Commentary by Jim Emberger (Fredericton Gleaner, Nov 23, 2016)
We applaud the Gallant government’s decision to amend the Clean Environment Act to ban the disposal of fracking wastewater in municipal and provincial sewage treatment systems. The scientific studies behind the decision have long noted that municipal wastewater systems were not designed to deal with industrial waste. They cannot remove substances for which they were not designed and the plants themselves can be damaged.
Kenneth Francis accepting solidarity statement on Aboriginal Title Claim from Jim Emberger, NBASGA @ NBEN Annual Meeting (photo Mark D’Arcy)
The New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance is proud to support the lawsuit filed by Elsipogtog First Nation, on behalf of the Mi’kmaq Nation, to claim Aboriginal title to the Mi’kma’ki district of Sikniktuk in New Brunswick.
Our support is grounded in many things. In recent history we have been allies against a common enemy that threatened all of us with the contamination of our water, air and land. Many of our members, both Anglophone and Francophone from around the province, stood with the people of Elsipogtog as they peacefully defended their land. Some were arrested alongside them and still others sent money and supplies to support the cause.
Commentary by Debra Hopper
(l to r) Counsel Bruce McIvor, Elder Ken Francis, Chief Arren Sock
I would like to comment on a very important story that received a brief mention in the news on Nov. 9th. A press conference was held in Elsipogtog where Chief Arren Sock and Elder Kenneth Francis announced that a claim has been filed with the court that asserts the authority of the Mi’kmaq People over the land and the water in the Mi’kmaq territory in Eastern NB called Sikniktuk.
I am not Aboriginal, but I was filled with admiration and respect as I listened to the eloquence of these two men as they spoke of their ancestors, their culture, their community and their ties to the land.