Unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-waututh) Nations / Vancouver | September 3, 2024
In response to Indigenous opposition to the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Pipeline, including the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs closing access to LNG traffic on their territory and the court case brought by the Kispiox Band and others, Dr. Melissa Lem, family doctor and President of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, said:
“CAPE recognizes the right of all Indigenous peoples to make decisions about what activities are allowed in their territories. We respect the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs’ leadership and courage in closing their territory to LNG-related traffic and development.
“LNG, hydraulic fracturing and other fossil fuel projects are linked with a range of serious health harms, including cancers, respiratory disease, abnormal pregnancy outcomes, and premature death. Frontline communities – who are overwhelmingly Indigenous, racialized and rural – bear the most serious health impacts of polluted air, water and land.
“Indigenous peoples’ health and human rights must not be trampled in favour of fossil fuel development. Indigenous land and water protectors and allies, including the Kispiox Band, are now resorting to the court system to challenge failures in the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline approvals process and the lack of accommodation for their very serious concerns about the impacts of this project.
“We call on the B.C. government to honour its legal obligations under B.C., Canadian and international law to respect the inherent rights of the Gitanyow Nation and all Indigenous peoples enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We also call on the government to enact a moratorium on all new LNG and hydraulic fracturing development until a comprehensive and independent health impact assessment on the health effects of LNG and fracking activities in B.C. is completed.”
CAPE media contact:
Reykia Fick, Communications Director, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), 647-762-9168, [email protected].
Read the original statement on the CAPE website.