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RCMP say three plain-clothes officers were trying to stop the 2008 Toyota Corolla at an intersection in Fort McMurray on Saturday afternoon.

They say there were three youths in the vehicle at the time, and that the shots were fired when the vehicle was trying to escape.

RCMP say one shot struck the 16-year-old, who they say was the driver.

Police say the boy suffered serious injuries and was flown to a hospital in Edmonton.

Sgt. Patrick Webb said at least two police vehicles had boxed in the Corolla at the intersection, but the driver tried to smash his way out.

"He basically rammed those vehicles with his own," Webb said on Sunday.

Webb said the last report he'd received was that the teen was in stable condition.

The two remaining youths in the vehicle weren't hurt, but police say two of the officers suffered minor injuries.

The two youths were arrested but have since been released.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, a provincial body that investigates police incidents, is taking over the shooting investigation.

Clifton Purvis with the team said investigators have been dispatched to Fort McMurray to work on the case.

"Our role is to determine whether the shooting was justified and lawful," Purvis said Sunday.

Police say they're looking for a red minivan that was in the area at the time of the shooting, as well as anyone else who may have witnessed the incident.

RCMP say they will continue to handle the original investigation into the stolen vehicle.

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1095535--rcmp-shoot-alleged-teen-car-thief-in-alberta Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:47:00 -0400 The Canadian Press http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1095535--rcmp-shoot-alleged-teen-car-thief-in-alberta
Members of the Local 60601 of the Canadian Transportation Employees Union have been in talks with the airport authority and a federal mediator all weekend.

But Anna Goguen, a union representative, says the airport authority did not return to the table on Sunday.

She says unless a tentative agreement is reached, the 24 workers in the union will hit the picket lines at 5 a.m. on Monday.

Goguen says some of those employees are deemed essential services and would have to work in the case of a major problem like clearing snow from a runway.

The union says the issues on the table are related to compensation and classification.

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1095620--new-brunswick-airport-workers-set-to-strike Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:56:00 -0400 The Canadian Press http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1095620--new-brunswick-airport-workers-set-to-strike
RCMP say officers responded to a complaint of a disturbance at a residence in Nain early Saturday morning.

Police say a 34-year-old man was suffering from serious stab wounds and was airlifted to Happy Valley-Goose Bay for treatment.

A 27-year-old man was arrested outside the residence and charged with aggravated assault and mischief.

Police are not releasing the suspect's name.

The accused will appear in court on Monday for a bail hearing.

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1095547--man-faces-charges-after-stabbing-in-n-l Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:52:00 -0400 The Canadian Press http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1095547--man-faces-charges-after-stabbing-in-n-l
Police say they were called around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday after another man broke into a residence on Lakecrest Drive in Dartmouth.

Police say the homeowner fought with the intruder and was able to wrestle the firearm from him.

The suspect fled the scene and no one was injured.

At the time of the incident, officers arrested a third man located in a vehicle and later found and arrested another man without incident.

Police say all three men are in their early 20s and are known to each other.

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1095548--men-arrested-after-halifax-break-in Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:48:00 -0400 The Canadian Press http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1095548--men-arrested-after-halifax-break-in
It was among a number of questions Jamie Baillie fielded at a question-and-answer session at the close of the party's annual meeting.

The Halifax Regional Municipality is a political desert for the Tories. They hold no seats in the province's dominant urban area. Some electoral districts, such as Halifax Chebucto and Halifax Needham, have not seen Tory blue in more than 20 years.

Baillie told the crowd at the Harbourfront Marriott Hotel the solution starts with putting great candidates forward. He said it's important to address local issues such as taking advantage of the major federal shipbuilding contract that is coming to the city.

"The development of business, the growth of our tax base... I believe the PC party is talking about issues that are important to HRM," said Baillie after the event. "That's why we're seeing a greater interest within HRM."

The Tory leader was also asked about the government's recent 1.3 per cent funding cut to the province's eight school boards. Baillie says he wants to see cuts to education's bureaucracy rather than reducing funding to school boards.

"I happen to believe as someone who wants to balance the budget as much as anyone that the last place to go is to our classrooms and that's the opposite of what the NDP government is doing."

NDP MLA Becky Kent defended the cut, reiterating that provincial enrolment is declining.

"Our government feels very clearly... that the money that is going from our taxpayer dollars should be going straight to those students in those schools."

