Yinka Dene Alliance

The Yinka Dene Alliance is a coalition of six First Nations from northern British Columbia, organized to prevent the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines being built through their traditional territories. The coalition first comprised the Nadleh Whut’en, Nak'azdli, Takla Lake, Saik’uz and Wet’suwet’en First Nations. The Tl'azt'en First Nation has since joined. These bands represent the interests of around 5,000 aboriginals. They are utilizing indigenous, Canadian and international law, and organizing various public protests across Canada.

The Northern Gateway project is a proposal by Enbridge Inc. to build a twin pipeline between Bruderheim, Alberta and Kitimat, British Columbia. The pipeline would carry natural gas condensate to Bruderheim, and crude oil to Kitimat, where it would be transported to Asia by oil tankers. The Yinka Dene Alliance, and many other First Nations groups, oppose the project because of the threat it poses to the environment, their ways of life, and their land rights.

The pipelines would cross nearly 800 streams and rivers, and oil tankers would have to navigate rough waters and jagged coasts. A pipe leak or oil tanker spill - which the Yinka Dene Alliance has deemed "inevitable" - could devastate the water supply, imperiling the ecosystem and local communities' health. This poses a clear economic and cultural threat as well, since their ways of life depend on the waters, most notably through their fishing of the salmon population.

The Yinka Dene Alliance also opposes the project as a matter of land rights. The project would traverse around 50 First Nations' territories, much of which has never formally been ceded. Land title is still being negotiated through the BC Treaty Process. The Yinka Dene Alliance, whose traditional territories make up 25% of the land directly affected by the Northern Gateway project, argues that Enbridge has no legal right to proceed without First Nations' approval. However, based on the 1997 Delgamuukw case, the Supreme Court of Canada disagrees. According to Canadian law, the First Nations must be consulted, which is happening through the project's Joint Review Panel and through private negotiations between Enbridge and First Nations, but they do not have the power to veto. The Yinka Dene Alliance are not participating in the Joint Review Panel public hearings, calling them "bogus" on the grounds that the Canadian government has already made up its mind to support the project.

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