Morice River access attempt

On Tuesday, Nov. 20, a small group of Coastal GasLink team members attempted to cross the Morice River bridge to complete some necessary work to progress the project. Unfortunately, we were denied access across the bridge by the camp blockade.

While we are disappointed with the outcome, we appreciate the safe and respectful exchange that took place during the event. We understand that not everyone shares the same view about our pipeline, but we remain committed to keeping the lines of communication open and remain steadfast in our endeavour to engage all stakeholders towards a positive, mutually beneficial outcome.

Indigenous Engagement Milestones

• Coastal GasLink has awarded $620 million in contract work to Indigenous businesses for the project’s right-of-way clearing, medical, security and camp management needs, with another anticipated $400 million in additional contract and employment opportunities for Indigenous and local B.C. communities during pipeline construction.
  
  
• To date, the Coastal GasLink team has had over 15,000 interactions and engagements with Aboriginal communities along the proposed pipeline route, and over one-third of all the work completed on the project has been conducted by Indigenous people.
  
  
• We have engaged directly with Hereditary Chiefs since the project began, with many of those leaders already seeing project benefits for their communities. Benefits include training and employment opportunities, contracting opportunities and substantial financial payments directed to the advancement of heritage, cultural, and traditional language priorities deemed important by the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs and Wet’suwet’en community leaders.
  
  
• Coastal GasLink initiated consultation with the Office of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs in June 2012 by providing formal notification of the proposed project. Since then, Coastal GasLink has engaged in a wide range of consultation activities with Office of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs, Dark House and directly with Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs.
  
  
• Coastal GasLink has held over 120 in person meetings with Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs and an additional 1300 other interactions (calls and emails).
  
  
• In 2014 we employed 84 Wet’suwet’en community members to conduct fieldwork. This enabled them to gain employment and enabled us to incorporate local knowledge into our project plans.
  
  
• The 20 signed project agreements reflect that many First Nations support responsible development, and growth that translates into real opportunities.
  
  
• Our collaborative approach with First Nations communities has resulted in us investigating alternate routes to address some of the input we received. These productive, two-way conversations with all Aboriginal groups have resulted in many changes to the project.
  
  
• We’ve invested in a variety of training programs to support Aboriginal and local trainees and students. These include the Pathway to Pipeline Readiness Program and Education Legacy program. Examples include Prince George Nechako Aboriginal Employment and Training Association, Tribal Resources Investment Corporation, Northwest Community College, and Northern Lights College.
  
  
• Coastal GasLink has already spent $60 million locally in Northern BC, including $3 million on community investment initiatives, education and training initiatives. During construction and operation, the benefits to BC will grow significantly.