Solidarity Statement with Bad River Band Challenge to Enbridge’s Line 5 Pipeline

Line 5 Media Statement: For Immediate Release April 11, 2024.

Sierra Club Canada stands in solidarity with the Bad River Band’s challenge to Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline in the wake of news that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has weighed in on a legal challenge brought by the Wisconsin-based Tribal Nation against Enbridge, a Canadian corporation. Enbridge’s dangerous and outdated Line 5 oil pipeline has been trespassing on the reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa for more than a decade.

Read a full release by our sister organization, the U.S. Sierra Club.

“The Sierra Club Canada Ontario Chapter stands in solidarity with Bad River Band as they lead the fight to defend their home. Their actions reverberate into the future, and embolden us to care for the Great Lakes as a cross-border and international initiative,” says Jessica Murray, Sierra Club Canada Ontario Director. “If the Government of Canada thinks Canadians will not join the fight for the largest freshwater body on the planet, at the heart of Turtle Island, they are sorely mistaken. The triple win for the planet, the people, and the economy is to retract and decommission both the pipeline and the use of the 1977 Treaty.”

“This is tough news, but we are so grateful to the leadership of the Bad River Band for standing up for their right to stop this pipeline from threatening their community and for protecting the precious fresh water that is essential to the health and well-being of millions of Canadians,” says Gretchen Fitzgerald, National Programs Director, Sierra Club Canada. “Instead of standing up for pipelines like Line 5, Canada’s government should be doing all it can to protect irreplaceable places threatened by oil spills, to respect Indigenous rights at home and abroad, and to pave the way for clean energy.”

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For more information and interviews please contact: Media@sierraclub.ca

An important note on referencing the Sierra Club Canada Foundation that there are three distinct Sierra Clubs: Sierra Club (in the United States), Sierra Club BC (in British Columbia), and Sierra Club Canada Foundation (operating nationally in Canada).

While we often work together, these organizations are all separate legal entities. To be accurate, you should refer to our organization in articles or other coverage using the title “Sierra Club Canada” or “Sierra Club Canada Foundation.” Our organization, the Sierra Club Canada Foundation, also contains five chapters: Sierra Club Ontario, Sierra Club Québec, Sierra Club Atlantic Canada, Sierra Club Prairie, and Sierra Youth (which is nationwide).