There will be no tar sands pipeline.
That is the message stressed by First Nations communities who say that even if Canada's Prime Minister Harper gives the federal OK to Enbridge's Northern Gateway project, First Nations law and their "responsibilities to future generations" will stop the project dead in its tracks.
A federal decision on the project, which includes a 1,200-kilometer pipeline that would carry half a million barrels per day of crude from the Alberta tar sands to coastal Kitimat, British Columbia, is expected in the coming days.
Chief Fred Sam of the Nak'azdli First Nation, one of the Yinka Dene First Nations communities who have joined in opposition to the Northern Gateway, stated, "Our decision to refuse consent for the Enbridge pipeline is a decision according to our own laws. It is binding and clearly set out in the Save the Fraser Declaration."That declaration, the Yinka Dene Alliance explained, bans Enbridge's pipelines and tankers from First Nations territories.
"This project is doomed," added Jasmine Thomas of Saik'uz First Nation in a statement issued Wednesday, referring to Enbridge's proposed pipeline.
Comment: "These extractive projects are based on a fundamentally destructive colonial and capitalist model that forces profits ahead of Indigenous self-determination and stewardship. They destroy and exploit the land and ecosystems, and disregard the safety and health of communities, including those who work in the poisonous jobs in these industries." - a statement from a grassroots call to action. Five pipelines are designed to carry natural gas to LNG plants, plus two bitumen and condensate pipelines and plans for a minimum of six more. The pipeline companies have been issued a formal warning not to trespass on Native territories. It is their land. It is their waters. They have unalienable rights to their traditional territories and the sovereign right to defend it. Over 160 First Nations groups have vowed to do whatever it takes and hold the legal power to do so.