Other party members brought up the need to reinstate the Yarmouth ferry service, which Baillie referred to as the "Nova Scotia ferry that docks in Yarmouth."

"That's a message I hear everywhere in our province," he said.

"Everyone is focused on the massive mistake that the government made in cancelling that Yarmouth ferry. ...It's part of our economic future and that's something that we know that the NDP clearly didn't understand."

Kent, the MLA for Cole Harbour in Dartmouth, said the government would be willing to look at a business case for the ferry if one was to come forward.

"We haven't walked away from the table completely but we're not prepared to continue to go down the road of something that is not in the best interest of all Nova Scotians."

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1095406--tory-leader-fields-questions-from-members Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:11:00 -0400 The Canadian Press http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1095406--tory-leader-fields-questions-from-members
Charest says his government will introduce a bill in the legislature this week that will give authorities new measures to deal with the problem.

The province also launched a three-year TV and Internet awareness campaign to get the word out to students about bullying.

The announcement comes following the suicide last fall of a 15-year-old Quebec girl who was bullied by classmates.

Marjorie Raymond told her mother in a suicide note last November that she couldn't endure the physical and psychological abuse any longer.

Her mother Chantal Larose had called for tougher laws to discourage bullying.

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1095523--quebec-govt-launches-anti-bullying-plan Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:05:00 -0400 The Canadian Press http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1095523--quebec-govt-launches-anti-bullying-plan
No one was killed when the Red Arrow passenger bus crashed on Highway 28 between Edmonton and Fort McMurray on Friday, but Alberta Health Services said at the time that three of the people on board were listed in critical condition. There was no immediate update on their condition Saturday.

RCMP say 37 people were on board and that five people had to be extricated from the bus.

John Stepovy, the general manager of Red Arrow, said the driver had been a bus operator for many years and was familiar with the road where the accident happened.

Police say they have also ruled out drugs or alcohol as factors, but say the exact cause is still under investigation.

Stepovy said the company is doing everything it can to assist the injured passengers, some of whom have already been released from hospital.

"It's not something we ever wished for that's for sure. It's an unfortunate incident," Stepovy told CFCW radio in Edmonton.

"Our main objective is to take care of those passengers affected and be there for them and their family."

Passengers described the road as being clear and dry, but they said the bus wobbled and went out of control on a curve.

One man described seeing fellow passengers scraped across the pavement before the bus finally came to a stop.

Alberta Health Services said privacy rules prevented it from providing updates on the injured passengers' conditions.

Police, however, said in a news release Saturday that no one had died and that injuries still ranged from serious to minor.

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1094965--rcmp-say-road-was-fine-when-alta-bus-rolled Sun, 12 Feb 2012 14:19:00 -0400 The Canadian Press http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1094965--rcmp-say-road-was-fine-when-alta-bus-rolled
The behind-the-scenes fight involving Harold Leduc has been so bad and so vicious that the Canadian Human Rights Commission quietly ordered the veterans board to pay the decorated, former warrant officer $4,000, including legal costs, for harassment he'd suffered from other agency members.

Leduc, who spent 22 years in the military, claims he was a target for gossip, innuendo and intimidation because he often sided with veterans in his review decisions.

It is the latest, and potentially the most wide-ranging, in a series of privacy breaches, which the Conservative government claimed was cleaned up at the department that oversees the care of ex-soldiers and RCMP.

In late 2010 following the privacy scandal involving advocate Sean Bruyea, the government said it instituted tighter controls over the personal information of veterans and who had access to files.

Yet, in the spring of 2011, an investigation report, which included Leduc's personal information and examined the toxic in-fighting at the independent agency, was released un-censored following an access to information request.

"I am writing to notify you of a privacy breach that resulted in the improper disclosure of personal information," said a July 6, 2011 letter to Leduc from the access co-ordinator of the veterans board, who apologized and described the incident as a clerical error.

Two years previously, the deputy chair of the board acknowledged in another letter, that Leduc had been the victim of a more serious breach, where over 40 officials accessed his file that included medical information. Some of the officials were from veterans affairs, others included those who oversaw the review and appeal board.

"I was devastated because it was a huge breach of trust that they can't go back on," Leduc said in an interview with The Canadian Press. "I'm very embarrassed about my service-related disabilities and I don't think that's anybody's business, but mine. I was just shocked and devastated."

