Haida Gwaii
They didn’t ask to be part of the province or country, and nobody asked them. They certainly never signed any treaties. And now the Haida Nation are taking to court their battle for title to the Queen Charlotte Islands, the remote archipelago off the coast of British Columbia.
What’s the big deal?
Well, as is usually the case these days, the fight is not just about land, but about what’s under the land, and in this case, around it too. Great oil and gas deposits are thought to lie off-shore from the islands, and the Haida, understandably, want the right to control those resources.
To their credit, the Haida have largely given up on the idea of carving out a sovereign nation, even though they don’t really consider themselves part of Canada. Instead they are asking the court to allow them full ownership — though they will not eject any non-Haida currently living on the islands.
And in a twist that may surprise some, the Haida have announced they are opposed to extraction of the precious resources because of the environmental risks. This is a departure from other Native-Canadian nations who are generally more eager to tap the resources to their own benefit.
In taking this position, though, the Haida may gain a loud chorus of allies from the traditionally powerful environmental movement in B.C. Or as the president of the Haida Nation put it, “They’ve ruined the fishing industry and they’ve ruined the forest industry. Now they’re on to the next one.”
The cash-strapped provincial government would like all too much to earn royalties from oil and gas, but at a time when existing emissions already threaten Canada’s commitment to the Kyoto protocol, I for one believe that blindly opening the taps to more fossil fuels is a mistake.
And in the meantime, since everyone expects this court battle to continue ad nauseam, the Haida would like to ensure that the government and resource companies don’t mount a sneak attack by digging in before any decision is made.
Hear, hear.
Previously: Is There No Justice?
Subsequently: In the Wintertime, The Living Is Easy
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