Canada

WHITEHORSE, Oct. 14, 2015 /CNW/ - This morning Self-Governing Yukon First Nations filed a Petition for the Yukon Supreme Court to declare Bill S-6 amendments to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act (YESAA) invalid.

"Our Petition states that the amendments through Bill S-6 undermine or weaken Yukon's development assessment process and our role as Yukon First Nation governments," said Chief Carl Sidney of Teslin Tlingit Council. "Therefore, they are a clear breach of our Final Agreements."

Over the last week, hundreds of people have told us that they’re planning to risk arrest this November at the the Climate Welcome Action. I’ve been moved by the courage of these people and their stories.

Here are some of the reasons that people across the country are mobilizing to the reasons that have motivated them to risk arrest outside the Prime Minister’s residence in less than a month:

“I am a mother to a small child and I owe it to him to fix the mistakes that we've made.”- Katrina - Nanaimo, BC

At the beginning of the federal election campaign, Toronto Centre NDP candidate and respected author Linda McQuaig stated a simple fact: “a lot of people recognize that a lot of the oil sands oil may need to stay in the ground if we're going to meet our climate change targets.” This sparked a corporate media backlash, accusing her of being ideologically-driven,
anti-Alberta and anti-jobs.
 

Environmental Defence and Équiterre have launched an updated comparison looking at the federal parties’ main climate policies. Only six weeks after Canada’s federal election, national governments will gather in Paris for United Nations talks to finalize a global climate change agreement. Recent polls show that Canadians are looking for greater leadership from the federal government on climate change.

[Website editor's note: Two articles, published Sept 30 and Oct 1, 2015,  on the proposed Energy East tar sands pipeline and the proposed gas pipeline and LNG plant in BC] 

The Harper government’s already strained relationship with First Nations that oppose oil sands pipelines is being put on trial this week.

Eight B.C. First Nations are in federal court to launch a legal attack on the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline. The coalition hopes to overturn Ottawa’s conditional approval of the project, which would deliver Alberta crude to B.C.’s north coast.

CALGARY (Reuters) - Native chiefs in the Western Canadian province of British Columbia voted on Wednesday to join some of their eastern counterparts opposed to a major pipeline project, in a move some leaders described as a step toward a national alliance aimed at blocking expansion of Alberta's oil sands industry.

Police were called to a downtown Montreal office building Wednesday after indigenous protesters shut down a public consultation over the Energy East pipeline.

Amanda Lickers says she was accompanied by about 25 people when she entered the meeting and interrupted proceedings.

Listen to this interview at http://www.cbc.ca/radio/popup/audio/player.html?autoPlay=true&clipIds=2675818834 Editors