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Last chance to stop Trans Mountain in court
08/09/19
If this was a game of hockey, we’d be down to an overtime shootout.
A federal judge has Zambonied a narrow strip of ice for the players to skate on, and six Indigenous legal teams will get to take a shot.
It’s time for the home crowd to stand up and root for them. Please join me in making a donation to the First Nations challenging this toxic, dangerous oil tanker expansion on behalf of all of us.
I’ll be honest, the odds are not in our favour. Six of the 12 lawsuits filed against the federal cabinet’s latest Trans Mountain approval were dismissed today on technical grounds.
Concerns about climate change and the looming extinction of endangered orca whales were tossed out. So were two of the Indigenous legal cases.
Even the fact federal politicians bought the pipeline and vowed it would be completed was not seen by the court to bias the government’s decision to approve it in June.
The only matter the court will consider is whether the government met the bare minimum duty to consult Indigenous groups in the final months before greenlighting the pipeline a second time.
Here’s who’s going into the final shootout:
1. A Sto:lo alliance made up of Aitchelitz, Skowkale, Shxwhá:y Village, Soowahlie, Squiala First Nation, Tzeachten and Yakweakwioose
2. Chief Ron Ignace and Chief Rosanne Casimir, on behalf of the Stk’emlupsemc Te Secwepemc
3. Coldwater Indian Band
4. Squamish Nation
5. Tsleil-Waututh Nation
6. Upper Nicola Band
In its decision today, the court made it clear consent is not on the table. Under Canadian law, the government can veto decisions by Indigenous nations, infringe on their rights, expropriate and pollute their land -- and use our tax dollars to do it.
But they still have to follow their own rules. And in its rush to line oil company pockets, it looks like the government once again failed to clear even the low bar of “meaningful consultation” laid out time and again by the courts.
This could be your last chance to stop Trans Mountain cleanly and quickly. If any one of these legal pucks gets past the goalie, the federal government will have no one to blame but themselves. Please make sure these legal teams have the resources they need.
In solidarity,
Kai
P.S. Many of these Indigenous communities were part of the stunning legal victory that overturned the first federal Trans Mountain approval in August 2018. With your help, they can do it again. Please donate what you can right now.
A federal judge has Zambonied a narrow strip of ice for the players to skate on, and six Indigenous legal teams will get to take a shot.
It’s time for the home crowd to stand up and root for them. Please join me in making a donation to the First Nations challenging this toxic, dangerous oil tanker expansion on behalf of all of us.
I’ll be honest, the odds are not in our favour. Six of the 12 lawsuits filed against the federal cabinet’s latest Trans Mountain approval were dismissed today on technical grounds.
Concerns about climate change and the looming extinction of endangered orca whales were tossed out. So were two of the Indigenous legal cases.
Even the fact federal politicians bought the pipeline and vowed it would be completed was not seen by the court to bias the government’s decision to approve it in June.
The only matter the court will consider is whether the government met the bare minimum duty to consult Indigenous groups in the final months before greenlighting the pipeline a second time.
Here’s who’s going into the final shootout:
1. A Sto:lo alliance made up of Aitchelitz, Skowkale, Shxwhá:y Village, Soowahlie, Squiala First Nation, Tzeachten and Yakweakwioose
2. Chief Ron Ignace and Chief Rosanne Casimir, on behalf of the Stk’emlupsemc Te Secwepemc
3. Coldwater Indian Band
4. Squamish Nation
5. Tsleil-Waututh Nation
6. Upper Nicola Band
In its decision today, the court made it clear consent is not on the table. Under Canadian law, the government can veto decisions by Indigenous nations, infringe on their rights, expropriate and pollute their land -- and use our tax dollars to do it.
But they still have to follow their own rules. And in its rush to line oil company pockets, it looks like the government once again failed to clear even the low bar of “meaningful consultation” laid out time and again by the courts.
This could be your last chance to stop Trans Mountain cleanly and quickly. If any one of these legal pucks gets past the goalie, the federal government will have no one to blame but themselves. Please make sure these legal teams have the resources they need.
In solidarity,
Kai
P.S. Many of these Indigenous communities were part of the stunning legal victory that overturned the first federal Trans Mountain approval in August 2018. With your help, they can do it again. Please donate what you can right now.
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