First Nations chiefs voted unanimously on Tuesday to oppose changes to the oil tanker ban protecting British Columbia’s northern coast, challenging a federal-provincial agreement signed last week that could enable new pipeline development.
The Assembly of First Nations passed the resolution at its Ottawa gathering, demanding the federal government uphold existing protections and withdraw from a November 27 memorandum of understanding between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
Chief Donald Edgars of Old Massett Village in Haida Gwaii sponsored the resolution. Indigenous resource lawyer Merle Alexander seconded it, warning that oil spills would devastate coastal economies.
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Related: Eby Joins First Nations Urging Ottawa To Hold The Tanker Ban
The 2019 Oil Tanker Moratorium Act prohibits vessels carrying more than 12,500 tonnes of crude oil from stopping at ports between northern Vancouver Island and the Alaska border. The legislation formalized a moratorium that existed since the 1970s.
The Carney-Smith agreement commits Ottawa to adjusting the tanker ban if a pipeline project receives approval under the Building Canada Act as a project of national interest and includes Indigenous co-ownership opportunities.
AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak emphasized that rights-holders must approve major projects on First Nations lands, regardless of government agreements or advisory groups Canada establishes.
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Carney addressed the chiefs on Tuesday and promised to meet with Coastal First Nations representatives. He announced his government would introduce clean drinking water legislation in the spring, delaying a bill the government originally planned for the fall.
The consultation process drew criticism after Energy Minister Tim Hodgson suggested using Zoom when Coastal First Nations president Marilyn Slett could not travel to Vancouver on short notice for pre-agreement meetings.
Related: Pipeline Deal Faces Steep Climb as Liberals, First Nations, BC Government Unite in Opposition
Cabinet ministers, including Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, and Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty, will address chiefs during the three-day assembly.
The resolution is the unified First Nations opposition to pipeline projects that would transport oil through their territories to Pacific ports.
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