UBCIC Fully Supports Yinka Dene Opposition to Proposed Enbridge Pipeline

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – May 9, 2012)  Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs stated “By formal resolution in accordance to our Constitution and Bylaws, the UBCIC is steadfastly opposed to the Enbridge Pipeline Project and we will forever proudly stand with the Yinka Dene Alliance, Coastal First Nations, Heiltsuk Nation, Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council and the many other Indigenous Peoples who are standing as a unified wall of solidarity up and down the coast and heartland of British Columbia in their unbreakable opposition to this proposed Enbridge Tarsands pipeline.”

“Make no mistake, water is the primary issue.  Water befouled by oil, will kill the fish, contaminate the soil, sicken the animals and reverberate through the whole of the ecosystem. Our Indigenous laws and our obligation to our future generations compel us to defend our territory and the health of our communities for both are intrinsically tied together and are inseparable. The fleeting short-term blip of economic gain promised by government and industry proponents of mega-projects like the Enbridge Pipeline Project, Taseko Mines’ New Prosperity Mine and Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion are being opposed by Indigenous Peoples who are obliged to contemplate the long-term impact on their territories and on their families,” said Grand Chief Phillip.

Grand Chief Phillip concluded “To state the obvious, Indigenous Peoples refuse to put their territories at risk as a consequence of the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline and crude oil tanker traffic.  As Indigenous Peoples, we have experienced time and time again when third party industry interests are granted access to the resources of our territories, the Federal and Provincial Governments protect those industry interests through the blatant betrayal our Indigenous Title, Rights and Treaty Rights which reflect and enshrine the deep environmental values that many British Columbians share with us.”

Media inquires:
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, Union of BC Indian Chiefs
Phone: (250) 490-5314

To apply for a MEMBER USERNAME and password please use the contact form [CLICK HERE] with your full name, as it appears on your Status Card, and your Band Number, as well as any aliases you use.

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To apply for a MEMBER USERNAME and password please use the contact form [CLICK HERE] with your full name, as it appears on your Status Card, and your Band Number, as well as any aliases you use.

Lost your password?

General Function:

The Administrative Support is the first contact people have with Splatsin. Council considers this a very important position. As the “ambassador” you will be well dressed, have a pleasant manner and possess strong inter-personal and diplomacy skills and good judgment to ensure that visitors, business callers and Band members are given a professional first impression of the Health Department.  The Administrative Support is responsible to the Health Director for direction and supervision.

Organizational Relationship: Health Director

Duties:

Greets and directs all office visitors to appropriate person and/or location and:

1. Opens the office at 8:30 am.

2. Answering all incoming calls; transferring callers to intended recipient or correct voicemail and learning (studying) the switchboard system and implementing it in the most efficient manner;

3. Ensuring the voicemail system is operational during closed hours and during the lunch hour.  All messages left on general voicemail are distributed appropriately, assisting fellow employees;

4. Ensuring the switchboard is attended at all times (during coffee breaks etc.)  The relief staff must be someone on administration staff or approved by the Health Director;

5. Keep front area tidy, maintain bulletin boards, including up-to-date staff whereabouts using in/out board (when possible) and keeping bulletins placed on the outside of building neat and current;

6. Photocopying/scanning for Health Director, staff and Members.

7. Ensuring there is always paper & toner for the fax machine and photocopier.

8. Calling for service if the telephones and/or other office equipment (photocopier, fax machine etc.) need servicing &/or repair;

9.  Record outgoing mail.

10.   Assist with other duties as assigned.

11. Typing notices

12. Monitor coffee supplies, order as required

13. Monitor office supplies, order as required

14. Close & Secure office, activate alarm if last to leave the office.

Terms of Employment:

35 hours weekly

Monday – Friday 8:30 – 4:30

Application and Selection Procedures:

Submit resume and references to:

Splatsin First Nation

P.O. Box 460

Enderby B.C.

V0E 1V0

Attention: Charlene William

Or fax application to 250-838-2131 Attention: Charlene William

DEADLINE FOR RESUMES:

Friday, May 25^th at 4:30 pm

Applications will be short-listed and only successful applicants will be contacted for interviews.

