Tag Archives: canada

by | May 7, 2013 · 11:38 am

EU-Canada trade agreement threatens fracking bans

May 6, 2013. Source: Corporate Europe Observatory 

Photo: Mladen Antonov / AFP - Getty Images

Photo: Mladen Antonov / AFP – Getty Images

The proposed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the European Union (EU) and Canada would grant energy companies far-reaching rights to challenge bans and regulations of environmentally damaging shale gas development (fracking), a new briefing by Corporate Europe Observatory, The Council of Canadians and the Transnational Institute shows.

As Canadian negotiators visit Brussels this week to move the CETA negotiations further towards conclusion, “The right to say no” warns the proposed investment protection clauses in the agreement would jeopardise governments’ ability to regulate or ban fracking.

Currently, EU member states are studying the environmental and public health risks of this newly popular technology to extract hard-to-access natural gas or oil. While the majority of countries concerned with shale gas endowments are taking positions against it, powerful oil and gas corporations are pushing back against regulation.

“CETA will empower big oil and gas companies to challenge fracking bans and regulations through the back door. They would just need to have a subsidiary or an office in Canada”, warned Timothé Feodoroff, from the Transnational Institute.

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by | April 22, 2013 · 9:00 am

Tsleil-Waututh First Nation sign international treaty opposing tar sands

By Erin Flegg, April 20, 2013. Source: Vancouver Observer

Photo: Erin Flegg

Photo: Erin Flegg

In the latest step toward opposing oil pipelines at every port in Canada, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation of Burrard Inlet signed on to the International Treaty to Protect the Sacred yesterday. The nation held a press conference at the Sheraton Wall Centre where newly elected Chief Maureen Thomas signed the document, witnessed by the president of the BC Union of Indian Chiefs Stewart Phillip and national chief of the Assembly of First Nations Shawn Atleo.

The West Coast Oil Pipeline Summit followed the signing.  The theme of the event was urgency, with several leaders touching on the need to oppose development at a grassroots level.

Stewart Phillip told reporters and community members assembled that the First Nations of BC are committed to using the legal system to defend their constitutional rights, but that’s not the only strategy they’re using.

“More importantly, we have committed to standing shoulder to shoulder on the land itself.”
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Filed under Actions / Protest, Climate Justice, Ending the Era of Extreme Energy, Idle No More, Indigenous Peoples, Oil, Tar Sands

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by | April 15, 2013 · 2:00 pm

Muskrat Falls Inuit arrested battling Churchill River hydroelectric project in Labrador

By David P. Ball. April 11, 2013. Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

Photo: Derek Montague/The Labradorian

Photo: Derek Montague/The Labradorian

A 74-year old Inuit elder has ended a hunger strike and been released from jail after being arrested along with seven others protesting the controversial Muskrat Falls hydroelectric dam on the Churchill River in Labrador.

But another of the arrestees says the protesters, who have been fighting for decades to gain full national recognition as Inuit descendants in Canada’s easternmost province, are undaunted.

“We’ve been pushed around for generations,” said Todd Russell, president of the NunatuKavut Community Council (formerly the Labrador Métis Association), who was taken into custody along with Elder James Learning for blocking roads to protest the controversial Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project. “We will defend ourselves in the court system, but we will continue to assert our aboriginal rights to our traditional territory, and we will continue to mount protest after protest if that’s what it takes to have our views known and our rights respected.”

At issue is the Muskrat Falls power project, a $7.7-billion plan to build a hydroelectric power station and a new dam on the Churchill River. The project would also see massive transmission lines installed to supply power to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
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by | · 1:30 pm

Supreme Court loss pushes Athabasca Chipewyan FN towards Sovereignty Summer campaign

April 11, 2013. Source: APTN News

 

Photo: AP/Jeff McIntosh

Photo: AP/Jeff McIntosh

The chief of an Alberta First Nations battling a tar sands expansion on its territory says he is considering joining Idle No More’s call for a “Sovereignty Summer” campaign after the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed its case.

The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation went to the Supreme Court with a section 35 Constitutional challenge in hopes of forcing a regulatory review board to rule on whether there had been adequate consultation on Shell’s bid to expand its Jackpine tarsands project.

The First Nation turned to the courts after having its challenge were turned down by the Alberta Court of Appeal.

