Salem Habes Mme Mélanie Soustelle EAE 1DX March13th 2020 What is setting apart the Indigenous Peoples from the Government of Canada and its Pipeline Constructions? An opinion is a view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or

Salem Habes

Mme Mélanie Soustelle

EAE 1DX

March 13th 2020

What is setting apart the Indigenous Peoples from the Government of Canada and its Pipeline Constructions?

An opinion is a view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge, which has helped the common population discover new ways of seeing and thinking and understand various sides and points of views, while laws are a system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties allowing the area to keep the order of its people and avoid possible conflict whereas a treaty is a formal written agreement entered into by actors in international law qualifying groups into unity and peace. For example, one can refer to the political accords and agreements in different parts of the globe — the European continent and the continuing political conformity in the European Union, in particular. Taking these, and many other factors into consideration, one could say that social, political processes and opinions of two nations cohabiting and the given respect from both sides is almost incomparable. At the same time, particular cultural groups, such as the Indigenous peoples of Canada, have become overexposed to the effects of these socio-political and cultural changes due to the fact that they were bombarded with treaties to follow, laws to abide by, have been placed in boarding schools to wash them away from their cultures and traditions as a way of cultural genocide, easily proven by the fact that the Indigenous population has decreased by 25% in the last 100 years and have been mentally, physically and sexually abused and exploited for their spiritual beliefs, looks and opinions encouraging them to speak their thoughts more freely and take a stand for what they truly believe in. This fact can be most certainly noticed when evaluating their views and opinions on the various pipeline constructions and expansions from an economical standpoint, an environmental frame of mind, their ways of expressing their opinions and the laws they have broken and circumvented, the effect they have had on the population as well as what the near future holds for them compared to the Government of Canada and its followers.

The views and opinions of the Indigenous peoples and the canadian Government on the pipeline construction carry many differences when viewing the given scenario from an economic standpoint. The main intention of the canadian Government when approving the construction for the pipeline was to help make sure Canada gets full value for its oil in a way everyone would advantage from the situation. In the eyes of the Government, it is a way to create a minimum of 5500 new jobs at peak-construction period where all workers would benefit during the $7.4 billions construction project (TransMountain 3). Oil producers will earn more revenue for their product, allowing Canada to dive deeper in the oil industry, a competitive industry with easy profits. Government will collect more tax revenue from oil. These revenues contribute to services that benefit all Canadians, whether it is to improve the canadian health or education system. Due to the fact that the majority of produced oil in Western Canada goes to one market, the United States Midwest, the Government believes that there is a limit as the needed quantity that market needs. They trust that Canada’s oil will fetch a better price if they are able give themselves the option of shipping more of it via Trans Mountain’s Pacific tidewater terminal in Burrard Inlet, thanks to a pipeline. Canada will earn more on every barrel of oil that’s piped west compared to those sold to our existing customers in the United States Midwest market, a differential that exists regardless of the price of oil. The Project will allow Canadian oil to be delivered to international markets and, as a result, Canada will earn approximately $3.7 billion more per year, increasing the canadian oil industry by a total of $75 billion in 20 years (TransMountain 5). In comparison, from the eyes of the Indigenous peoples, that way of thinking seems selfish; putting a price on our land, our nature, our home. According to Pam Palmater, an Indigenous lawyer, they believe it is truly unfair for the canadian Government to be able to sell whatever they want in unlimited quantities on Indigenous land when they weren’t able at the time. ‘‘Canada’s laws, policies and practices have created a complex web of blockades that have kept Indigenous peoples from freely engaging in their traditional economies. There is a giant, well-enforced wall of laws and regulations that have kept Indigenous peoples from hunting, fishing, fowling and gathering, as they had always done before contact with the Europeans. Indigenous peoples also engaged in the trade of these items. Our traditional economies, such as fishing lobster or cutting timber for trade, have been criminalized not because of any inherent threats to public safety or other valid legislative objectives, but to maintain the non-Indigenous monopoly of those engaged in these industries ” (Palmater 5). As she states, in the past, the canadian Government restricted Indigenous rights and bombarded them with laws to follow.

Seeing and evaluating the given scenario from an environmental frame of mind allows an unbiased reader or writer, in the same position as I, to see what both parties truly stand for and prioritize in the built-up series of events. One could say that seeing the side of the story, in an environmental perspective on the Indigenous peoples side would be a great and valid contrast as to seeing it from the Government’s side, as Indigenous peoples, are by default, more connected to the land as they are technically its rightful owners and that it is a main priority on a spiritual and cultural level. The Indigenous peoples also believe that building a 980 km pipeline isn’t without harm to the earth, the environment, their land and their home. A pipeline construction, without doubt, releases tons of greenhouse gases, from its construction to its maintenance; several machines are used to clear the green land and bury the pipeline, indisputably disturbing the wildlife, the environment, and on a closer look, harming the ecosystem. However, seeing the situation from a Government angle, Justin Trudeau, during his electoral campaign confirmed that the initial intentions of the pipeline extension was to reduce the greenhouse gases in Ontario. In contrast, it has been discovered that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has raised the carbon taxes emitted by the pipelines, in return persuading deputies into supporting

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