Photo by Damien Gillis
This weekend I spoke at the ‘Keepers of the Water’ gathering in Fort Nelson. It was a wonderful event, bringing together Indigenous activists, elders, youth leaders, scientists, water managers and members of the local community.
I said that there is a wave of new extractive exploitation coming to First Nation territories here and around the world that will deeply impact local water sources and the health of local communities and that those of us opposed to this commodification and destruction of land and water must stand together and forge a new resistance. I said that the leadership for this resistance was already coming from Indigenous communities but that no one community can go it alone. I talked about the devastation inflicted by the Harper government on our environment and social infrastructure as well as his trade agreements and showed how they lock corporate rights into international law.
I am deeply saddened and angry about the devastation to water sources that has already happened in these communities.
