THE CHESLATTA T'EN STORY:
Wanton Destruction of a People,
a Fishing Industry and a River System
by Alcan's Kemano 1 Project
Kemano 2 is the nail in the coffin.
BEFORE 1952...
o Forty-two years ago the Cheslatta Carrier Nation were a happy, healthy,
self- sustaining people. Situated on reserves along Lake Cheslatta in
the head- waters of the Nechako River system, they lived a traditional
lifestyle based on fishing, hunting, trapping, farming and trading with
neighbouring nations. Before 1952, the Cheslatta t'en had little
contact, and indeed no need of contact with the Department of Indian
Affairs (DIA).
SINCE 1952...
o On 21 April 1952 Alcan, with the complicity of DIA, all but destroyed
the Cheslatta t'en. Today, only several hundred Cheslatta t'en survive.
Their traditional way of life has gone, their language is all but
forgotten. They continue to battle Alcan and the governments of Canada
and British Columbia against the injustices perpetrated on them, the
rivers and their ancestral land.
WHAT HAPPENED?
o 1948 - The B.C. government invited Alcan to consider building an
aluminum smelter on the B.C. coast.
o December 1950 - B.C. granted Alcan a licence to divert 9,500 cubic feet
per second (cfs) of water from the Nechako and Nanika Rivers to feed the
turbines of their Kemano hydro-electric project which in turn would run
the aluminum smelter. The Kenny Dam was built to harness the water to
fill the Nechako Reservoir.
o April 1952 - As the water rose on Cheslatta Lake, with two weeks notice,
the Cheslatta t'en were forced against their will to move north. DIA
used forged surrender documents. Alcan promised compensation and assured
the Cheslatta t'en they could return to collect their belongings. Some
people received $50 compensation; others none at all. Alcan hired
contractors to burn all their homes, after their belongings were looted.
Living in tents, with only the few possessions they could haul through
the spring mud, the Cheslatta t'en suffered unimaginable hardships.
o October 1952 - Kenny Dam construction was completed; the average annual
water flows to the Upper Nechako River dropped from 7,239 cfs to 175
cfs; chinook salmon in Upper Nechako were all but destroyed over the
next four years as Alcan backed up water to fill the Nechako Reservoir.
o 1957 - Alcan's Kitimat aluminum smelter went into full operation powered
by Kemano 1.
o 1978 - The Department of Fisheries and Oceans learned that Alcan was
interested in a second phase -- Kemano 2 (Kemano 2 name was later
changed to Kemano Completion Project).
o November 1979 - Alcan signed a contract with B.C. Hydro who had extended
their power grid into Northwestern B.C. This meant Alcan could use or
sell all power from Kemano. Faced with a decision whether to release
water downriver to save the Nechako salmon or to release water to power
Kemano I, Alcan chose the latter.
o July 1980 - Federal Fisheries ordered Alcan to release water to protect
the Nechako River salmon. Alcan said no.
o 5 August 1980 - Department of Fisheries and Oceans took Alcan to court.
B.C. Supreme Court ordered Alcan to release water. The water release
schedule agreed to remained in effect until 30 June 1985.
o January 1984 - Alcan applied to the B.C. government for an energy
project certificate for Kemano 2.
o March to April 1984 - Public meetings in Vancouver and Prince Rupert
showed that 84% of submissions were opposed to Kemano 2.
o 21 June 1984 - The Trudeau Government passed the Environmental
Assessment and Review Procedures Guideline Order (E.A.R.P.).
o October 1984 - Because of E.A.R.P. Alcan abruptly withdrew their Kemano
2 applications and requested that all agencies to cease consideration of
the project.
o 20 to 23 August 1987 - A ten-member Nechako River Working Group (headed
by UBC president David Strangway) said that Alcan should have all the
water it asked for in 1983 when Kemano 2 was unveiled. A three-stage
plan was set up to save only 3,100 spawning chinook. If this plan
failed, a hatchery would be built on the Nechako.
o 14 September 1987 - Through secret sessions, the B.C. and federal
governments agreed to allow Alcan to proceed with Kemano 2. Tom Siddon,
then Minister of Fisheries, signed the agreement on behalf of the
federal government.
o 29 December 1987 - On the anniversary of the original water licence,
Alcan received an amended one giving them an additional 1,100 cfs from
the Nechako in return for giving up their rights to the Nanika River.
o 10 August 1988 - Alcan announced it would begin construction of Kemano
2.
o October 1990 - Despite court actions by the Carrier Sekani Tribal
Council and the Save the Bulkley Society, Brian Mulroney's cabinet
approved an order exempting Kemano 2 from E.A.R.P. (the only time a
mega-project has been exempted in Canadian history).
o January 1991 - Skeena M.P. Jim Fulton requested Solicitor General Pierre
Cadieux conduct an RCMP investigation into allegations of wrong doings
surrounding Kemano 2.
o 14 May 1991 - Federal Court of Canada judge Allison Walsh quashed the
Kemano Settlement Agreement and exemptions granted by the Federal
Transport Minister Benoit Bouchard from the Nechako Water Protection
Act. She ordered a full environmental review.
o June 1991 - Again, Alcan shut down construction on Kemano 2.
o May 1992 - The Federal Court of Appeal overturned the May 1991 ruling.
o 19 January 1993 - B.C. Premier Mike Harcourt announced that Kemano 2
could go ahead, based on the recommendation of lawyer Murray Rankin, but
ordered a public hearing "to clear the air."
o 4 February 1993 - The Supreme Court of Canada turned down the Sekani
Tribal Council and the Rivers Defence Coalition application to review
the May 1992 Federal Court of Appeal decision.
o 7 June 1993 - An all-party report in the House of Commons, endorsed
without dissent, called the Mulroney cabinet's E.A.R.P. exemption
"illegal and unconstitutional."
o 6 July 1993 - Cheslatta Lake, watery grave for the remains of at least
50 Cheslatta t'en, was consecrated as a cemetery.
o April 1994 - A six-person Cheslatta t'en delegation traveled to Toronto,
Montreal and Ottawa to tell their story in a last ditch attempt to stop
Kemano 2.
o Today - Alcan will be "free" to restart construction on Kemano 2
following the one remaining hurdle -- a B.C. Utilities Commission
Hearing -- a hearing Sekani Tribal Chief Justa Monk calls "a total
SHAM!"
o Today - The Cheslatta t'en wait for the end of their 42-year
exodus...
The injustices continue...
HELP STOP KEMANO 2