Nanoose Bay Expropriation Hearings, Vancouver,
August 10, 1999
My name is Gilbert Joe. I am one of the
approximately one thousand members of the Sechelt
Nation. I live on the waterfront along the Strait
of
Georgia on the isthmus that connects the Sechelt
Peninsula to the Mainland. I am 65 years old and
I
was born and raised in the Sechelt Territory. I
have
been a logger and fisherman all my working life, 32
years in the labour force.
I am here today to speak on behalf of Linda
Hoechstetter, a teacher and resident of Roberts Creek
on the Sunshine Coast (Exhibit 1). Mrs.
Hoechstetter has asked that I relate my views, as a
first nations elder, in opposition to the expropriation
of the Nanoose Seabed by the Federal Government.
She also asked that I present you with this letter of
objection from the Sechelt Indian Band dated June
17 and signed by Chief Garry Feschuk and
Councillors. (Exhibit 2) As the letter states,
the
Band opposes the expropriation because we want the
Strait to remain a "NUCLEAR FREE ZONE" and
because there has been no negotiations regarding the
aboriginal title for the land in question.
Our understanding is that this expropriation is being
undertaken by the Federal Government to permit
access by U.S. nuclear armed and nuclear-powered
vessels to the torpedo testing range located about 12
km from our homes.
I am totally opposed to the expropriation of the
Nanoose Seabed by the Federal Government from
our province. As a First Nations person, I lived
with
paternalism throughout all our administration.
This
expropriation of the seabed by the federal
government is a blatant form of paternalism.
You have no doubt heard from many professionals
about the danger of adverse effects of nuclear
weapons, waste products from nuclear reactors and
the disasters that result from accidents. Mrs.
Hoechstetter asked that I present this transcript of
a
speech given by General Lee Butler (USAF, retired)
to the Special Canadian Parliament Joint
Senate-House Committee on Foreign Affairs on
March 11, 1999. (Exhibit 3) General Butler was
the
Commander of Strategic Nuclear Forces for the
entire US until about 5 years ago when he retired.
He was in charge of all the nuclear weapons of the
United States, of all the related equipment and
personnel. Here is how General Butler describes
nuclear weapons: "...nuclear weapons are simply
the
enemy of humanity. Indeed, they're not weapons
at
all. They're some species of biological time bombs
whose effects transcend time and space, poisoning
the earth and its inhabitants for generations to come."
General Butler speaks of "the enormity of the
day-to-day risks that comes from multiple
manipulations, maintenance and operational
movement of those weapons." General Butler had
access to much information about nuclear weapons
accidents and his speech is about: "Missiles that
blew up in their silos and ejected their nuclear
warheads outside of the silo itself. B52 aircraft
that
collided with tankers and scattered nuclear weapons
across the coast and into the offshore seas of Spain.
a B52 bomber with 4 nuclear weapons aboard that
crashed in North Carolina, and on investigation it
was discovered that 6 of the 7 safety devices that
prevent a nuclear explosion had failed as a result of
the crash. There are dozens of such incidents.
Nuclear missile-laden submarines that experiences
catastrophic accidents and now lie at the bottom of
the ocean."
Mrs. Hoechstetter felt it was important that I relate
to
you the words of General Butler and hopes you will
recognize his speech as convincing evidence of the
danger of nuclear weapons accidents and of the folly
of allowing them in the Strait of Georgia, around
which 2 million Canadians make their homes.
Our perspective as a first nations person: We had
five deaths within our community within the last
month. They all died of cancer. I don't know
what is
responsible but there is no one else in the
professional world who can explain it. Other Coast
Salish bands around the Strait are having similar
experiences.
Our people eat all the marine foods, salmon,
shellfish, bottom fish and marine plants and I feel
that all the technology that is taking place in this
global world to this point has not always been a real
asset to mankind. We still can't cure the common
cold.
History: Our people have over 2000 square miles
of
land and sea within the Sechelt Territory. Up to
this
point we have discovered 645 heritage sites with the
help of professional anthropologists. At one time,
in
1862, three Oblate missionary priests: Father
Fouquet, Father Chiroux and father Durieu
vaccinated 8000 people each for chicken pox,
smallpox, flu and malaria within our territory.
That
is a total of 24 000 persons (Oblate Fathers'
Archives). The immune system of our people at that
time was so pure that any diseases, whether through
vaccine or contaminated blankets, almost
extinguished our people as a whole... In 1912,
our
population was down to 112. This is documented
in
the Department of Indian Affairs archives.
Right now there is a spent munitions dump site in the
middle of the Georgia Strait, about nine miles from
my house. You can see it here on the map.
(Exhibit
4) This circle comes within the Sechelt Territory.
There has never been any negotiation between the
federal and provincial governments and our first
nations people in reference to the presence of nuclear
arms or naval nuclear reactors in our waters.
In the event of an accident involving nuclear
weapons or naval nuclear reactors, our people will be
the first affected. For this reason, I am totally
opposed to this whole process of the expropriation
and I totally support the B.C. Government's demand
that nuclear arms be banned from the Strait of
Georgia.
All my relations.