“Anyone who can throw a hatchet and sue you is a force to be reckoned with.” This is how author and environmental activist Bill McKibben describes Caleb Behn, a young Indigenous lawyer from northern British Columbia and subject of the upcoming fracking documentary, Fractured Land.
Fractured Land tells the story of Caleb Behn, who is Eh Cho Dene and Dunne-Za from Treaty 8 Territory, and his struggle in defending his territory from fracking operations.
Toronto International Film Festival Alexander Rogalski programmer summarizes the film: “‘Deep down we’re all fractured,’ an oil and gas representative tells young Aboriginal leader and lawyer Caleb Behn. Behn knows that feeling all too well, as he struggles with the role he’ll play in protecting his territory in northern British Columbia, currently under siege from some of the world’s largest natural gas operations. The troubling reality is that the same industry threatening traditional practices and livelihoods is also responsible for giving his parents jobs that provided him with his lifestyle and education. Whether hunting beaver, throwing hatchets or studying legal briefs, the burden of leadership is visible in Behn, as he knows others are looking to him for a better future. Following him from the pristine North to downtown Vancouver and a fracked territory in New Zealand, Fractured Land provides optimism and empowerment toward issues that can seem dire and insurmountable.”
The world premiere of Fractured Land will take place on Tuesday, April 28 at 9 p.m. at the Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto. Screenings will also take place at the Hot Docs festival on Thursday, April 30 at 2:30 p.m. and Saturday, May 2 at 4 p.m. Tickets can be purchased here.
With the wave of fracking moratoria in Eastern Canada, communities in the west continue to raise concerns about the impacts fracking has on their drinking water, public health and climate. British Columbia is facing a new threat: there are up to 18 proposals to build Liquified Natural Gas plants along the Pacific coast. Tankers would ship and export fracked gas from these terminals to markets in Asia. Communities are expressing concerns about tanker safety and the effects on ecosystems and watersheds should these LNG terminals be built.
Caleb Behn, along with Dr. Kathleen Nolan from the Concerned Health Professionals of New York, will be in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 12 for a briefing to Members of Parliament on hydraulic fracturing and the regulatory role of the federal government.
Stay tuned for more and be sure to learn about the Council of Canadians’ fracking and LNG campaigns!
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