Board chairman John Larlee declined a request for an interview, but spokeswomen for both the agency and the veterans affairs minister released statements in response to a series of questions posed by The Canadian Press.

Both Danielle Gauthier and Codi Taylor said safeguarding privacy has been of the utmost concern.

"When a privacy breach occurs, we take immediate steps to address it, including corrective actions and disciplinary measures where appropriate," Gauthier wrote in an email Friday.

Neither of them would address Leduc's circumstance, citing privacy concerns. They declined to explain how his privacy could have been violated twice — or what measures were taken in response.

"Minister Steven Blaney believes that any violation of our Veterans privacy is totally unacceptable," Taylor wrote in an email.

"Our government took action over a year ago to ensure disciplinary measures for those who violate the law. Our government wants to ensure that the privacy of all veterans remains protected which is why Minister Blaney instructed departmental officials to look at how the Privacy Action Plan could be updated."

Taylor would not explain what new measures might be introduced - or when.

The Canadian Press has obtained a series of documents, emails and findings, which stretch back almost four years and paint a picture of a 24-member board that has become a viper's nest of intrigue, division, and petty vendettas.

The board is the place veterans can turn to if they're unhappy with the decisions of department bureaucrats. Two member review panels and three member appeal panels adjudicate their grievances.

If one member says "yes," the decision must go in favour of the veteran, regardless of how other members feel.

"I was told — I think as far back as January 2007 — directly by one of my colleagues, who said: 'A bunch of us are keeping an eye on you because we've been told you have certain conditions and so, we think you are biased'," Leduc said.

He was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder following over two decades of service in the military. And it was the conversations with other board members that prompted him to begin asking questions of officials about his privacy.

The gossip escalated to outright harassment after the Conservative government re-appointed him to a five-year term in 2007, said Leduc, who has also been awarded a veterans ombudsman commendation.

His fear that his medical reports had been spread around was realized in early 2009, but unlike Bruyea, the privacy commissioner was unable to investigate.

He said Jennifer Stoddard told him that Veterans Affairs Canada, or the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic arm of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office, would have to carry out the probe.

Leduc asked for a judicial investigation under the veterans review board legislation, but the chair, John Larlee, chose instead to hire an outside investigator to conduct "a workplace assessment," according to a Dec. 7, 2009 letter.

"This is a genuine attempt for an objective, independent 3rd party to assess VRAB as a workplace and make the Board a better more productive place to work for everyone," Larlee wrote.

But the situation dissolved into tit-for-tat harassment claims. At least two other board members filed against Leduc, who among other things was also being pressured to submit to a Health Canada psychological assessment.

He said the harassment was aimed at getting him to quit.

Philip Chodos, who was hired to do the assessment, took it upon himself to attempt to mediate among the warring parties, according to a series of emails.

What remains unclear was whether that was within his mandate. He eventually gave up on the mediation attempt and filed his investigation report with the board.

Leduc was told the document focused on him, but he could not see it. It was suggested he apply for a copy under access to information laws.

Before he got the chance last spring, the unedited copy was released to someone else, in violation of the Privacy Act. Federal officials won't say who obtained the document.

A veterans affairs official, speaking on background, claimed that staff had been disciplined in relation to the un-authorized release. But neither Gauthier, nor Taylor would confirm that.

The Canadian Human Rights Commission became involved in the summer of 2010 with a mediation of its own. It sided with Leduc and ordered the board to compensate him and cease harassment.

The document trail shows senior bureaucrats in PCO and in the veterans minister's office promised to try and bridge the divide, but to no avail.

"I'm sorry to learn about this situation and how it has affected you," former veteran affairs minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn wrote on July 19, 2010, referring to Leduc's first privacy breach.

"I note that the management of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board has taken this matter seriously and has conducted an investigation, apologized to you and put in place measures to prevent similar situations in the future."

When the second privacy breach occurred, Harper's office took notice.

"We are very troubled to review the concerns you outlined," wrote Salphie Stephanian, an assistant to the prime minister, in an Aug. 12, 2011 email. "Our government regards the protection of personal information as a priority. We have been in contact with the Minister of Veterans Affairs, the Hon. Steven Blaney. His office is aware of the situation, and you can be assured that an appropriate response is forthcoming."

