To Todd Williams and our community,
The Board of Directors and Staff of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group – Guelph (OPIRG Guelph) would state our support for Todd Williams and all land defenders working to protect the inherent rights of Indigenous people in traditional Haudenosaunee territory which is currently encroached upon by Enbridge’s Lines 10 and 11.
Since late January, Williams has been asserting that the Haudenosaunee peoples should be allowed to be independent third-party monitors on all construction and maintenance of pipeline infrastructure through Haudenosaunee territory to ensure environmental and archaeological competence. Following Enbridge’s denial of Haudenosaunee monitors, Enbridge sought action against trap lines set in the path of these pipelines by Williams—which stands as a violation of the 1701 Nanfan Treaty by Enbridge.
While the system criminalizes land defenders, Enbridge’s pattern of violence across Turtle Island is left unexamined by the State. Once again, Enbridge has failed to consult Indigenous communities, failed to provide transparency when it comes to their actions on Indigenous land, and forced land defenders to act. Like those before them, Williams and other land defenders act to preserve the land, the people, and the inherent rights of all Indigenous people.
We support Todd Williams in his call to:
- Protect Haudenosaunees’ inherent rights, as acknowledged by the Crown in the 1701 Nanfan Treaty.
- Ensure that the duty to consult on projects of this nature, as acknowledged by the Canadian state in countless previous legal decisions, is expressed fully and to the satisfaction of the Haudenosaunee and all other Indigenous peoples in that area by Enbridge.
- Have Enbridge pay the costs of independent Haudenosaunee monitoring staff for projects throughout Haudenosaunee territory to ensure environmental and archaeological competence.
Ultimately, fossil fuel companies like Enbridge routinely violate the rights and lands of Indigenous people in an inexorable quest for profit. This case—like the many before it involving Enbridge alone—highlight that these companies are impediments to reconciliation and perpetuate vicious colonial violence across Turtle Island.
OPIRG Guelph supports resistance to this violence and calls for all our members, allies, and communities to stand with Todd Williams and all land defenders.
In solidarity,
The Board and Staff of OPIRG Guelph
PDF Link:
[pdf-embedder url=”http://opirgguelph.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/LetterinSupportofToddWilliams.pdf”]
Background Links:
Two Row Times:
https://tworowtimes.com/news/local/culture-commerce-collide/
Toronto Star:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/27/a-pipeline-some-rabbit-traps-and-a-300-year-old-treaty.html