What is the PRGT? It is a new pipeline project in British Columbia. The Gitxsan and Gitanyow peoples are actively fighting to protect their ancestral territories.
The Canadian and British Columbia governments are attempting to push through the construction of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline on the ancestral territories of several Indigenous Nations in the northern part of the province, including the Gitxsan people. The Gitxsan Nation consists of 64 Wilps (or houses), which are the basic units of community organization and are grouped into Huwilps. Among the Gitxsan, the Gitanyow Huwilp is strongly opposed to the PRGT.
In addition to destroying the region's ecosystems, the PRGT threatens the livelihoods of the province's Indigenous communities. This new extractivist project is part of a long history of territorial dispossession and the progressive genocide of the Indigenous peoples of so-called Canada. Despite the ongoing climate crisis, fossil fuel development in so-called British Columbia continues to expand, as evidenced by the proliferation of pipeline projects in recent years: Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT), Coastal GasLink (CGL), Westcoast Connector Gas Transmission (WCGT), Trans Mountain Pipeline (TMP), Pacific Trail Pipeline (PTP), and others.
The planned route of the PRGT spans 750 kilometers, including 120 kilometers through Gitxsan territory. It would transport natural gas from north-eastern British Columbia to the West Coast, near Prince Rupert, at the Ksi Lisims terminal. The natural gas would then be liquefied and exported by ship to Asia.
The origins of the pipeline go back to 2014, when the provincial government issued an environmental permit for the project. After the project was abandoned by one of its former contractors, PETRONAS, in 2017, the pipeline and terminal projects were put on hold. Today, the project bears little resemblance to the original: it has changed ownership, the route has shifted, the export terminal is no longer in the same location, and more. Similarly, the climate situation has worsened over the past decade. Industrial projects in the north of so-called British Columbia have weakened ecosystems, particularly salmon populations in the region's rivers (including the Nass river), and caribou populations, which have declined alarmingly.
Despite this, the ten-year-old environmental permit was considered valid until November 25, 2024, in the eyes of the colonial authorities. This allowed the company to begin work a few months before the permit's expiry date, even though the overall project and context had changed. In the spring of 2025, the British Columbian renew the environmental permit, enabling the project to continue in its current form without having to undergo the environmental assessment process again.
10 Years of Resistance Against the PRGT
The Gitxsan and the Gitanyow Huwilp are currently fighting for the complete abolition of the project. These communities, neighbors of the Wet'suwet'en, are pursuing legal challenges, and erecting blockades and encampments.
When the PRGT project was first announced in 2014, members of Luutkudziiwus, a Gitxsan community, established the Madii Lii encampment to oppose the construction of the pipeline, 35 kilometers of which would run through their Land. More than 200 people from the Nisga'a Nation also set up a blockade, which lasted several hours before being dismantled by the police.
More recently, on August 21, 2024, the Gitanyow began a new blockade of an access road to the site. On August 22, the hereditary chiefs burned copies of an agreement signed in 2015 with TC Energy, the former owner of the PRGT, as a symbolic demonstration of their withdrawal.
Since October 15, the Gitanyow have been pursuing a parallel legal challenge against the proposed Ksi Lisims terminal. Their legal action, before the Supreme Court of British Columbia, focuses on the salmon of the Nass River, which are threatened by pollution from the natural gas terminal. The terminal is planned for Pearse Island, at the mouth of the Nass River, a crucial salmon migration habitat. Since the salmon of the Nass River are essential to the food and survival of the Gitanyow people, they are demanding to be included in the consultations for the Ksi Lisims project. The Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition, the Kispiox Valley Community Centre Association, and the Gitxsan Kispiox community are also suing the BC Energy Regulator (BCER) for negligence in conducting an environmental impact assessment and consulting the communities affected by the industrial project. The government is disregarding its own obligations by failing to address the concerns of local residents and their fundamental rights:
"In bypassing the permit requirement to assess the cumulative effects of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline, the BC Energy Regulator is demonstrating a dangerous disregard for both the rule of law and the well-being of our communities."
- Kolin Sutherland Wilson, Chief Councillor, Kispiox Band Council, Gitxsan Nation
There have also been several calls for solidarity and awareness-raising actions. Across so-called Canada, various activist groups are already mobilizing to support Land defenders in so-called British Columbia.
The project is vulnerable, as construction has barely begun and is already facing strong opposition. In 2020, the powerful Shut Down Canada movement arose across the country to oppose the Coastal GasLink pipeline on Wet'suwet'en territory. Five years later, the fight against colonial and ecocidal extractivism continues. Now, more than ever, it is crucial to mount a pan-Canadian resistance to the PRGT and the dispossession of Indigenous lands. Solidarity with the Gitxsan and Gitanyow!
Sidebar:
Follow Gitanyow: https://www.instagram.com/gitanyowchiefs/
Photos of the Madii Lii encampment against the PRGT: https://www.madiilii.com/photos
Press release on the legal challenge against Ksi Lisims: https://www.gitanyowchiefs.com/news/for-immediate-release-gitanyow-hereditary-chiefs-file-legal-action-on-ksi-lisims-lng-project/
Donations by bank transfer for the Gitanyow camp: landbackcc@gmail.com