It didn't have to be like this

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Published on Friday, 05 October 2018 11:40

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It didn't have to be like this r1 The court-delivered blow against Trans Mountain could have been avoided if Indigenous-led assessments had been in place. ...

Federal appeals judge Eleanor Dawson couldn't have been more clear in her written decision when the court dealt a crushing blow to the Trans Mountain expansion: Canada did not do enough to truly involve Indigenous peoples in the environmental assessment of the pipeline.

“Canada was required to do more than receive and understand the concerns of the Indigenous applicants,” she wrote. “Canada was required to engage in a considered, meaningful two-way dialogue.”

There's an emerging process that could allow them to do just that — and it might have led to a completely different outcome.

An Indigenous-led assessment starts in the community, with Indigenous priorities taken into consideration long before any proponent would normally get around to knocking on doors.

“Indigenous EA [environmental assessment] means Indigenous governments are setting the terms, they’re conducting the review with their worldview and their Indigenous laws — they’re making decisions about the project themselves," Ginger Gibson, author of a new report on Indigenous-led assessments, told The Narwhal.

You can see deputy editor Jimmy Thomson's story here, and check out the rest of our great stories, as always, below.

Emma Gilchrist
Editor-in-Chief, The Narwhal

As ice recedes, the Arctic isn’t prepared for more shipping traffic

By Edward Struzik

As sea ice continues to recede in the Arctic, it provides cruise, cargo and tanker companies with new opportunities, and emboldens small vessels to venture into uncharted areas. But without a single Arctic deepwater port, how is Canada prepared to respond to inevitable emergencies? Read more.

The death of Trans Mountain pipeline signals future of Indigenous rights: Chiefs

By Judith Lavoie

The verdict is one in a long line of recent court decisions that carve out new legal space around Indigenous title and rights, including the quashing of Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline proposal.

What does the decision mean for other court cases, including the First Nations challenge of the Site C dam? Read more. Become a Narwhal

So we got the nicest message from a new monthly member this week, and we wanted to share it with you:

I have always been a proud supporter of The Narwhal, but I never took the time to be a donor.

For some odd reason, finding the minute – yes, it only took a minute – to support a rock star group of journalists doing necessary work, always slipped down the priority list. Until recently… I was following a stream of comments on a forest fire story, and the amount of nonsense that people were sharing as fact made my blood boil. Their ignorance only reinforced how essential The Narwhal is to Canadians and Canada.

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Six reasons electoral reform in B.C. would be good for the climate

By Jeremy Caradonna

Two leaders, Doug Ford and Donald Trump, both of whom were elected with much less than a majority of votes, have instigated wild swings on climate policy. Under a proportional representation system, that would be less likely, argues University of Victoria professor Jeremy Caradonna. Read more. Word of the week: Whiplash
/ˈ(h)wipˌlaSH/
The feeling in your mind's neck from years of watching hard-fought climate policies, electoral reform promises and international agreements drop to the cutting room floor for political expediency, while court decisions overrule what seemed like inevitable political outcomes. Got a friend who just can't stop reading? Send them this newsletter signup link to keep them busy. r33 Copyright © 2018 The Narwhal, All rights reserved.
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