Cast a critical eye to attempts to link fossil fuel expansion to Indigenous well-being

There’s an offensive fossil fuel industry public relations campaign afoot. It converts expansion of the “natural gas” industry—namely liquefied natural gas, or LNG—into so-called "economic reconciliation" with Indigenous Peoples. How that is done—wiping out 250 years of history—is by pretending Indigenous Peoples are the “face” of the fossil fuel industry, while slipping a microscopic fraction of the ongoing profits of the sector into select Indigenous pockets. Some Indigenous people with previous grassroots legitimacy have become unwitting spokespersons for the extractive economy, contrary to their peoples’ responsibilities to the lands, waters, and the future. The campaign is an example of what The Lancet calls the “commercial determinants of health … a pathological system in which commercial actors … cause harm and externalize the cost of doing so.” The false industry-generated narrative departs radically from documentation from the Yellowhead Institute in its historically accurate “Cash Back” paper, which shows how corporations “build intergenerational wealth and profit off of Indigenous land theft.” Dr. Warren Bell is a non-Indigenous family physician living and working in Salmon Arm, B.C., on lands essentially stolen from the Secwepemc people. Photograph courtesy of Warren Bell One estimate of monies owed to Indigenous Peoples is $200-billion for Alberta alone. Industry has manufactured the First Nations LNG Alliance (FNLNGA), an organization outwardly represented by Indigenous spokespeople and communities, saying the energy transition away from fossil fuels can only be achieved through expanding LNG. The group’s website says nothing about the climate crisis, or statements of intense concern from numerous esteemed scientific bodies. No mention of wildfires, floods, droughts, or extreme weather events, or LNG’s role in intensifying these problems. Nothing about the harms of indoor natural gas or harms to newborns or elders near LNG fracking wells, or how methane—over 20 years—is a greenhouse gas 84 times worse than carbon dioxide. Direct funding sources for the FNLNGA are not revealed—typical for industry propaganda. A prominent spokesperson for this campaign is Stewart Muir, CEO of Resource Works, a long-standing booster of expanding fossil fuel extraction disguised as support for First Nations. Resource Works came from the Business Council of British Columbia, which recently created the Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase, which foments “leading-edge relationships between Indigenous business and corporate Canada.” Not surprisingly, every big fossil fuel player is on board. Dr. Ojistoh Horn is a Mohawk/Haudenosaunee family physician who is Bear Clan, and works full time at Akwesasne. Photograph courtesy of Ojistoh Horn This public relations assault is carefully crafted to deflect criticism away from the fossil fuel industry, and LNG in particular, substituting minute payouts to Indigenous Peoples supporting industry expansion for real cultural reconciliation or acceptance of Indigenous knowledge and values. When the FNLNGA actively participated in a recent LNG industry conference in Vancouver, Muir characteristically leaped to his industry’s defence, saying, “It’s time to recognize that natural gas, and particularly LNG, is not the villain of our climate story, but a character we’ll need more than ever.” The methane/LNG industry is cloaking its expansion plans in a garment of Indigeneity, trying to extend the fossil fuel industry's shelf-life for a decade or two (cynically leaving its “stranded assets” legacy to impoverished Indigenous). One thing is crystal clear: Indigenous Peoples, marginalized and impoverished and treated with genocidal policies for many generations, are not the problem. It’s this calculated public relations thrust by an entitled industry famous for duplicitous public statements, underpinned by massive corporations whose sole responsibility, under settler law, is to shareholders. Wrenching every material resource from a whole community of peoples while treating their values with utter disdain over multiple generations, then turning around and giving back a tiny fraction of those resources with a feigned appreciation for those values, and touting this change of heart as heartfelt and generous—this is the epitome of wrong. It's also a denial of the history of this continent. Given the historic decimation of Indigenous lives, it is no wonder that some Indigenous leaders, desperate to protect their people, have entered the industrial economy—even though aware of the divisive impact of doing so. The corporate sector should be ashamed for sowing such division among Canada’s First Peoples. In close collaboration with our Indigenous colleagues, friends, and neighbours, Canadians must call out such mind games played by the fossil fuel sector and its allies, or risk becoming passive proponents of a profound past and present wrong. Dr. Warren Bell is a non-Indigenous family physician living and working in Salmon Arm, B.C., on lands essentially stolen from the Secwepemc people. Dr. Ojistoh Horn is a Mohawk/Haudenosaunee family physician who is Bear Clan, and works full time at Akwesasne. The Hill Times