First Nations

First Nations Women Shut Down Tar Sands Pipeline Hearing

September 25, 2015 Sarah Lazare, www.commondreams.org Resist! Environment, First Nations, Tar Sands

By Sarah Lazare in Common Dreams - Chanting "No tar sands on stolen native lands," First Nations women disrupted and shut down a Montreal public hearing on the controversialEnergy East pipeline on Wednesday night, the latest in a resistance campaign against the massive project proposed by the Alberta-based TransCanada Corporation. "What we want TransCanada to understand is that no means no. This is Kanien’ke, this is Mohawk Land, and we are tired of occupation, we are tired of environmental disaster," declared Amanda Lickers, who hails from the Seneca-Haudenosaunee community, at Wednesday's hearing. "This is our land and we are going to protect it." Four Indigenous women took the stage and hoisted a banner reading, "No consent, no pipelines" as dozens of protesters cheered them on. The action successfully shut down the hearing, and while police were called, no arrests were made.

First Nations interrupt Energy East Pipeline Consultation

September 24, 2015 Christopher Curtis, www.montrealgazette.com Resist! Canada, First Nations, Montreal, Oil & Gas

By Christopher Curtis in Montreal Gazette - Police were called to a downtown Montreal office building Wednesday after indigenous protesters shut down a public consultation over the Energy East pipeline. Amanda Lickers says she was accompanied by about 25 people when she entered the meeting and interrupted proceedings. “We told them that a pipeline will not pass through unceded (Mohawk) territory,” said Lickers, whose family is from Six Nations of the Grand River, in Ontario. “This project is in violation of our Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) principals and it violates a law that predates the colonial occupation of Canada.” Though there are First Nations who support the $12 billion, 4,600 kilometre pipeline, a grassroots, indigenous resistance movement is gaining momentum across Canada.

First Nations Protest Pollution In Ontario’s Chemical Valley

September 8, 2015 Fram Dinshaw, www.earthfirstjournal.org Resist! Chemicals, First Nations, Oil & Gas

By Fram Dinshaw in Earth First Journal - Hundreds of climate activists marched in a ‘Toxic Tour’ through a bleak industrial landscape on the edge of Ontario that is a frontline in Canada’s climate wars. They were gathered to support the tiny Aamjiwnaang First Nation, whose traditional territory lies near an area known as “Chemical Valley” — a 15 square-mile area in Sarnia, where over 40 per cent of Canada’s chemical industry is based. Nearly 60 oil refineries and factories are crammed into an industrial strip overlooking the St. Clair River. Storage tanks and oil terminals just a stone’s throw from Aamjiwnaang lands, and the skyline dominated by familiar company logos: Enbridge, TransAlta, Cabot, Suncor Energy Inc., Imperial Oil, among others.

Solidarity Action Held In Support Of Unist’ot’en Camp

August 4, 2015 Staff, www.lastrealindians.com Resist! Canada, First Nations, Oil and Gas, Pipelines

By Staff for the Last Real Indians - On July 28th, several dozen Indigenous and non-Indigenous activists took to the streets of Seattle to hold a solidarity action in support of the Unist’ot’en Camp in B.C. Canada. Currently, eleven companies have proposed to build oil and gas pipelines through Unist’ot’en territory from the Tar Sands in Alberta. Additionally, Pacific Northern Gas (Chevron is the majority owner) has proposed to build the Pacific Trails Pipelines which would carry fracked natural gas from the Horn River Basin through Unist’ot’en territory. Activists briefly occupied the Canadian consulate in downtown Seattle and then marched, occupied and picketed Fidality Investments, a major investor in Chevron. Demonstrators were removed from Fidality’s offices by Seattle police, but continued to demonstrate blockading the entrance to Fidaility.

