The Issue

To: Bkejwanong Chief and Council, the Bkejwanong Trust, and all persons involved in the proposed pipeline decision.

Bkejwanong community members were told during a Special Council Meeting held on Thursday, July 9—during what was listed online as the Bkejwanong Trust Annual General Meeting but presented in person as a "Trust Update"—that Council will vote Tuesday on investing in the proposed Northern Shield Energy Corridor, part of the federal Building Canada's Economy initiative.

Our community was told on Thursday.

The decision is being pushed forward on Tuesday.

That's only four days.

Four days is not enough time for nearly 5,000 Bkejwanong members to understand what is happening, ask questions, hear all sides, and decide what we want for our Nation.

We have four days. If they can move this quickly, so can our community.

We, the undersigned Bkejwanong rights holders, call for an immediate halt to any decision on Tuesday to buy into, invest in, finance, support, or commit our Nation, our Trust, our money, or our name to an oil pipeline.

This is not fair leadership.

A pipeline can affect the health of our land, our living waters, our unceded and treaty rights, our economy, our children, and generations not yet born. If our Nation becomes financially and politically tied to a pipeline, that decision may not be easy to undo.

Yet our people have not been given the full proposal.

We have not been told what we are buying.

We have not been told how much money is involved.

We have not been told what risks we are taking on.

We have not been told what has already been signed, promised, negotiated, or decided.

We have not been given a complete accounting of the Trust money before being asked to accept a new investment direction.

We have not heard a full and independent environmental assessment.

We have not heard the case against the pipeline.

We have not been given enough time to speak with one another.

We have not been asked what we want.

What could Sarnia become?

This image is not a prediction. It is a reminder that major industrial corridors are not built by one project alone. They are built one decision at a time.

Pipelines can bring storage, refining, petrochemical processing, transportation infrastructure, and pressure for further industrial development. Sarnia is already one of Canada's largest chemistry and energy corridors.

Before Bkejwanong invests our money and our Nation's name in expanding that corridor, our people deserve to understand not only the first project, but where it could lead.

What could follow?

What could cross our territory and living waters?

What are the cumulative impacts of adding one project to everything already here?

What happens if there is a spill?

Who pays if we're wrong?

Who carries the liability?

Who profits?

Who lives with the consequences?

These questions deserve answers before the money moves—not after.

1. A stop to Tuesday's pipeline investment decision.

No decision to invest in, finance, approve, negotiate, authorize, or commit Bkejwanong money, Trust assets, resources, or our Nation's name to an oil pipeline until the people have had a fair opportunity to decide.

2. The release of the complete proposal.

Disclose the full proposal, all agreements, financial commitments, environmental information, liabilities, cumulative impacts, risks, benefits, alternatives, and any information already known or promised.

3. Full disclosure of who is involved and who benefits.

Disclose who proposed, negotiated, presented, or supports this proposal; what authority they claim to act on behalf of Bkejwanong; and any funding, contracts, gifts, honoraria, travel, bonuses, benefits, or conflicts of interest connected to it.

4. The whole truth before any decision is made.

Disclose the benefits, risks, alternatives, environmental studies, cumulative impact assessments, financial analyses, and all information that remains unknown or incomplete. The community must hear independent experts representing both supporting and opposing views.

5. The right of the people to decide.

Provide all on-reserve and off-reserve Bkejwanong rights holders a fair opportunity to receive the information, ask questions, deliberate, be heard, and vote. If any person or body claims it already has the authority to decide for the people, publicly show where that mandate came from.

Our ancestors did not protect these lands and living waters so that decisions affecting future generations could be rushed through before the people had time to understand what was happening.

We hold ceremonies and inclusive discussion to protect our culture.

We speak for Nibi because water is alive.

We are supposed to teach our children that they carry responsibilities to the generations who came before them and the generations still to come.

Bkejwanong is not a corporation.

Bkejwanong is not a Trust.

Bkejwanong is not a presentation held four days before a decision.

Bkejwanong is the people.

No community mandate has been shown. Why should a commitment be made in our name?

We are not asking our people to say yes today.

We are not asking our people to say no today.

We are asking Bkejwanong Chief and Council, the Bkejwanong Trust, and every affiliated board, corporation, confederation, and decision-making body to:

• Let the people know—openly, honestly, and in time to decide.
• Let the people speak. Record their voices. Encourage them. Do not silence them.
• Do not hide what you are doing.
• Let the people's vote be counted.

Please sign and share this petition with Bkejwanong rights holders, on and off reserve.

The people of Bkejwanong deserve the time, the truth, and the opportunity to decide our own future before anyone commits our Nation's name.

Miigwech.