Chilly reception given to Enbridge execs.

The Gitga' at have given Enbridge the cold shoulder. The oil company's proposal to ship oil from Alberta's tarsands through their territory has received a firm "no, and never" from the First Nation.

Ernie Hill Jr., the hereditary chief of the Gitga' at, told Enbridge president Pat Daniel and Northern Gateway Pipelines president John Carruthers that they were welcomed in the territory as individuals, but their project was not.

Vessals ranging from cruise ship size to supertanker would be negotiating the waters where the Queen of the North went to the bottom. The Gitga' at Hartley Bay are already dealing with that disaster with the upswelling of hydrocarbons from the sunken ferry, they have no intention of putting their people or resources at further risk.

"History has a way of repeating itself," said Helen Clifton, a community matriarch. "Our experience with BC Ferries taught us many things; among the lessons: Corporations do not act honorably. They put their responsibilities to care for the planet far behind their greed for profit."

Gitga' at spokesman Cam Hill said of the pipeline and shipping project "It's all about risks and benefits. For the Gitga' at, it's all risk and no benefits, and for Enbridge it's all benefits and no risk."