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In Response to NEB decision, Rising Tide Toronto launches "Line 9 Pledge of Resistance"
Group encourages civil disobedience to stop pipeline approved by NEB
Jeffy the Jefferson Salamander, an endangered species along Line 9's route
In response to the National Energy Board's decision to approve Enbridge’s Line 9b pipeline reversal plan, Rising Tide Toronto is launching a "Line 9 Pledge of Resistance" petition. The pledge asks people to commit to civil disobedience to protect communities, land, and water from tar sands and fracked oil in the pipeline.
"The NEB hearings have always been a rubber stamping process. It doesn't matter how many people participate, how many municipalities or Band Councils say they don't want this project - or haven't even been consulted," said Amanda Lickers of Reclaim Turtle Island. "Canada is in cahoots with industry and we are all going to lose. This madness needs to be stopped at the source, at the tar sands."
Line 9 passes within 50 km of 18 First Nation communities, and impacts the watersheds of several more. Several First Nations intervened during the NEB hearings to express that no meaningful consultation had taken place. As such, the reversal proposal violates many treaties including the Royal Proclamation, the Simcoe Deed, and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, amongst others.
"Enbridge is over-looking the health and safety of millions people for profit. Aamjiwnaang is experiencing a health crisis that has been ignored by all levels of government and with the Line 9 approval, it will only get worse" says Vanessa Gray from the community group Aamjiwaang and Sarnia Against Pipelines (ASAP).
Aamjiwnaang First Nation never consented to Line 9. Furthermore, a recent investigation by W5 showed that 9 spills had occurred since 2004 at Enbridge's Sarnia terminal, located on Aamjiwnaang territory. The investigation also discovered that Enbridge had not notified local authorities about these spills. Aamjiwnaang suffers from severe health issues due to its proximity Canada's petro-chemical industry. An estimated 40% of its population require inhalers and 39% of the women have experienced miscarriages.
"With an over 90% risk of rupture, a spill from Line 9 is a matter of where and when, not if it will happen," says Shirley Ceravolo of Rising Tide Toronto. "Indigenous people in Alberta who are leading the anti-tar sands movement have called it the civil rights movement of our time. Rising Tide is calling for civil disobedience to show opposition to Line 9 and Tar Sands expansion."
Line 9 Pledge of Resistance link: http://you.leadnow.ca/p/line9resistance
Topics: EnvironmentDirect Action
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