As is its practice, the Supreme Court gave no reasons as to why it refused to hear the Athabasca Chipewyan’s case.

Chief Allan Adam said the ruling leaves his First Nation with little options. With plans for an Idle No More-Defenders of the Land Sovereignty Summer campaign of direct action in the works, Adam said it may be the route his First Nation will have to take.
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by | March 27, 2013 · 12:00 pm

In Canada, indigenous youth conclude 900-mile-march for aboriginal rights

By Aaron Lakoff, March 26 2013. Source: Free Speech Radio News

The Journey of the Nishiyuu arrives in Ottawa, March 25, 2013. Photo: Aaron Lakoff

The Journey of the Nishiyuu arrives in Ottawa, March 25, 2013. Photo: Aaron Lakoff

In Canada, a group of Indigenous youth who walked more than 900 miles in sub-zero temperatures wrapped up a historic voyage yesterday. They’re drawing inspiration from the Idle No More movement and calling for aboriginal rights and land protection. FSRN’s Aaron Lakoff has the story.

Audio file here: http://fsrn.org/audio/canada-indigenous-youth-conclude-900-mile-march-aboriginal-rights/11766

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by | March 22, 2013 · 4:30 pm

Canadian and US aboriginal groups vow to block oil pipelines

March 21, 2013. Source: The Guardian

First Nation Canadians protest against the destruction and pollution of the tar sands industries at Fort McMurray, Alberta. Photo: Ashley Cooper/Corbis

First Nation Canadians protest against the destruction and pollution of the tar sands industries at Fort McMurray, Alberta. Photo: Ashley Cooper/Corbis

An alliance of Canadian and US aboriginal groups vowed on Wednesday to block three multibillion-dollar oil pipelines that are planned to transport oil from the Alberta tar sands, saying they are prepared to take physical action to stop them.

The Canadian government, faced with falling revenues due to pipeline bottlenecks and a glut that has cut the price for Alberta oil, says the projects are a national priority and will help diversify exports away from the US market.

But the alliance of 10 native bands – all of whose territories are either near the crude-rich tar sands or on the proposed pipeline routes – complain Ottawa and Washington are ignoring their rights.

They also say building the pipelines would boost carbon-intensive oil sands production and therefore speed up the pace of climate change. Continue reading →

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Filed under Actions / Protest, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Ending the Era of Extreme Energy, Energy, Hydrofracking, Idle No More, Indigenous Peoples, Mining, Oil, Rights, Resilience, and Restoration, Tar Sands

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by | March 20, 2013 · 12:00 pm

Idle No More, Defenders of the Land call for intensifying actions through spring, summer

Note: Global Justice Ecology Project is in full solidarity with and support of Idle No More and all those who have signed onto this statement.  Clayton Thomas-Muller, of the Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign, is on the Board of Directors for GJEP.

-The GJEP Team

March 19, 2013. Source: Idle No More

inm

Idle No More’s founders and its chapters across the country have issued a call to build mounting pressure, including through mass non-violent direct actions to be joined by non-natives, to challenge “the Harper government and the corporate agenda.”

The declaration, jointly released with Defenders of the Land, a network of Indigenous communities, leaders, and activists involved in high-profile struggles to defend their land rights, calls for a “Solidarity Spring” to precede a “Sovereignty Summer,” with actions on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21, Earth Day on April 22, and through the summer.

“The Harper government’s agenda is clear: to weaken all collective rights and environmental protections, in order to turn Canada into an extraction state that gives corporations unchecked power to destroy our communities and environment for profit,” reads the statement.

“Harper is trying to extinguish Indigenous Peoples’ inherent, Aboriginal, and treaty rights to their territories because these rights are the best and last protection for all Canadians,” said Arthur Manuel, a spokesperson for Defenders of the Land.

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by | March 19, 2013 · 10:30 am

Mathias Colomb Cree Nation vs HudBay

Note: Global Justice Ecology Project stands in solidarity with the Mathias Colomb Cree in their fight against illegal mining activities on their territory.  Resource colonialism must stop.

-The GJEP Team

March 17, 2013. Source: Intercontinental Cry

The sovereign Nation of Missinippi Nehethowak as represented by Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (MCCN) has extensive Ancestral and Traditional Territory. Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co., Ltd (Hudbay) has proposed Lalor Lake mine project which is on unceded Missinippi Nehethowak Territory and has failed to obtain MCCN consent to operate on their territory and extract their resources.

