ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE, SIERRA CLUB, BAD RIVER BAND OF LAKE SUPERIOR CHIPPEWAS, THE ANISHINABEK NATION
Montréal/Tiohtià:ke | Traditional, unceded lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka/Mohawk Nation, a gathering place for many First Nations, including the Anishinaabeg – On Dec 17 at 12:30 PM ET, Indigenous water protectors and environmental experts from Canada and the United States will hold a press briefing at COP15 about the threat posed by the Line 5 pipeline to the biodiversity and Indigenous Nations of the Great Lakes. Speakers will discuss why Line 5 is an imminent ecological disaster, how the pipeline violates Indigenous rights, what alternatives are available and what can be done to support Indigenous Nations and environmental defenders working to protect the Great Lakes.
Line 5 is a dangerous, 70-year-old pipeline that crosses directly through the heart of the Great Lakes, which hold over 80 per cent of North America’s freshwater. The pipeline is in a state of ill repair, has had several safety violations occur and has leaked at least 33 times, spilling over 4.5 million litres of oil into surrounding lands and waters. Line 5 is a direct threat to the Great Lakes, the surrounding communities and the inherent rights and treaty rights of Indigenous Nations of the Great Lakes.
More information can be found here: https://environmentaldefence.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Line-5-Report-S20.pdf
WHAT: Press Briefing on An Imminent Ecological Disaster in the Making: Why Canada must put Great Lakes protection and inherent Indigenous rights ahead of the Line 5 pipeline.
WHERE: Media Center Room 220 D, Montreal Convention Centre (Palais des Congrès de Montréal), 1001 Pl. Jean-Paul-Riopelle, Montréal, QC H2Z 1H5.
Live stream available here.
WHEN: Saturday, December 17 at 12:30 PM ET
WHO: The following spokespeople will be in attendance:
Aurora Conley, Anishinaabe from the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewas Tribe
Travis Boissoneau, Anishinabek Nation Deputy Grand Council Chief of the Lake Huron Region
Michelle Woodhouse, Water Program Manager, Environmental Defence; Métis water protector
Tessine Murji, Conservation Organizer, Sierra Club Illinois
Don Waller, Great Lakes Biologist; retired professor University of Wisconsin-Madison
ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian advocacy organization that works with government, organizations, and the public to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.
ABOUT SIERRA CLUB (sierraclub.org): Sierra Club is one the largest grassroots environmental organizations in the United States that works to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment.
BAD RIVER BAND OF LAKE SUPERIOR CHIPPEWAS (badriver-nsn.gov/): The Bad River Reservation was established by the 1854 Treaty of Lapointe with the U.S. government and was sited along the shores of Lake Superior and Chequamegon bay. Bad River is the largest Chippewa reservation in Wisconsin.
THE ANISHINABEK NATION (anishinabek.ca): 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. The Anishinabek Nation is a political advocate for 39 First Nations throughout the province of Ontario from Golden Lake in the east, Sarnia in the south, Thunder Bay and Lake Nipigon in the north.
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For more information or to request an interview, please contact:
Paula Gray, Communications Manager, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca
