 B.C. Premier Christy Clark. (JIM WELLS/ QMI AGENCY FILE PHOTO)
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A group comprising several First Nations opposed to the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project are accusing B.C. Premier Christy Clark of selling out British Columbians and putting a price tag on the future of native people.
Last week, B.C. Liberals laid out five demands that need to be met before the province would back the $5.5 billion project that would carry Alberta crude to Kitimat, B.C., to then be shipped to Asian markets.
They include beefed up oil spill safeguards and a greater share of the economic spinoffs related to pipelines.
The Yinka Dene Alliance, a group of five First Nations in B.C.'s interior who hold more than 25% of the proposed pipeline route in their territories, were incensed by Clark's demands.
"It is absolutely unacceptable for our premier to play a game of 'the Price is Right' while putting our lands, our waters and our futures at risk to devastating oil spills," Terry Teegee, Tribal Chief of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, said in a statement Saturday. "The premier is putting on a show because she's under political pressure and needs votes, but her actions have very real consequences for us here on the land.
"This is our lives, the well-being of our families that she is playing with. We won't let her sell our lands out from under us."
