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Until the shale gas exploration protests by members of the Elsipogtog First Nation took a nasty turn recently, the country was paying little attention to aboriginal concerns about resource activity in New Brunswick. Now Elsipogtog is Burnt Church redux, another example of angry clashes over First Nations rights.
The New Brunswick controversy has two elements. Unease about shale gas development brought many non-aboriginal people to join with the First Nations, with escalating demands for a provincial government moratorium on exploration activity. This kind of environmentalist-indigenous alliance is not uncommon; similar joint protests interrupted plans for the Enbridge pipeline project in northern British Columbia. These connections have proven shaky in the past and are not certain to endure.
The second element – the assertion that First Nations deserve a much greater role in resource development decision-making and the resulting prosperity – is much deeper and more important. Members of the Elsipogtog First Nation do not want exploratory activity to continue, insisting that their right to be consulted and accommodated starts at the first stages of development. Without greater involvement – the word “veto” is not being used officially, but it is clearly in the air – they simply see no value in allowing resource development to proceed.
Conflicts of this sort generate very predictable responses from political commentators, many of them focusing on the “missing” gratitude for all of the expensive things the government of Canada currently does for First Nations and for the concern that Canadians as a whole have for indigenous social problems. Yet everyone can see how well this is working for many aboriginal communities.
The critical response to the level of violence is appropriate; anyone who steps outside Canadian norms in pressing their case against government or business can expect condemnation. But debate about the specifics of the Elsipogtog situation shows how quickly Canadians miss the most crucial elements in the resource dispute.
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