Indigenous activist pleased with Obama rejection of Keystone

November 6, 2015

United States President Barack Obama has rejected the Keystone XL pipeline and Melina Laboucan-Massimo could not be happier.

“I testified before the US Congress in 2012, I think it was, and it was a really scary experience. I found it really daunting. But today I feel really happy that I took that step and I did the testimony because I think every little bit mattered. Every person who got arrested mattered, every person who protested outside the white house mattered,” said Laboucan-Massimo, climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace and member of the Lubicon Cree.

Premier Rachel Notley says she is not surprised by Obama’s rejection of TransCanada Corporation’s Keystone XL pipeline but what did surprise her was the words he used.

“I am disappointed by the way the US government chose to characterize our energy exports,” she said. “I think that it was not necessary to be quite so critical in the way they described our energy product.”

But Laboucan-Massimo says Obama was just saying it the way it is.

“I was really glad to see the honesty and the thoroughness in which he responded because …. he went through the details really well and addressed the various issues a lot of critics would have. I was happy to see his strong words,” she said.

Laboucan-Massimo holds that this is a signal to new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to follow Obama’s lead.

“This decision would have gone very differently if not for the many thousands of Canadians and Americans who contributed millions of hours to the grassroot campaign against Keystone XL. When that campaign began, the pundits said the pipeline was a done deal. The pundits were wrong…,” said Diane Beckett, interim executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada Foundation.

Laboucan-Massimo says there is no doubt that the combined campaign of Indigenous peoples, both in Canada and the US, and the wider environmental movement had an impact.

“We were an integral part of the action,” she said. “I’m really excited about the potential of what climate leadership can actually look like when you see the rejection like this of a massive tarsands pipeline.”

Notley says Obama’s decision underscores the province’s and Canada’s need to act decisively on climate change.

“The decision today underlines our need to improve our environmental record, enhance our reputation…. This highlights that we need to do a better job. That’s why I am pleased about the work that’s ongoing right now towards a new climate change plan for Alberta,” she said.

Notley says she will put her efforts now into Energy East and Kindermorgan Transmountain expansion (heading west) pipeline projects “because in my view they are the more realistic ones. They’re also the ones that allow for more flexibility in job creation here in Alberta.”

Notley noted the Northern Gateway expansion had “more challenges.”

Notley stressed that moving oil to foreign markets would not only benefit Albertans but Canadians as well. She said she spoke to Trudeau and he agreed with her that collaboration was needed to get the infrastructure completed to move oil to market.

Laboucan-Massimo says today’s decision is a wake-up call to both politicians and the oil industry.

“I think this is really exciting and it just shows the power of the people, how much the voice of the people has been heard today. I think it’s really exciting to see that Indigenous people, we are on the frontlines of environmental degradation and as well on the front lines of climate change but we’re also on the front lines of solutions. The Indigenous people throughout this campaign helped lead the way and it shows how our voices are being heard,” she said.