HEADLINE: The Importance of Protecting Canadian Coastal Marine Life From Oil and Gas Tankers
SUBHEADING: Gitga’at First Nations in Kitimat Inform and Rally British Columbia’s Residents, Through Marine Education Zoom Seminar
DATELINE: Kitimat, BC – November 5, 2021
BODY:
The Gitga’at First Nation band in Kitimat has realized that their responsibility to protect the whale species of British Columbia’s west coast extends to educating the public about the value of marine life and the dangers of certain forms of oil transport. The Whales Versus Oil Tankers Educational Seminar is an online conference administered using Zoom-delivery. The Gita’at peoples and marine biology researchers combine forces to educate the public about the crisis at hand.
Whales and first nations culture have a long history in Canada. Although their relevance is prevalent within the first nations bands, the general public has less understanding of marine life’s importance. Therefore, it is essential to inform west-coast Canadians of all ethnicities and backgrounds that evaluating oil companies’ transportation methods must be highly prioritized. Large tanker boats traveling from BC’s coast to Asia export oil and gas. This method of transportation is at high risk for whales.
SPOKESPERSON: Various elders in the native community have passed down knowledge about the importance of the natural world and the role that people have in it. “Relationships have a lot to do with understanding where you come from,” said a member of The Gitga’at First Nation band in an excerpt from The Whale and the Raven. In realizing that not all Canadians understand this perspective, the need to communicate this relationship became clear to the Gitga’at elders in Kitimat. The small coastal town’s tribe is delivering this education through Zoom to maximize public access and limit the cost of delivery to ensure its message touches as many people as possible.
Our people understand the tradition of educating others about the importance of protecting the animals and the environment; therefore, on December 1st from 1 pm – 3 pm PST, we are hosting this easily accessible Zoom seminar. This digital gathering is to share with our fellow Canadians the importance of standing up against the oil and gas companies’ endangerment of marine life — mainly due to pollution, sonar interruption, and physical collisions of tanker boats with animals. We must increase public awareness about the whales and their relationship to our beloved country. Together, as Canadians, we must convince the natural resource companies to find safer alternative methods of transporting oil and gas through BC.
BOILERPLATE: For generations, The Gitga’at First Nation band has inhabited the Kitimat area in British Columbia, Canada. Being a coastal settlement, these people connect strongly to marine life — especially the various species of whales. Band members have voiced their positions on the risk of oil and gas transport, as well as their strong relationship with the natural world around them. This group’s innate obligation is to protect and preserve the whales from the effects of corporate greed and other potential dangers.
CONTACT INFORMATION: For additional information, contact Anita Hamilton, Press Contact Person for the Gitga’at First Nation, (ahamilton@gitga’atfirstnation.ca).
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