Northern Gateway: Approval without First Nations consent violates human rights 

NORTHERN GATEWAY IS A HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE  Share our petition by email Promote our petition on Facebook and Twitter

Learn more:  - Read our press release - More information on the pipeline

Dear Tracy,
You’ve probably already heard the news: late on Tuesday the federal government announced that it had approved construction of the Northern Gateway pipeline.

The announcement comes as no surprise, given the government’s commitment to further expanding oil sands extraction. However the decision is still shocking in its blatant disregard for the human rights of Indigenous peoples.

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The Constitutional protection of Indigenous rights in Canada, along with international human rights standards such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, requires rigorous precautions in all decisions that could affect Indigenous peoples’ use of their traditional lands.

Robust, good faith consultation is just the beginning. On projects with a potential for serious harm, the standard of precaution required is to make decisions only with the free, prior and informed consent of those affected.

Despite this, the federal government excluded critical Indigenous concerns such as unresolved treaty negotiations from any consideration during the regulatory review of the Northern Gateway proposal. The federal government said it would consult with Indigenous peoples after the review was completed, but failed to do so in any meaningful way. Now the federal government says that the company that wants to build the pipeline will carry out this consultation, but only within the framework of the recommendations made by the review process.

Even Douglas Eyford, the person appointed by the federal government as a special envoy on west coast energy infrastructure, has said that this is not the way to go.

It’s little wonder then that 23 First Nations have announced that they will be fighting this decision in court.

Over the last three months, more than 10,000 Amnesty members and supporters have signed our online petition urging the federal government to respect the rights of First Nations who would be affected by the Northern Gateway project.

We need your continued help to make this message heard in Ottawa.

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And please continue to make your voice heard by writing to your local newspaper, contacting your member of Parliament and supporting the First Nations organizations at the heart of this struggle, such as the Yinka Dene Alliance.

Thank you, your help is urgently needed! 

  

Sincerely,

Alex Neve
Secretary General,
Amnesty International Canada