News Release

August 29, 2018

Indigenous Opposition Steadfast as Kinder Morgan Canada Stockholders Prepare to Vote on Trans Mountain Deal

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – August 29, 2018) Tomorrow in Calgary, Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd stockholders are scheduled to vote on Canada’s offer to purchase the Trans Mountain pipeline and tanker project. They are widely expected to accept $4.5 billion from the federal government for a line they only paid $550 million for in 2005.

OPEN LETTER: Kinder Morgan Canada Authorization Requests 
Dear Premier Horgan, Minister Heyman, and Minister Mungall:

We are writing to you regarding a recent letter that was sent to the Neskonlith Indian Band from Ian Anderson, President of Kinder Morgan Canada (enclosed). This letter, which provides detail on the transfer of control of the Trans Mountain pipeline from Kinder Morgan to the Government of Canada, makes mention of the fact that Kinder Morgan will soon request specific authorizations from the Government of British Columbia to resume construction. We urge you to continue to stand with the First Nations and British Columbians who are justly opposed to this pipeline, and to deny all authorization requests sent to the Province from Kinder Morgan.

News Release
August 9, 2018

Kinder Morgan’s new estimate = $9.3 billion and counting

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – August 9, 2018) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is frustrated and outraged with the $1.9 billion increase in estimated construction costs for the planned Trans Mountain pipeline and tanker project released by Kinder Morgan yesterday.

August 7, 2018

OPEN LETTER:    Upholding commitments to reconciliation and Indigenous rights in court regarding the Site C injunction hearings

Dear Premier Horgan and Minister Eby:

We are writing to shed light on the unacceptable and disconcerting gap between your political commitments to reconciliation and Indigenous rights, and BC Hydro’s legal arguments in the current

BC Supreme Court Hearings regarding the West Moberly First Nation’s application for an interim injunction while their Treaty case is being heard.

NEWS RELEASE

UBCIC Condemns Canada’s “Ill-Fated” Buy-Out of Kinder Morgan Project, Promises “Strong, Widespread, and Unwavering” Opposition

(Coast Salish Territory – Vancouver, BC – July 23, 2018)

Today, as Canada takes possession of the controversial and ill-fated Kinder Morgan pipeline and tanker project, Indigenous leaders renew vows to enact their rights as proper title holders by protecting their territories against this project and its devastating risks and impacts.

NEWS RELEASE

FNLC Supports Broughton Area LoU re. Fish Farms

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver – June 28, 2018) The First Nation Leadership Council (FNLC) applauds the Broughton Area Letter of Understanding (LoU), signed yesterday between the Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis, Namgis and Mamalilikulla First Nations and BC.

June 25, 2018

OPEN LETTER: UBCIC Condemns Child Detention and Family Separation

Dear President Trump and Prime Minister Trudeau,

We are writing on behalf of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC). Based in British Columbia, Canada we are an advocacy organization founded in 1969, advancing Indigenous Title and Rights and Treaty Rights on behalf of Indigenous peoples, mandated by our member Nations.

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – June 25, 2018) UBCIC condemns the report on specific claims released on National Indigenous Peoples Day by conservative think tank the Fraser Institute.

In his report, Specific Claims and the Well-Being of First Nations, author Tom Flanagan argues that the federal specific claims program should be discontinued since, he asserts, settlements result in no tangible benefits to First Nations communities. Flanagan's report characterizes specific claims as a never-ending drain on the federal budget and Canadian taxpayers, and contends that Indigenous Nations manipulate facts and exploit case law to validate their claims.  

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – June 20, 2018) The UBCIC applauds today’s announcement as an initial step on the pathway to preserve and safeguard the future of wild salmon consistent with the rights, cultural practices and economic livelihoods of many First Nations throughout BC.

OTTAWA – Today, June 13, 2018, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in Ewert v. Canada, a case challenging the use of prisoner risk assessment tests that can be culturally biased against Indigenous prisoners.

The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) and BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) co-intervened to ask the Court to require, for the first time within prison walls, that decision-makers follow the Gladue framework by taking into account the unique circumstances of Indigenous people that come into contact with the criminal justice system.