They behave like modern-day colonialists when they impose their agendas on communities
Enbridge recently announced that 23 First Nations and Métis communities plan to invest $1.12 billion to acquire an 11.57 per cent interest in seven Enbridge pipelines in Alberta’s Athabasca region, the largest-ever energy-related Indigenous partnership transaction in North America.
This is a giant step towards economic reconciliation and a significant improvement for these communities on their path to self-determination and better material circumstances.
Unfortunately, groups like the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, 350 Canada and the Wilderness Committee are actively working against Indigenous communities’ interests by insisting Indigenous people stay with the status quo and not pursue agreements of this kind. These groups believe they and they alone know what is best for Indigenous communities. Nothing could be further from the truth.
It’s clear that not all proposed projects are in the interests of Indigenous people. Some can be quite damaging and some of the people proposing them are disingenuous about building a genuine relationship with Indigenous communities.
For the rest of this column: https://financialpost.com/opinion/opinion-climate-extremists-dont-speak-for-indigenous-groups