["Duty to consult" and "treaty rights" are phrases whose full Canadian significance may be lost on President-elect Obama. -jlt]
The Indigenous Environmental Network and Rainforest Action Network produced this statement in response to a lobby effort in Washington DC by Treaty One Chiefs of Manitoba regarding the Enbridge Alberta Clipper and the TransCanada Keystone Project. In this communication you will find our press statement that focuses on providing an Alberta First Nations perspective on the issue, as well as the advisory that was sent out by Treaty One Chiefs of Manitoba on December 31, 2008. Please distribute this to your lists far and wide.
Clayton Thomas-Muller
OTTAWA, Canada – First Nation Chiefs from northern Alberta Canada are not able to attend the January 8 event in Washington, D.C. The Chiefs, elders and youth representatives of Fort Chipewyan, Alberta Canada are experiencing firsthand the assault of unsustainable energy development that has destroyed their environment and subsistence lifestyle that has sustained them since time immemorial. This energy development is called the tar/oil sands development, that has been called the “Worlds’ Most Destructive Project on Earth." A large portion of Canadian oil coming to the United States is extracted from the oil sands at a tremendous cost to the environment, water, and climate change and infringing on the aboriginal rights of First Nations people downstream of the tar sands development zone. The First Nations living in the energy sacrifice zone of the tar sands wanted to stand in solidarity with other Chiefs from Canada’s First Nations traveling to the U.S. capitol to seek the support of President Elect Obama in their fight for human rights.
| In February of 2008 all 43 First Nation Alberta Chiefs signed a resolution requesting a moratorium on all new tar sands permits. |
It is with prayer and with strong hearts that all First Nations and American Indian and Alaska Natives are asking President Elect Obama to take action that recognizes the sovereign Indigenous nations in Canada and the USA whose inherent rights are being violated. The Canadian government continues to fail to recognize its responsibility and duty to consult with the Indigenous frontline communities that lay directly within the path of destruction involved with the extraction, processing and transportation of fossil fuels in Canada, including its exportation of dirty high carbon oil to the U.S. In February of 2008 all 43 First Nation Alberta Chiefs signed a resolution requesting a moratorium on all new tar sands permits. However, the province and the federal government continue to grant approvals for new expansions in the area.
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