Supreme Court quashes seismic testing in Nunavut, but gives green light to Enbridge Line 9 pipeline

Aerial view of Clyde River, Nunavut.

Top court delivers landmark rulings on consultation process with Indigenous Peoples over energy projects

By John Paul Tasker, CBC News, July 26, 2017

The Supreme Court of Canada has quashed plans for seismic testing in Nunavut, delivering a major victory to Inuit who argued they were inadequately consulted before the National Energy Board gave oil companies the green light to conduct the disruptive activity.

Indigenous protesters ordered to pay oil giant thousands over pipeline legal battle

Haudenosaunee man Todd Williams has been ordered to pay thousands in legal fees after disrupting work in protest at Enbridge dig sites in Hamilton this year. (Adam Carter/CBC)

Haudenosaunee men spent months protesting at Enbridge dig sites

By Adam Carter, CBC News, May 31, 2017

Todd Williams spent months sparring with Enbridge all over Hamilton, trying to disrupt the company’s pipeline operations. And now it’s costing him.

After a legal battle with the oil giant that centred on the company’s property rights versus Indigenous treaty and hunting rights, Williams and another Haudenosaunee man, Wayne Hill, were ordered by a Superior Court in Hamilton this month to pay Enbridge $25,381.81 in legal fees. The costs award comes after Enbridge won an injunction barring them from maintenance dig sites. 

Army Corps rejects permit for coal terminal at Cherry Point

Lummi drummers.

By Samantha Wohlfeil, Bellingham Herald, May 9, 2016

LUMMI RESERVATION-The proposed coal terminal for Cherry Point is likely dead after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied a needed permit Monday, May 9.

The Corps ruled the project would impact the treaty-protected fishing rights of Lummi Nation based on the fact that the proposed trestle and associated wharf would take up 144 acres over water.

“The Corps may not permit a project that abrogates treaty rights,” said Col. John Buck, commander of the Corps’ Seattle District.

5 Maliseet chiefs want Sisson mine rejected

St. Mary’s, Tobique, Kingsclear, Oromocto, Madawaska chiefs respond to environmental assessment

By Alan White, CBC News, April 21, 2016

The chiefs of five Maliseet First Nations in New Brunswick are calling for the proposed Sisson mine project to be rejected because of its impact on Maliseet people.

The chiefs of Kingsclear, Madawaska, Oromocto, St. Mary’s and Tobique First Nations issued a statement on Thursday in reaction to a federal study that said the proposed mine would have a “significant” impact on several communities.

Oregon: Nestle Water Battle Continues

Tribal members speak out at City Council meeting

April 18^th 2016 (Cascade Locks, Oregon)

Monday April 11^th a meeting took place at the Cascade Locks Town Hall and members of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs of Oregon arrived on short notice in traditional longhouse dress to fiercely defend the waters of our home, the Columbia River.

The Cascade Locks city council voted against a resolution [6-1] that would have prevented Nestle International Waters from having rights to Oxbow Springs, the headwaters of Herman Creek. The Cascade Locks city council officially endorsed Nestle to open a water bottling facility in the Locks.

Protesters end Mi’kmaw moose harvest in Cape Breton Highlands

Non-Native hunters confront game wardens during protest against Mi’kmaq moose hunt in park. Photo: APTN National News.

by Trina Roache, APTN National News, November 12, 2015
CAPE BRETON HIGHLANDS, NOVA SCOTIA — Tempers flared as close to 30 protesters confronted Mi’kmaw hunters who were taking part in a Parks Canada project to harvest moose in the Cape Breton Highlands.

“We don’t see it being productive to kill moose in our national park,” said local businessman Wesley Timmons.

“Productive?” asked Mi’kmaw hunter Fred Sylliboy. “The whole mountain is crown land. You’re the ones trespassing on our land.”