axis
Fair Use Notice
  Axis Mission
 About us
  Letters/Articles to Editor
Article Submissions
RSS Feed


In solidarity with Chippewas of the Thames Printer friendly page Print This
By Rabble
Popular Resistance
Friday, Jul 3, 2015

Photo: Facebook of No Line 9

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.

Despite the COTTFN court challenge and requests from several municipalities to conduct an environmental assessment, the NEB approved Enbridge’s request to reverse the flow of the line, increase its capacity, and use it to transport diluted bitumen and fracked oil. Bitumen has proved to be detrimental to public health and the environment as evidenced by the Michigan Kalamazoo River spill in 2010 and numerous other spills across North America. The serious toll of fracking on health and the environment is also increasingly coming to light as more fracked oil and contaminated wastewater spill.

Line 9 would also contribute to the expansion of the tar sands by providing another export route. The tar sands emit massive amounts of CO2 and are creating a toxic sacrifice zone in much of Alberta. Several communities near the tar sands, including Fort Chipewyan, have reported cancer clusters and massive ecological changes threatening wildlife populations and traditional food systems.

The NEB’s approval of Line 9 is a violation of COTTFN’s treaty rights, which are affirmed in Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. The Line 9 approval is also a direct violation of internationally recognized Indigenous rights, which include the right of free, prior, and informed consent, as stated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

For these reasons, we support Chippewas of the Thames First Nation in their legal challenge to Line 9 and urge the court to hold the NEB accountable to its treaty responsibilities as a body of the Canadian government.

Signed:
  • Idle No More
  • Defenders of the Land
  • Council of Canadians
  • Greenpeace Canada
  • 350.org
  • Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC)
  • CUPE Ontario
  • Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN)
  • Ontario Council of Hospital Unions
  • Steelworkers Toronto Area Council
  • Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP)
  • Law Union of Ontario
  • Mining Injustice Solidarity Network
  • Aamjiwnaang and Sarnia Against Pipelines
  • No One Is Illegal – Toronto
  • Climate Justice Montreal
  • Rising Tide Toronto
  • Council of Canadians, Toronto Chapter
  • Native Youth Sexual Health Network
  • Centre for Social Justice
  • Christian Peacemaker Teams
  • Earthroots
  • Toronto West End Against Line 9
  • Church of St Stephen-in-the-Fields
  • Council of Canadians, Guelph Chapter
  • Toronto East End Against Line 9
  • Independent Jewish Voices – Toronto
  • Scarborough Bitumen Free Future
  • Council of Canadians, Toronto Chapter
  • Engineering Without Borders Canada – University of Waterloo Chapter
  • Hamilton 350
  • Fossil Free Lakehead
  • Environment Hamilton
  • Kitchener-Waterloo Solidarity Network
  • Council of Canadians Hamilton Chapter
  • Social Justice and Advocacy Committee, Anglican Diocese of Toronto
  • 350 Waterloo
  • Lakehead University Environmental Law Students’ Association
  • Environmental Justice @ York
  • Canadians Against Israeli Apartheid
  • Waterloo Region Coalition Against Line 9
  • Great Lakes Commons

Source URL



Printer friendly page Print This
If you appreciated this article, please consider making a donation to Axis of Logic. We do not use commercial advertising or corporate funding. We depend solely upon you, the reader, to continue providing quality news and opinion on world affairs.Donate here




World News
AxisofLogic.com© 2003-2015
Fair Use Notice  |   Axis Mission  |  About us  |   Letters/Articles to Editor  | Article Submissions |   Subscribe to Ezine   | RSS Feed  |