Northern Gateway Opposition Building Steam

July 8, 2015 Kil Tlaats 'Gaa Peter Lantin and Caitlyn Vernon, www.edmontonjournal.com Resist! Canada, Environment, First Nations, Oil Pipeline

By Kil Tlaats 'Gaa Peter Lantin and Caitlyn Vernon in Edmonton Journal - On the campaign trail leading up to the May 5 Alberta election, Rachel Notley acknowledged loud and clear that there is a solid wall of opposition facing the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project in B.C. The new premier’s statements and the speed that Tim Hortons recently dropped its Enbridge ads in face of thousands of angry Canadians illustrates the reality that one year after the federal government approved the project, the opposition is not only strong and committed, but also growing. Rather than succeeding in clearing the way for Enbridge, the federal government sparked a chain of events that make it very unlikely the project will ever be built.

Open Letter In Support Of First Nation’s Challenge To Embridge

June 18, 2015 Various, www.rabble.ca Resist! Canada, Environment, First Nations, Oil & Gas

By Various in Rabble - We stand in solidarity with Chippewas of the Thames First Nation in their legal challenge against Enbridge's Line 9 pipeline project. Last April, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation (COTTFN) filed with the Federal Court of Appeal to challenge the National Energy Board (NEB) approval of Line 9, saying that the federal Crown provided no consultation with COTTFN on the project, as is their right. Line 9 crosses through Chippewas of the Thames' traditional and treaty territory, including the Thames River which provides a source of drinking water to the First Nation. Line 9 crosses every major tributary that flows into Lake Ontario. A spill from Line 9 could threaten the drinking water of over 10 million people and devastate rivers with bitumen that cannot be cleaned up.

Mobilization To Support First Nations Battle Against Enbridge Pipeline

June 17, 2015 Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.org Resist! Environment, First Nations, Oil & Gas, Solidarity

By Lauren McCauley in Common Dreams - In what has been described as an unprecedented grassroots mobilization, activists, environmental groups, and others concerned about the future of the Pacific coast this week are rallying to support a First Nations court battle to block the construction of the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline. "First Nations are poised to stop this in its tracks," said Caitlyn Vernon, campaigns director for Sierra Club British Columbia, in a statement Tuesday. The campaign Pull Together was launched to "show these nations are not standing alone" as they confront the infinite resources of the fossil fuel industry. The week of fundraising events, dubbed the Week to End Enbridge, is being held June 13-21 to mark one year since the Canadian government approved the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline. Not coincidentally, the weeklong events conclude on June 21, National Aboriginal Day in Canada.

Ottawa Children Honour Residential School Survivors With Art

June 13, 2015 Waubgeshig Rice, www.cbc.ca Resist! Canada, Children, Education, First Nations

By Waubgeshig Rice in CBC News - Students at an Ottawa public school have unveiled four large murals to honour residential school survivors and the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The four murals, called Mamawi:Together, adorn an outside wall at the entrance of Pleasant Park Public School in Ottawa's south end. Each represents a season, according to teachings from Algonquin elder Albert Dumont. "These students are now elementary students and they're going to go on to high school and university and colleges, but they're never going to forget this experience," says Dumont. "And their views and how they see First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples from now on is forever changed because of the experience they've had here with this art project."

Lubicon Lake Nation Wins Early Victory In Anti-Fracking Case

June 12, 2015 Alberta Native News, www.albertanativenews.com Resist! Canada, First Nations, Fracking, Oil & Gas, Sovereignty

By Alberta Native News - On June 5, 2015, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta released Justice Simpson’s decision rejecting in part the Application to Strike brought by the defendant, oil giant PennWest Petroleum Ltd.(NYSE: PWE, TSE:PWT), who is being sued by the Lubicon Lake Nation, as represented by Chief Bernard Ominayak and the Lubicon Council in Ominayak v Penn West Petroleum Ltd. In March 2015, the parties had appeared before Justice Simpson in Peace River, AB, where PennWest argued that the entire action should be struck because it amounted to an abuse of process, pleading that the action was duplicative of a proceeding brought against Alberta and Canada and that the action constituted a collateral attack on the oil company’s authorizations.