Yet, when asked what action was taken, Taylor pointed out that the board was meant to be an "arms-length, quasi-judicial body."

Senior government officials say Leduc was offered further mediation last fall, but he declined.

In a letter to Harper, Leduc pleaded for a judicial investigation of the board, saying he didn't want to take legal action or go to the media.

He said later in an interview last week that he kept his silence for years because he believed going public would only harm veterans.

But with continued in-fighting and no action by government, he said he had no choice but to speak out.

"The matter needs to be investigated ASAP if the government and people of Canada truly care about veterans as they've stated in the law," he said.

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1095322--privacy-of-veterans-board-member-raided-twice Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:39:00 -0400 Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1095322--privacy-of-veterans-board-member-raided-twice
Travel expenses recently posted for the final quarter of 2011 show executives at the Privy Council Office, the prime minister's own department, paid costly fares last year on some of the most competitive routes to Europe and elsewhere.

Return airfare to Great Britain cost taxpayers $6,855 for Rennie Marcoux, assistant secretary to cabinet, to attend a week-long "cyber" conference in London last October.

The clerk of the Privy Council, Wayne Wouters, paid almost as much for a round-trip flight to London — $6,625 — for a public-service summit in November.

William Pentney, deputy secretary to cabinet, spent $3,566 on airfare to attend another international summit in London last June.

Paris, another popular European destination with plenty of airline competition, was also a favoured spot for Privy Council bureaucrats, who paid sky-high prices to get there.

Yvan Roy, legal counsel to Wouters, billed taxpayers $4,607 for a round-trip flight to Paris last October. The posted expense report does not explain the purpose of the trip or provide related costs, but a spokesman said it was for a conference hosted by the French government.

Another senior public servant in Harper's department — Joseph Wild, assistant secretary to cabinet — spent $4,367 on airfare to an OECD conference in Paris.

The Irish capital of Dublin was also the destination for another hefty fare — $5,117, paid by Kristina Namiesniowski, assistant secretary to the cabinet. She was there to learn about "e-government."

The jetsetters at Privy Council Office racked up other pricey airfares for several multi-stop trips overseas, making it difficult to compare prices directly.

Ward Elcock billed a whopping $15,278 to fly to four cities in Australia and New Zealand last October for two weeks of "meetings." Elcock was travelling as the prime minister's special adviser on human smuggling.

Harper's national security adviser, Stephen Rigby, was a frequent flyer last year — a five-day visit to Singapore in June set taxpayers back $10,719 in airfare alone.

And Rigby's week-long visit to Munich and London cost the treasury $6,733 in airline tickets.

All these travellers were public servants flying commercial, rather than the political staff who work inside the Prime Minister's Office, which is part of the Privy Council Office.

Harper and his political staff typically fly on government-owned aircraft, rather than commercial airlines, largely for security and logistical reasons.

The Harper government was embroiled in several travel-related controversies in 2011. CTV News reported in September that the chief of defence staff, Gen. Walter Natynczyk, spent almost $1.5 million since 2008 flying on government-owned Challenger aircraft, once to a Caribbean holiday.

And late last year, it was revealed Defence Minister Peter MacKay called in a military search-and-rescue chopper to take him from a vacation at a Newfoundland fishing camp to a nearby airport, from which he flew to a government announcement in Ontario.

The Natynczyk controversy triggered an internal memo to Harper, dated Sept. 29, outlining a cat's cradle of rules for travel spending and use of government aircraft.

The six pages of detailed policy were reviewed "in the context of recent and periodic media attention on issues of government travel," says the document, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

It notes that most senior public-service executives, such as those in the Privy Council Office, can take advantage of higher-cost business-class fares if the trip is 850 kilometres or more one way — which applies to overseas destinations, including Europe. Ottawa to London, for example, is almost 5,400 kilometres.

None of the posted airfares for Privy Council Office executives in 2011 indicate the fare type. Economy return-flights from Ottawa to London booked three months in advance currently cost about $1,200, while business class is about four times as much.

The memo to Harper cites a temporary cap on business-class travel imposed by the 2009 federal budget, which banned these higher-class tickets for flights of less than two hours for senior executives in the public service.

"While the travel cap is no longer in place, organizations are still expected to restrain spending growth in these areas, consistent with the Budget 2010 restraint measures and the Budget 2011 focus on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of government operations and programs," says the Sept. 29 document.

