LandKeepers News Archive
Investors Urge Enbridge to Address First Nations
May 06 2009 | Media Releases
May 6, 2009, Toronto – Today The Ethical Funds Company secured the support of approximately 67 million shares representing 32% of total shares for a proposal at Enbridge Inc.’s Annual General Meeting in Toronto. The proposal asks the company to disclose information investors need to assess the potential for First Nations to approve or potentially squash Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline Project.
The 1,170 kilometer pipeline would take oil from Alberta’s oil sands to the Port of Kitimat, British Columbia for ocean tanker transport through coastal waters and on to Asia. Opposition to the project is mounting as First Nations and environmentalists raise concerns with respect to the oil sands and potential spills in what is known as the Great Bear Rainforest.
“Enbridge has a strong aboriginal relations policy, but we believe their approach to date may not be sufficient to mitigate the project’s very real risks,” said Bob Walker, Vice President, Sustainability for The Ethical Funds Company. “We believe Enbridge needs a new strategy and investors need more information to determine whether or not this company will be able to negotiate this project successfully with the First Nations likely to be impacted by pipeline development.”
First Nations have distinct legal standing in Canada that translates into significant project risk if consent for project development is not attained. The proposed pipeline and marine transport route crosses through more than 50 First Nations traditional territories, many of them unceded, with no treaty agreements having ever been signed. The proposal asks the company to assess the costs and benefits of adopting a policy of achieving the free, prior, and informed consent and to disclose the status of its negotiations with First Nations along the pipeline’s right of way.
The Ethical Funds Company’s assessment of risks associated with Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline Project is based on lesson learned from the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline, recent extraction projects refusals in the same region of British Columbia based on lack of First Nations’ consent and the emergence of free, prior, and informed consent as best corporate practice for companies that have an impact on indigenous peoples’ rights.
“The risk of First Nations opposition to this pipeline is material and investors are asking for full disclosure to track these risks and know where we stand” concludes Mr. Walker.
For more information please contact:
Robert Walker
Vice President, Sustainability
(604) 714‐3833
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