Chief Dumas attended with his community members and Idle No More supporters to the Lalor site on January 28 and March 5, 2013 and served two Stop Work Orders to the Hudbay and the Province of Manitoba. Both site visits were peaceful gatherings where community members engaged in drumming, singing and cooking traditional foods. The RCMP attended at MCCN’s request to help enforce Cree law.

Chief Arlen Dumas said, “We are sovereign and asserting our laws and jurisdiction over our unceded ancestral traditional territory. We have never gave up our lands, waters and natural resources. We have a responsibility to manage their use and protection. MCCN expected the province of Manitoba to uphold the rule of law and assist in enforcing the orders.”

Hudbay never contacted Chief Dumas to address his concerns, nor did the province fulfill its legal obligations to enforce the Stop Work Orders. Instead, both Hudbay and the province of Manitoba issued very similar letters to Chief Dumas telling him that Manitoba fully supports Hudbay’s activities on MCCN territory.
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by | March 18, 2013 · 10:30 am

Canada aboriginal movement poses new threat to miners

Note: Clayton Thomas-Muller with the Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign, interviewed below, is on the board of Global Justice Ecology Project.

–The GJEP Team

By Julie Gordon and Allison Martell, March 17, 2013. Source: Reuters

First Nations protestors take part in an "Idle No More" demonstration on Parliament Hill in Ottawa January 28, 2013. Photo: REUTERS/Chris Wattie

First Nations protestors take part in an “Idle No More” demonstration on Parliament Hill in Ottawa January 28, 2013. Photo: REUTERS/Chris Wattie

An aboriginal protest movement that’s often compared with Occupy Wall Street has the potential to disrupt mining projects across Canada, threatening to undermine the country’s coveted reputation for low-risk resource development.

Idle No More, a grass-roots movement with little centralized leadership, swept across Canada late last year with the help social media. Protesters blocked roads and rail lines, and staged big rallies in the country’s largest cities to press a sweeping human rights and economic development agenda.

Mining companies are also in the movement’s sights as aboriginal bands seek to renegotiate old agreements and seize more control over mining developments, whether they are on lands designated as native reserves or not.

“We’ve existed in this territory for millennia. We don’t have a land claim – it’s beyond that, actually. Our rights exist throughout all of our territories,” Arlen Dumas, chief of the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, said about the northern Manitoba land where HudBay Minerals Inc, a Toronto-based mid-tier miner, is building its Lalor project. Continue reading →

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by | March 16, 2013 · 9:33 am

Video – Peril in the Pacific: No to the TPP

March 7, 2013. Source: Friends of the Earth US

Friends of the Earth, U.S. has released a new video, “Peril in the Pacific: Trans Pacific trade agreement threatens people and the planet.” The video highlights the threats to theenvironment and human rights posed by thesecret negotiation of the TPP deal and in particular its draft investment chapter.

The video illustrates these threats by telling the story of Chevron v. Ecuador, a cautionary tale about an international investment suit brought under an existing U.S. treaty that raises important questions like: Who should pay to clean up what has been called the “Rainforest Chernobyl” in the Ecuadorian Amazon? Why are the people of the rainforest who suffered the most not represented at the international tribunal hearing the case? Is it U.S. policy to favor the financial interests of multi-national corporations over people and the environment in such disputes?

End-secrecy-in-the-TPP

The video also asks why the negotiating framework for the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal favors Wall Street and multinational corporations at the expense effective environmental and climate policy. In particular, why does the U.S. proposal for a TPP investment chapter allowtransnational corporations to challenge environmental laws that protect our air, land and water? These wealthy investors could demand millions or even billions of dollars in damages for the cost of complying with such environmental regulations, including lost future profits.

Friends of the Earth is concerned that the TPP deal potentially checkmates many of our past environmental victories, and likewise blocks new initiatives on global climate change and  exports of tar sands oil, for example. Friends of the Earth is using the video to encourage people concerned about the environmental costs of a TPP trade deal to talk to their friends, neighbors and fellow environmentalists about it. We are even offering copies of the video to people interested in screening it at local meetings or sharing it with local media. This could move communities, both domestically and abroad, to take action on this issue that reflects local priorities and values.

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