Mayor Streeper offers apologies

Mayor Streeper offers apologies to those who were asked to leave the BC First Nation LNG Shale Gas Summit

Letter to the Community; BC First Nation LNG Summit

April 23, 2014

Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (NRRM) wants to formally respond to recent orchestrated actions that were coordinated at the BC First Nation LNG Shale Gas Summit on April 16th, 2014 at which Fort Nelson First Nation Chief Sharleen Gale requested the invited Industry and Government representatives to leave the Summit.

NRRM Mayor and Regional Council were not associated with the organization & coordination of the BC First Nation LNG Summit that was held in the NRRM Recreation Centre. Nor did the NRRM have anything to do with booting the industry and government representatives from the meeting. Attendance at the Summit was by First Nation invitation only.

Regional Council disagrees with the action to ask specific persons to leave the Summit and deeply regrets the discriminatory exploitation and treatment of Government and Industry representatives that was deemed to be conducted ‘respectfully.’

We appreciate it may have been frustrating for Fort Nelson First Nation to learn about the Provincial Government’s order in council that would result in natural sweet gas producing plants being exempted from automatic environmental assessment; however, the knee jerk reaction to publicly disrespect individuals in an NRRM facility that is open to the public is anything but respectful.

Despite the Summit’s theme of ‘Striking a Balance’, asking people to leave the meeting they were invited to, conveys an opposing, negative message that serves to divide and separate.

Industry and Government representatives attending the Summit were told that the Fort Nelson First Nation territory is not open for business for Shale Gas and LNG activities unless approval has been first obtained by Fort Nelson First Nation.

As the local government authority for the entire Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, Regional Council strongly affirms that the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality is open for business.

NRRM Mayor and Council give great importance to progressing economic development that can be achieved by shale gas extraction and LNG activities in an environmentally responsible manner. Using scientifically proven and quantifiable data to ensure industry accountability, we want a sustainable economic future balanced with industrial development for the benefit of all Northern Rockies – including Fort Nelson First Nation, and for all of British Columbia.

To all those persons and their organizations who were told they were unwelcome at BC First Nation LNG Shale Gas Summit in the NRRM Recreation Facility, we offer our sincerest apology and regret. We are very proud of our community, our region and our beautiful facility. We recognize all of the government, industry and individual economic contributions that helped us rebuild the heart of our community and we welcome everyone to utilize our facility. Please know everyone is welcome in our Regional  Municipality.

Sincerely,

Bill Streeper, Mayor

Cc: BC Minister of Environment Mary Polak

BC Premier Christy Clark

BC Minister of Natural Gas Development Rich Coleman

Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers

Canadian Energy Pipeline Association

Horn River Producers Group

Fort Nelson First Nation

Northeast BC Mayor’s Partnership

Pat Pimm, MLA

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