By James Peters

Lower Nicola chief: Indigenous perspective on Trans Mountain not black and white

Apr 19, 2018 | 4:14 PM

MERRITT, B.C. — The chief of the Lower Nicola Indian Band says it’s important that the raging Trans Mountain pipeline debate not generalize the nuanced voices of affected First Nations.

Aaron Sumexheltza says the existing pipeline goes through three of LNIB’s reserves, as does the proposed expansion route.

“We believe that we’re one of the most important communities, just due to the fact that the current pipeline goes through our reserve, and the proposed expansion does as well,” said Sumexheltza.

While LNIB has signed a conditional mutual benefit agreement (MBA) with Kinder Morgan, Sumexheltza says it has yet to give its final consent to the pipeline project.

“We’ve had ongoing discussions with them over the last few months to see if we can get to a place where we can sign a final agreement. We’re not there yet,” said Sumexheltza. “I anticipate that we’ll continue to have dialogue over the next few weeks and then our chief and council is going to have to decide whether we sign an agreement or not.”

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The chief says it won’t be an easy decision.

“It’s a complicated issue and there’s many different layers in how to view it. It’s not completely black and white. I believe there are a lot of nuanced positions, and I’m just hopeful that our leaders look at collaborative solutions versus taking political positions and moving forward in an adversarial way.”

B.C. Premier John Horgan and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley are locked in a bitter dispute over the pipeline project’s future, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau siding with Notley.

While First Nations organizations such as the Union of BC Indian Chiefs have taken strong stances against the project, Kinder Morgan trumpets the fact that dozens of Indigenous communities have signed agreements on the project.

Sumexheltza says just because different First Nations have different perspectives doesn’t mean Indigenous voices should be ignored.

“While all the First Nations communities don’t agree, I do believe that the Indigenous voice is an important one. I’m hopeful, moving forward, that there doesn’t continue to be such a polarizing debate among different levels of government, and that our leaders look at problem-solving and collaboration and look at ways we can move forward for the benefit of everybody in the country,” said Sumexheltza.

“I don’t know [whether the pipeline will ultimately be built], and I don’t really want to speculate. I do want to do what I can to ensure that, if it does go ahead, my community isn’t going to miss out, and also, as we continue to have a dialogue with Kinder Morgan, that we continue in our negotiations to ensure that some of our environmental concerns are addressed as well.”