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"Largest Private-Sector Union In Canada Says ‘No’ To The Northern Gateway Pipeline"
Largest Private-Sector Union In Canada Says ‘No’ To The Northern Gateway Pipeline
BY KATIE VALENTINE ON DECEMBER 6, 2013 AT 1:05 PM
Climate protesters in a November event in Victoria, B.C.
CREDIT: LEADNOW/FLICKR
The largest private-sector union in Canada has pledged its opposition to the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline, joining more than 100 First Nations groups and other unions who have vowed to fight the project.
On Thursday, the British Columbia director of Unifor signed the Save the Fraser declaration, an accord that aims to ban all tar sands projects from First Nations territory and from the ocean migration routes of the Fraser River salmon. In a speech, Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor’s B.C. director, said a “good jobs revolution,” with opportunities in clean energy and expansions in public transit, would bring better opportunities to B.C. than the pipeline would.
“The Enbridge Northern Gateway Project seeks to massively increase oil exports as if climate change wasn’t real,” he said. “It proposes to travel through our communities and First Nations with profit as the first motive instead of respecting our environment and social obligations to each other. It creates few jobs in Canada compared to its scale and exports more of our natural resources even faster.”
Unifor has been outspoken about oil and gas development before — last month, the union released a paper calling for a moratorium on all new oil and gas fracking in Canada, citing environmental risks and the need to preserve the desires of First Nations to keep their lands free from energy development. On Thursday the union vowed to join First Nations in protesting the project if it were to proceed.
“We signed in solidarity, so we’ll be there in solidarity to support them...
BY KATIE VALENTINE ON DECEMBER 6, 2013 AT 1:05 PM
Climate protesters in a November event in Victoria, B.C.
CREDIT: LEADNOW/FLICKR
The largest private-sector union in Canada has pledged its opposition to the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline, joining more than 100 First Nations groups and other unions who have vowed to fight the project.
On Thursday, the British Columbia director of Unifor signed the Save the Fraser declaration, an accord that aims to ban all tar sands projects from First Nations territory and from the ocean migration routes of the Fraser River salmon. In a speech, Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor’s B.C. director, said a “good jobs revolution,” with opportunities in clean energy and expansions in public transit, would bring better opportunities to B.C. than the pipeline would.
“The Enbridge Northern Gateway Project seeks to massively increase oil exports as if climate change wasn’t real,” he said. “It proposes to travel through our communities and First Nations with profit as the first motive instead of respecting our environment and social obligations to each other. It creates few jobs in Canada compared to its scale and exports more of our natural resources even faster.”
Unifor has been outspoken about oil and gas development before — last month, the union released a paper calling for a moratorium on all new oil and gas fracking in Canada, citing environmental risks and the need to preserve the desires of First Nations to keep their lands free from energy development. On Thursday the union vowed to join First Nations in protesting the project if it were to proceed.
“We signed in solidarity, so we’ll be there in solidarity to support them...
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/12/06/3031841/canadian-union-opposes-northern-gateway-pipeline/
