Signatures added to Save the Fraser declaration

First Nations from Alberta and the Northwest Territories recently added their names and support to a formal declaration opposing the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline and supertankers project. The Save the Fraser Declaration, created by Yinka Dene Alliance, which is made up of six Nations in northern British Columbia, is a formal legal declaration that protects the critical salmon rivers and the Pacific North Coast from the threat of oil spills posed by the proposed Enbridge oil pipeline and supertankers. The signing of the declaration followed oral evidence presented to the Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel in Edmonton in January. “As a community being impacted by rapid tar sands development in Alberta, we support the Yinka Dene Alliance and understand the importance of protecting sacred waterways from the dangers of this pipeline,” Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation said in a news release. “Our community has seen the devastating impacts of tar sands projects and we truly hope that our brothers and sisters in the Fraser River do not suffer the same fate.”