Politics professor Mario Levesque in a Mt. A. classroom

Mount Allison University Politics Professor Mario Levesque says it’s increasingly evident that the proposed gas/diesel plant on the Chignecto Isthmus is a “done deal” and the only thing that could stop it would be massive protests similar to the anti-fracking ones in 2013 against shale gas exploration in Kent County.

“This will not happen,” he predicts, “as First Nations communities are part of the ongoing negotiations for benefits to their communities.”

In its latest update on the project, the US company PROENERGY says that on September 17th, it made a presentation to the nine Chiefs and Mi’kmaq Elder of Mi’gmawe’l Tplu’taqnn Inc. (MTI), the non-profit organization that represents Mi’kmaq First Nations communities in New Brunswick.

It says the presentation was followed by “engaged dialogue” and that the Chiefs understand PROENERGY will continue with its Environmental Impact Assessment process as well as supporting a Mi’gmaq Rights Impact Assessment to gauge potential effects on Mi’gmaq Aboriginal and Treaty Rights.

“This allowed the MTI technical team to visually see and walk the grounds as well as have the Elder conduct a tobacco offering while at the site,” the company update continues.

“After the visit, it was agreed that resources will be made available in support of MTI technical team members providing traditional knowledge and environmental monitoring oversight as the site investigations technical work continues to advance.”

Levesque responds

“Yes, I figured the Mi’kmaq would come on board,” Levesque wrote in an e-mail to Warktimes after reading the PROENERGY update.

“It is too bad our leadership (governments red or blue) bypass and give short shrift to local communities,” he added.

New Brunswick’s lobbyist registry shows that earlier this year, former Liberal Premier Brian Gallant met with both the infrastructure minister and the CEO of NB Power on behalf of Aecon Group Inc., a big Ontario-based company that handles the construction of energy projects including natural gas plants.

Gallant’s lobbying was raised in the legislature in June by Opposition Leader Glen Savoie.

Levesque notes that current Premier Susan Holt was one of Gallant’s senior advisers when he was premier and he predicts she would not interfere with a project that Gallant would benefit from.

Is Aecon part of the project?

Neither NB Power nor PROENERGY would say whether Aecon is involved in building the gas/diesel plant. In an e-mail, NB Power said that since PROENERGY is in charge of the project, “we encourage you to reach out to them.”

The American company e-mailed to say: “At this time, PROENERGY will not provide direct comment or interviews during this phase of the process.”

Gallant himself did not respond to a telephone message from Warktimes.

Aecon Group Inc. is listed as a “gold sponsor” of a sold-out Indigenous-led Energy Symposium in October hosted by the North Shore Mi’kmaq Tribal Council, the sovereign wealth fund that has options to invest in the gas plant project.

“I knew this was a done deal from the get-go,” Levesque says. “Why? Token consultations after work on the site has begun! One does not consult the people then shut off environmental approvals or short-circuit them by doing ‘mock’ or ‘light’ environmental reviews.

“I have seen this again and again on different issues,” he adds, citing the Confederation Bridge to PEI, on which he wrote a chapter in his book Environmental Governance in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

He also cites the Alward government’s consultations in 2012 on lowering the hunting age to 12 after it had already been approved and advertised.

“It was a dog and pony show and the same thing is playing out with this gas plant,” Levesque says.

To read the PROENERGY September update, click here.