INTERLOCHEN, MI (MPRN)— Leaders from 51 tribal nations—including Michigan—are blasting Canada’s support of Enbridge’s Line 5 crude oil pipeline.
In a report sent to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the group demanded tribes have a say in the matter.
The report comes months before Canada will have its human rights record scrutinized in a routine review by the U.N.
Tribal nations say Canada’s government has prevented the 70-year-old pipeline from being shut down for good, when it invoked a 1977 treaty that guarantees transit of oil across the border.
David Arroyo is Chairperson of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.
“It's just a matter of time before there's an accident, a catastrophic accident that's going to change our livelihood for the whole state. And that's one thing I wish people would understand that it's not just an indigenous problem…. It's all of our problems.”
Enbridge says Line 5 continues to operate safely and that relationships with Indigenous communities is "essential to Enbridge's continued success."
Canada will have its human rights record reviewed in mid-November.