Tribes, First Nations decry Canada’s help of Line 5 in letter to United Nations

Amid years of authorized efforts by Canada to pause litigation in opposition to its controversial Line 5 oil pipeline that runs for miles underneath Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac, a coalition of 51 tribal and First Nations has submitted a report back to the United Nations’ Human Rights Council (HRC) detailing why Canada ought to be made to desert these efforts and hearken to enter from Indigenous communities affected by Line 5.

“In failing to correctly regulate Enbridge’s Line 5 operations, Canada violates its obligation to guard human rights,” the Tuesday letter reads. “Extra egregiously, Canada’s energetic interventions to guard Line 5, over our expressed opposition as affected Indigenous communities, and thru decision-making processes that exclude us, promote and allow threats to human rights.”

The report was submitted in relation to the fourth Common Periodic Evaluation (UPC) of Canada, which acts as a mechanism of the HRC to enhance human rights conditions in nations by listening to periodic scrutiny from different U.N. member states. The 2023 UPR session will happen in mid-November.

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The Line 5 oil pipeline, owned and operated by Canadian firm Enbridge, runs 645 miles from the tip of Northwest Wisconsin, into Michigan’s Higher Peninsula, underneath the Straits of Mackinac and down by Michigan’s Decrease Peninsula earlier than exiting into Canada close to Detroit.

Indigenous communities, whose treaty lands and waters could be compromised within the case of a Line 5 spill within the Straits, have been publicly against Enbridge’s operations for a few years.

“Canada’s help for Line 5 is a part of its sample of favoring the fossil gasoline trade over Indigenous rights. We name on the Canadian Authorities to desert its present posture within the Line 5 litigation in U.S. courts, respect and defend the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and prioritize the pursuit of a sustainable future,” the report reads.

An Enbridge spokesperson didn’t instantly return a request for remark.

The submission was signed 10 of Michigan’s 12 federally acknowledged tribes: Bay Mills Indian Group, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians, Hannahville Indian Group, Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan (Gun Lake Tribe), Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

All Indigenous communities in Michigan publicly oppose Line 5.