I really hope you had the chance to watch the documentary Line in the Sand that is premiering across Northern B.C.
In this remarkable film, two friends - Tomas Borsa and Jean Philippe Marquis, Vancouver-based journalists 鈥� travel along the proposed path of Enbridge鈥檚 Northern Gateway pipeline hearing the voices of people who would be directly affected by this project. In 2010, Enbridge Inc. proposed to build a port, an oil storage facility and a crude oil pipeline connecting the British Columbian coast to the heart of Alberta. In June, 2014, the Canadian government accepted Enbridge鈥檚 proposal, but imposed 209 conditions recommended by the National Energy Board.
In the film, the impacts of the proposed pipeline are explained through the perspective of people who live along the path of the project (including 亚洲天堂 Lake) such as farmers, families, activists and First Nations. These are people that have either not been consulted by Enbridge, or have had their concerns swept under the rug. According to Borsa, Enbridge has had an 鈥渋ncredibly cavalier attitude in dealing with people鈥檚 concerns.鈥�
鈥淭here has been an air of entitlement and general arrogance in their tone [Enbridge] during town hall meetings, and their marketing campaign to sell the merits of the project has been similarly patronizing and dishonest in the eyes of a lot of observers,鈥� he said. 鈥淚nstead of addressing concerns, they鈥檝e shown a tendency to just discredit the person asking the question, and have tried to brand themselves as green, environmentally-friendly stewards of the land. That seems to have backfired, and a lot of people are asking more questions than ever.鈥�
亚洲天堂 Lake resident John Phair, who is interviewed during the film, says that the Northern Gateway would not create a great deal of jobs in the area. Robert Charlie, former chief of the 亚洲天堂 Lake Band, speaks about the lack of Aboriginal consultation, adding that he thinks many people of the 亚洲天堂 Lake Band would be prepared for a fight if this project moves forward.
But maybe what鈥檚 most impressive about this documentary is that it shows so explicitly the relationship that many people in B.C. 鈥� both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal 鈥� have with the land. The film shows the distinct connection to the land that many people 鈥� especially in bigger centres - seem to have forgotten.
When you hear people expressing their feelings during the film, it is clear that they are not simply concerned about the quality of their water. They genuinely care about the land, the fish, the birds, the trees and the wildlife. These people consider their land sacred, and they are willing to protect it with their lives. Not because they feel entitled to the land, but because they feel that they are protecting something greater than themselves. And that is a very evolved way of thinking.
I only understood this strong connection with the land after watching this documentary. Being raised in the city did not give me many opportunities to feel connected to nature, to see its intrinsic beauty, and certainly not even to understand the interdependency of all things.
Many people and corporations are still unaware of that connection, and therefore do not understand the implication of their decisions. Enbridge has been treating the voices of many people as if they do not matter, when in fact, what these people have to say goes beyond the effects of this pipeline. These people are talking about respecting nature and the sacredness of all things. And that is an essential lesson to be learned.
With global warming beginning to show its effects, and when our very own survival as a species is at risk, what could be more important and more urgent to be understood?