Indigenous Name Change Considered For Fort George Park

June 12, 2015 Charelle Evelyn, www.princegeorgecitizen.com Resist! Canada, First Nations, Sovereignty

By Charelle Evelyn in Prince George Citizen - Fort George Park may get a new moniker if city council backs a recommendation to rename it in honour of the local First Nation. Coun. Murry Krause has suggested changing the name to Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park as a step towards acknowledging "historic wrongs that have profoundly impacted generations of the Lheidli T'enneh people." Before it was a city space, Fort George Park was part of a Lheidli T'enneh village that was destroyed in 1913. A cemetery is all that remains of the settlement that was burned down to forcibly remove people from their homes. In a report to council, Krause - who chairs the Union of B.C. Municipalities' First Nations relations committee - said the city's centennial celebrations provide a strong opportunity for Prince George to "strengthen its relationship with the Lheidli T'enneh through meaningful acts of reconciliation."

Confronting Irving Oil & TransCanada In New Brunswick

June 3, 2015 Clayton Thomas-Muller, www.ricochet.media Resist! Environment, First Nations, Oil & Gas, Oil Pipeline

By Clayton Thomas-Muller in Ricochet - Just like Northern Gateway, Trans Mountain, or Keystone XL, Energy East would be a climate disaster. Just like those pipelines, Energy East has provided a direct path for Indigenous rights and climate justice organizers to unite communities in struggle against the ambitions of the Harper government and the tar sands sector. One area of concern is the community of Red Head in Saint John, N.B., located on the traditional territory of the Wolastoq Nation, where the Energy East pipeline would end at the shore of the Bay of Fundy. In partnership with the Peace and Friendship Alliance, a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous allies formed to oppose the pipeline, the local Red Head - Anthony’s Cove Preservation Association organized a march for May 30 to let the world know that they are not going to stand by and let TransCanada and local oil giant Irving threaten their way of life.

David Suzuki: ‘People Have The Power To Bring About Change’

May 18, 2015 David Suzuki, www.ecowatch.com Resist! Canada, Environment, First Nations, Oil & Gas

Recent events in Canada have shown not only that change is possible, but that people won’t stand for having corporate interests put before their own. When plummeting oil prices late last year threw Alberta into financial crisis, people rightly asked, “Where’s the money?” They could see that an oil producer like Norway was able to weather the price drop thanks to forward planning, higher costs to industry to exploit resources and an oil fund worth close to $1 trillion! Leading up to the election, the government that ran Alberta for 44 years refused to consider raising industry taxes or reviewing royalty rates, instead offering a budget with new taxes, fees and levies for citizens, along with service cuts.

Indigenous Group Rejects $1 Billion For Gas Project

May 16, 2015 Ian Austen, www.nytimes.com Resist! Canada, Capitalism, Environment, First Nations, Oil & Gas

A small aboriginal community in British Columbia has rejected a $1 billion payment for a natural gas project, the latest setback for the Canadian energy industry’s effort to bolster exports. A group led by the Malaysian energy company Petronas had offered the money to the Lax Kw’alaams Band, to help push through a plan to build a liquefied natural gas ship terminal near their remote community. It is part of an overall pipeline and gas drilling project that the group, Pacific NorthWest LNG, values at 36 billion Canadian dollars. The community, which has about 3,600 members, has consistently rejected the plan over concerns that it would harm fish habitats, particularly for salmon. After six public meetings over the issue, the band council voted against the payment.

Revealed: Alberta’s Ploy To Break First Nations’ Pipeline Opposition

April 30, 2015 Martin Lukacs, www.theguardian.com Resist! Canada, First Nations, Oil & Gas

The Alberta government escalated its campaign to build tar sands pipelines under Premier Jim Prentice by seeking to have First Nations become full-blown proponents of the projects in return for oil revenues. Documents obtained by the Guardian show that under a proposed agreement the province would have funded a task force of Alberta First Nations and government officials to “work jointly on removing bottlenecks and enabling the construction of pipelines to tide-water in the east and west coasts.” The push was part of a broader diplomatic offensive launched by Progressive Conservative Premier Jim Prentice after he came to power in late 2014, making approval of pipelines his highest priority. Prentice is currently struggling to win re-election.

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