"The Government has clearly taken steps to reduce spending associated with travel and appropriately placed the onus on deputy heads to manage this reduction, including a reduction in the use of business class travel."

The memo is signed by Wayne Wouters, the clerk of the Privy Council who billed taxpayers $6,625 for a flight to London in November.

As the equivalent of a deputy minister, Wouters is subject to a looser set of travel rules. They allow him to use business class entirely at his discretion, without any requirements of minimum distances or flight times.

For most of the public service, business class is allowed only if the air travel lasts more than nine hours.

First-class travel, the highest-grade, is generally forbidden except for cabinet ministers who can book first-class for overseas flights in some circumstances, "such as when ministers are obliged to conduct business shortly after deplaning."

A spokesman for the Privy Council Office, Raymond Rivet, says all of the flights booked by department executives in 2011 "were purchased using the government approved travel supplier and in compliance with government directives."

"For some of the travel, economy class was used for the airfare portion within Canada," he added.

Travel costs for the Privy Council Office, including travel, meals and accommodations, were $2.6 million in 2010-11, down from $3.2 million in the previous year. In the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, travel costs were $1.7 million, Rivet said.

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1095191--harper-bureaucrats-rack-up-hefty-airfares Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:00:00 -0400 Dean Beeby, The Canadian Press http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1095191--harper-bureaucrats-rack-up-hefty-airfares
It's an indication of the delicate job Enbridge has undertaken to ensure aboriginal bands along the pipeline route are adequately consulted, and it's also an example of why aboriginal groups who might be interested in exchanging their support for some much-needed revenue from the project are reluctant to speak about it openly.

Enbridge maintains it has the support of 20 of an estimated 43 bands located within 80 kilometres of the proposed twin pipelines and about half of those 20 are in British Columbia, including the deal the Gitxsan signed and then rejected.

But telephone calls to the band offices of those B.C. First Nations along the pipeline route turned up only one other band that has signed a deal.

Recently-elected Yekooche First Nation Chief Henry Joseph said he's called in lawyers to review the agreement his predecessor chief and council signed with Enbridge to share part of the pipeline profits.

"The previous chief and council had their own view and my view and the elders council view reflects what the views of my members are and that, you can deduce, is very different," said Joseph from his Prince George, B.C. office.

But Joseph said it's too early to declare the deal between his First Nation and Enbridge dead.

Last month, the Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs of northwest B.C., voted to reject a $7 million Enbridge equity-sharing deal that lone Gitxsan Hereditary Chief Elmer Derrick signed on behalf of the chiefs.

Calgary-based Enbridge says it offered the 43 B.C. and Alberta First Nations located along the proposed 1,177-kilometre pipeline route from Bruderheim, Alta., to Kitimat, B.C. a 10 per cent equity stake in the project, worth about $400 million.

Enbridge spokesman Paul Stanway won't name the 20 the company says have already signed.

"The deals we have with them, talking to the media is not one of the requirements," said Stanway.

The Canadian Press contacted the more than 20 B.C. First Nations along the pipeline route, with only former Yekooche chief Partner Schielke confirming outright a deal with Enbridge.

Others, including the Burns Lake Indian Band, said they signed protocols with the company, but didn't yet consider them equity deals. The Prince George area Lheidli T'enneh Band and Terrace's Kitselas Indian Band, expressed interested in Enbridge, but say they have yet to sign anything.

The Terrace-area Kitkatla First Nation and Burns Lake's Lake Babine Nation said they had worked with Enbridge in the past, but are no longer interested in Northern Gateway.

The Prince George-area McLeod Lake First Nation, the Fort St. John-area West Moberly First Nations and the Burns Lake-area Skin Tyee First Nation, did not return repeated telephone calls.

The situation is in stark contrast to that in Alberta, where First Nations support appears more open and pragmatic. Leaders there are concerned about their land title rights and what they will receive if the project goes ahead.

"If Enbridge does get the approval for this project, I would like to be able to ensure that Enoch Cree Nation can work alongside with Enbridge to ensure employment for our band members — to be able to be there during the construction phase if anything is found, whether it be graves, old Indian artifacts, so that we can provide and do the ceremonies that are required," the band's Leigh Ann Ward told Northern Gateway review hearings in Edmonton last month.

