Indigenous leaders protest Line 5 at the United Nations this week

Indigenous leaders protest Line 5 at the United Nations this week

NEW YORK, NY (April 17, 2023) – Indigenous leaders will continue to press Canada and the US to shut down Line 5 when they gather in New York City this week for the 22nd session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Last week, leaders from 51 Tribal Nations and First Nations rebuked Canada’s government for protecting a dangerous transnational oil pipeline called Line 5. In a report submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Indigenous leaders called upon Canada to live up to its international human rights obligations and its climate commitments by ending its active efforts to keep Line 5 open in defiance of a shutdown order by the State of Michigan and legal challenges by multiple Tribal Nations.

President Whitney Gravelle of the Bay Mills Indian Community and Grand Council Chief Reg Niganobe of the Anishinabek Nation will be available for in-person interviews about this international effort at the following times:

Monday, April 17: 1pm – 3pm EST
Tuesday, April 18: 1pm – 2pm EST
Thursday, April 20: 8am – 10am EST

Line 5, built in 1953, is part of Enbridge’s mainline system, which carries fuel from the oil sands of Alberta to the Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. It runs from Superior, Wisconsin to Sarnia, Ontario, for the refineries in those regions which make gas, propane, home-heating oils, and jet fuels.

The Great Lakes comprise the largest body of freshwater making up more than 20 per cent of the world’s freshwater supply, and stretch 750 miles from east to west, bringing drinking water to more than 48 million people and providing a home to over 4,000 species of plants and wildlife.

This is an urgent issue as an oil spill along Line 5 could decimate fisheries, damage animal and plant species, pollute Tribes’ sacred places and cultural resources, and jeopardize access to drinking water.

The Anishinabek Nation is a political advocate for 39 member First Nations across Ontario, representing approximately 65,000 citizens. The Anishinabek Nation is the oldest political organization in Ontario and can trace its roots back to the Confederacy of Three Fires, which existed long before European contact.

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For in-person interview inquiries:

Laura Mayer
Senior Political Advisor
Anishinabek Nation
(705) 261-0613
mayer@anishinabek.ca

For all other inquiries:

Laura Barrios
Communications Coordinator
Anishinabek Nation
(705) 498-1957
laura.barrios@anishinabek.ca

ILR5