One way is via their Crown-owned corporation, Export Development Canada (EDC), a credit agency that has promised to loan Coastal GasLink up to $500 million CDN for a project that cuts through Wet’suwet’en Territory without the consent of their hereditary chiefs.
Canada enacted the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in June 2021, yet the arrests made on November 18, 2021 contravene the very rights that ought to be protected. Despite this, and not seeming to care about Coastal GasLink’s repeated breaches of environmental conditions, the Canadian government gives its stamp of approval through millions in loans.
We’re about to forward a petition to Minister Mary Ng (who is in charge International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development), to whom EDC reports. She has the power to guide EDC’s priorities and to call for transparency, accountability, and a lending process that that takes each corporations’ human rights and ethical standards into account.
Climate Pledge Collective 