But the The Yekooche and Gitxsan are reflective of the tough slogging Enbridge faces in B.C. when it comes to convincing aboriginals to sign on to the pipeline project.

There's genuine interest among some aboriginals, but fierce local politics, the absence of signed treaties, widespread distrust of the pipeline and fear of an environmental disaster are proving enormous challenges to overcome for Enbridge, despite the company's public image that all's well.

"We believe we are having successful talks with a number of First Nations," said Stanway. "First Nations have a lot of concerns and we need to address those concerns and we've been trying in good faith to do that."

He acknowledged the lack of signed land-claims treaties in much of British Columbia "complicates the issue."

Prof. George Hoberg, an environmental and natural resource policy and governance expert at the University of B.C., said aboriginal court challenges of the pipeline are likely despite Enbridge's efforts to reach deals with First Nations.

"Current Canadian law does not require that the government get approval of First Nations in order to proceed with a project like this," he said. "It does, however, require that First Nations be consulted and accommodated. The burden of accommodation will be very challenging in this case with so many First Nation so adamantly opposed."

After Derrick signed with Enbridge last December, he was forced into hiding after band members nailed shut his office in Hazelton, posted a 24-hour watch nearby and put up Derrick-wanted posters across northwest B.C.

A leaked copy of the rejected Enbridge-Gitxsan equity deal reveals the public role the Gitxsan were expected to take in supporting the pipeline.

The 32-page agreement says one of its primary purposes is "to encourage (the Gitxsan) to participate in and support the Northern Gateway Project, through the regulatory process, during construction and throughout its lifetime of service to Canada's energy industry."

Burns Lake Indian Band Chief Al Gerow said he was preparing to launch a local Northern Gateway awareness campaign last month when disaster struck his community, increasing the pipeline stakes.

An explosion that levelled Burns Lake's Babine Forest Products mill, killing two people, injuring 19 others and putting 250 people out of work indefinitely, has Gerow and others taking a harder look at an Enbridge equity deal.

Gerow said a previous council signed a protocol agreement with Enbridge to study the pipeline proposal, but did not sign the equity deal.

Gerow said he's now interested in the business opportunities offered by Enbridge, even though he and others are aware of the environmental risks of an oil spill.

The Enbridge equity deal offered to his First Nation includes $7 million, he said.

"From a business perspective, what that would offer a band to do is have an anchor to be able to utilize those resources to create other economic opportunities for the community," said Gerow. "I've advised Enbridge that I do want to canvass each and every one of our band members to find out specifically what their feelings are and what they feel we should do."

Neighbouring Chief Wilf Adam of the Lake Babine First Nation said his band worked with Enbridge in the past, but now rejects the project on grounds that an environmentally damaging spill is inevitable.

Adam said the proposed pipeline route passes less than 100 metres from his home.

Grand Chief Ed John of B.C.'s First Nations Summit, the largest aboriginal organization in the province, said he questions what Enbridge is calling deals with First Nations because he's not hearing much support for the pipeline.

"They're spinning their stories," he said. "You give the community a bit of money to do some research on the impacts of the project, does that mean the community supports the project? No. Enbridge is telling communities that if we provide funds to you, you can't oppose the project."

Stanway maintains the deals Enbridge has with the First Nations "are not expressions of interest. They are signed agreements."

Chief Dominic Frederick of the Prince George area Lheidli-T'enneh Band said his community is interested in negotiating with Enbridge, but has yet to sign anything.

Frederic said gas and oil pipelines have crossed his people's traditional territories in north-central B.C. for decades and they don't fear Northern Gateway, but they want a greater say in what happens on their lands.

"We're sitting on the fence right now," he said. "We're talking. Our opinion is different. We already had it for 50 years, a pipeline, so why complain about it?"

Coastal First Nations executive director Art Sterritt acknowledged his organization used Enbridge money to study the pipeline project, but now is steadfastly opposed to the pipeline, saying it threatens the coastal way of life.

"They came to one of our board meetings and they said, 'We have agreements with some of your people,'" said Sterritt. "I went out and canvassed all of our people and said, 'what the hell's going on here?' I don't know of one nation in all of British Columbia that has said we support the project, not one."

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1095190--b-c-first-nation-reviews-its-enbridge-deal Sun, 12 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0400 Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/1095190--b-c-first-nation-reviews-its-enbridge-deal