With the words “Is it good for the Community?” displayed prominently on the wall, emotions ran high in the Walpole Island band council chambers on Tuesday night. Community members gathered at the council meeting to discuss the gas line project being proposed for the First Nation reserve.
Multiple residents, including a delegation of grandmothers from the community, took to the microphone to express their frustration with Walpole Island’s partnership with Union Gas and the approval of the first phase of natural gas infrastructure expansion in the community.
Corrine Tooshkenig, who a day earlier had stepped in front of and grabbed a hold of machinery as crews were about to break ground on the project, reiterated her thoughts and feelings about the project.
“It’s a sad day that I come here and it was a sad day (on Monday),” Corrine Tooshkenig said. “When I became aware of this Union Gas project, this flier came out in the mail and the community didn’t know about it. This is a problem, no communication. Your projects and your decision making is made without the people’s knowledge.”
Theo Blackbird-John, who organized a blockade and protest back in May at the Walpole Island bridge, said in the council chambers on Tuesday that they wanted to create some dialogue.
“It has been many months if not a whole year in advance before we setup that blockade asking when is the community going to have a voice in this matter,” Blackbird-John said.
“When we were at the blockade, we were asking for a community vote. That has never happened. If we have a vote, the truth will show.”
Many tears were shed as a dozen other residents spoke to Walpole Island council expressing their concern about the environmental impacts of the gas line project, about the potential harmful impact to the water and about the lack of communication and community input.
Bill Tooshkenig, a Walpole Island band councillor, said he is concerned about the people of Walpole Island getting up to 50% cheaper energy bills stemming from the new gas line.
“Hydro is going to start being shut off,” Bill Tooshkenig said. “There are over 300 people that are not paying because they can’t afford it. This energy that you see from wind mills and solar panels is not cheap, it’s more expensive. Natural gas is cheaper, that is why I supported it.”
Bill Tooshkenig said businesses on Walpole Island, including Tahgahoning Enterprises and Walpole Island’s school, will save a considerable amount of money each year thanks to the gas line project.
“If you want to protest the gas, gasoline is extracted in a dangerous way and some people are dying over it and we don’t quit driving cars, we don’t quit using electricity. In 1949 when they brought hydro in here, our people voted against it, they didn’t want it. Now every one of you probably have it now. When we built the arena, there was a big protest, people didn’t want it. Now you go there regularly for public functions.”
Bill Tooshkenig added: “Natural gas burns much cleaner than coal. Priscilla Sands was lobbying 30 years ago to have gas come here. She’d be happy today to say gas is finally here so our people can use it. You don;t have to hook up if you don’t want to. You can say no, but don’t stop other people from hooking up. People say it is dangerous… there was a recent electrical fire that burnt down a house. Anything is dangerous if you don’t look after it properly.”
James Jenkins, political advisor to Walpole Island’s chief and council, apologized for the project groundbreaking flyer, which was scheduled for Monday, coming out late and he announced a job posting is going up on Wednesday to help Walpole Island improve their communications.
“I want to apologize for the flyer coming out today and take some responsibility for that happening,” Jenkins said.
“I’m very sorry that happened, it is insulting. There is a lot we can do to improve communication. We’re looking into why that happened, I think there was an internal issue, we were using Canada Post. There are ways we can get fliers out faster. We’re posting for a communications coordinator (on Wednesday). It is definitely needed.”
Jenkins said they thought it was a good idea to put out the flyer with the information about the groundbreaking, however they were not being pushed to do so.
“It’s nothing like the Shell project,” he said. “I think that was a multi-billion dollar project and they were profit driven and they were shoving information at us to try and move the project along at that time. This is different… for Union Gas, it’s not really profit driven for them, it’s the end of the line.”
Jenkins added: “Council does have a decision to make.”
Following a break during the council meeting, Walpole Island Chief Dan Miskokomon thanked the grandmothers and the community members for their presentations, and announced they would be reconvening the following evening.
“We’re going to break until (Wednesday) and deliberate this gas line,” Miskokomon said.
The meeting is scheduled to take place at the Walpole Island council chambers at 5 p.m. and is open to the public.
Watch for more on this story.
