One Hundred Indigenous Nations in US and Canada Join Forces in Opposition of Pipeline Expansion

Source: VICE News

One Hundred Indigenous Nations in US and Canada Join Forces in Opposition of Pipeline Expansion

By Hilary Beaumont
VICE News Reporter

September 23, 2016

Across North America, more than 100 Indigenous leaders have signed a treaty against Alberta's tar sands, effectively putting those who want to build oil sands pipelines—including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau—on notice.

By signing the treaty, Indigenous nations agree to help other nations when they face a fight against a major tar sands pipeline.

The expansion of the tar sands "can only happen" if new pipelines are approved, the treaty states. The treaty's signatories are therefore against the following pipelines that would carry oil sands products to North America's coasts: Enbridge's Northern Gateway and Alberta Clipper pipelines, TransCanada's Energy East and Keystone XL pipelines, and Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain expansion, "any of which, if allowed, would lead to a major expansion of the Tar Sands."

Trudeau is under pressure from petroleum advocates and Canada's Conservative opposition to approve a major pipeline that would carry Alberta oil to international markets—something he has repeatedly said he is in favor of doing, as long as it's done in a "responsible" way that includes First Nation consultation. But that pressure comes at the same time that a groundswell of Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island (the Indigenous name for North America) are rising up against pipeline projects, using both legal challenges and encampments on traditional territory, as seen at Standing Rock, to assert their land rights and delay pipeline construction.

Read more: http://www.vice.com/read/100-indigenous-nations-in-us-and-canada-join-forces-in-opposition-of-pipeline-expansion