As most of you know, Canada’s tar sands are creating insane environmental destruction. I just read this article about a coalition of Indigenous Nations that have come together and issued a declaration barring the proposed Enbridge Northern gateway pipeline that would transport crude oil from Alberta 1,179 km through many delicate ecosystems and across more than 1,000 rivers and streams.

Read the whole article here.
Read the Coastal First Nations Declaration here.
Add your voice to stop the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline here.

This expensive exploitation of the tar sands also funds the highway Gateway project which will pave over vast stretches of valuable farmland creating a superhighway for trucks, instead of using the railroad that is already in place.

A few excerpts from the article Indigenous People bar proposed pipeline from their territories

Art Sterritt, executive director of the Coastal First Nations, speaking about the Great Bear Rainforest, states, “An oil spill there would be devastating to the environment… It would literally wipe out all of our cultures. And we know it is not a question of if, but when there would be an oil spill.”

A backgrounder by the Coastal First Nations explains that Enbridge recorded 67 spills from its pipelines in 2006 and 65 spills in 2007. Indeed, oil spills are far more common than the public has been led to believe.

In their March 23 declaration, which was quickly endorsed by more than 150 First Nations, businesses, environmental groups, and prominent Canadians, the Coastal First Nations state:

As Nations of the Central and North Pacific Coast and Haida Gwaii, it is our custom to share our wealth and live in harmony with the broader human community. However, we will not bear the risk to these lands and waters caused by the proposed Enbridge Northern gateway pipeline and crude oil tanker traffic.

“…Therefore, in upholding our ancestral laws, rights and responsibilities, we declare that oil tankers carrying crude oil from the Alberta Tar Sands will not be allowed to transit our lands and waters.

“To those who share our commitment to the well being of the planet we invite you to join us in defending this magnificent coast, its creatures, cultures and communities.”

Read the Coastal First Nations Declaration here.
Add your voice to stop the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline here

Demonstration For Farms not Freeways