants-reach-final-investment-decision-on-lng-canada/
https://www.energeticcity.ca/2018/07/petronas-now-officially-a-partner-in-lng-canada/
http://www.coastalgaslink.com
https://boereport.com/2018/11/23/progress-energy-changes-name-to-petronas-energy-canada/
https://www.petronascanada.com/