Some of you might be interesting in reading the full, technical details about what is wrong with the plans to gut the fisheries act

Also – note that I have revised our Old Town Bay Marina press release due to a better understanding of the plans – as the marina is designed to be located in deep water outside of the zone most critical for salmon fry – note that it extends nearly 600 metres out into the lake! And it would still fill in the entire bay – so I am still concerned that there will be impacts. Please send in comments!

the full backgrounder is available at:
www.ecojustice.ca/files/fisheries-act

here is the overview

Legal Backgrounder
Fisheries Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. F-14)

Overview
The fishing industry in Canada is a significant source of jobs and a major contributor to the economy and well-being of Canadians. But for Canadians, fish are more than just an industry by-product. Fish provide our families with food and valued recreational opportunities. Tourism sectors across Canada are dependent on our fish-bearing waters. Many fish are integral to First Nation communities; some fish, such as iconic species like the salmon and oolichan, have a cultural and spiritual significance. Fish protection is serious business and it goes well beyond issues of environmental protection.
The Fisheries Act is the principal federal statute that manages Canadian fisheries resources. Much of the Act is aimed at regulating fishing. However, the Fisheries Act does not only protect fish, but also protects the habitat they need to reproduce, grow and survive. As any biologist can tell you, to try to protect fish without protecting their habitats does not make scientific sense.

Under consecutive headings, this backgrounder:
• Outlines the key fish habitat protection and pollution prevention provisions of the
Act, and identifies how they should be improved;

• Discusses proposed amendments by the Government of Canada (“the Government”) which weaken fish habitat protection, as included in its Budget Implementation Act tabled for first reading in Parliament on April 26, 2012.

Shuswap Environmental Action Society

Media Release

May 7, 2012

Old Town Bay Marina plan should be rejected

The Shuswap Environmental Action Society is opposed to the plans to allow a massive marina for Old Town Bay near Sicamous. Our concerns include the potential impact on fisheries, as well as the impact on recreational values.

Government agencies have promoted the removal of the houseboat operation from the Sicamous channel for a number of years, due to the impact on fish habitat. While moving the houseboats may seem like a positive change, the reality is likely the opposite. If the houseboat docks were removed and the foreshore returned to a natural state, then the move could be beneficial. However, the plans call for the houseboat docks to simply be replaced with docks for speedboats and thus many impacts would remain. Even if the new docks in the channel were built using the best practices, there would still be impacts.

The mapping of fish habitat shows that the channel contains high value habitat on the east side and very high habitat on the west side. The same mapping shows both high and very high habitat along the foreshore of Old Town Bay. If the docks were allowed to move to Old Town Bay, there would be impacts to an area that is now nearly pristine and some of the impacts would remain in the channel, with the result being an increase in impacts.

As well, the channel has been filled with docks for many decades, and any impacts to salmon have already occurred. Salmon continue to swim through the channel in the fall to spawn up the Shuswap River and the fry continue to spread throughout the lake during the year. The main difference between the channel and the bay is that the bay is located in the freshwater estuary of the Eagle River and thus provides critical habitat to the salmon fry exiting the Eagle River in the spring up until high water. Locating a massive marina and breakwater in this area could be pose significant problems to these salmon fry, even though it is proposed for deep water.

According to Craig Orr, a fisheries biologist with The Watershed Watch Salmon Society, fresh water estuaries are “ecologically sensitive areas that are important to the ecosystem and are very vulnerable to disturbances.” Craig added, “These areas tend to have the highest fish biomass and biodiversity by providing a place for fish to spawn, feed and rear juveniles and should be avoided by such projects.”

Impacts from the marina include the potential for fuel spills, pollution from washing the houseboats, shade from the boats that create hiding places for more predators of the salmon fry, as well as noise and siltation.  While a comprehensive, independent impact assessment will be prepared; it should be made available to the public for review before a final decision is made.

The marina would also impact other species that utilize the foreshore, such as shoreline birds that feed and nest in bays. Sandy beaches are rare in the Shuswap Lakes and many of these beaches have some form of development. An assessment is also needed of the use of this area by other species and of the impacts that could occur from a marina development.

In addition to the impacts on recreation, the marina would also impact public recreation values. The proposal calls for privatizing public foreshore.  The Shuswap Lakes Integrated Planning Process (SLIPP) is just in the beginning stage of developing a recreation management plan for the lakes. Any proposal to privatize a large area of the foreshore should wait until there is a publicly approved plan in place to manage recreational values.

In conclusion, Jim Cooperman, President of Shuswap Environmental Action Society (SEAS), urges that “the public, especially all those concerned about salmon habitat and recreational values provide comments to the Integrated Land Management Bureau about the inappropriate marina development as soon as possible, as the deadline for comments in May 19th.”  “Even though the marina is designed to be located in deeper water outside the primary zone critical to salmon fry, we remain concerned that this massive marina, that would fill in the entire bay, will still negatively impact salmon and other species,” he added.

Note that the public can access what little information is available about the project and can provide comments using this link:

http://www.arfd.gov.bc.ca/ApplicationPosting/viewpost.jsp?PostID=29366

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Jim Cooperman, President,
Shuswap Environmental Action Society
1497 Lee Creek Drive
Lee Creek, B.C., V0E 1M4
250-679-3693, cell 319-4197
jcoop@ribaa.ca, www.seas.ca
www.shuswapwatershed.ca
www.shuswappassion.ca
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