Yesterday the Vancouver Sun reported that changes to Canadian environmental laws could mean that the TransCanada Pipeline, which crosses over 300 creeks, tributaries and rivers, may not be subject to an environmental assessment on its traverse from inland B.C. to the coast.

These sorts of decisions are prompting increased civic action from a range of folks concerned about such fly-by-night oversight by regulators. And in particular because they add another dimension to ongoing problems for the many First Nations that claim territory in British Columbia. Today is the day that the Unis’tot’en Camp has called for a day of action in its ongoing blockade of what is dubbed the “Carbon Corridor” that would transport oil and gas to Kitimat, B.C. through multiple pipelines currently being proposed.

I cannot help but be reminded of the tremendous work that Alanis Obomsawin did in “Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance” which in my view is one of the best documentaries of the ongoing struggle of First Nations in Canada and, if you are unfamiliar with the ethos, helps put more recent controversies in a broader context. The film is freely available to stream online here (since I cannot seem to get the video to embed in the message).