Media Advisory - First Nations Representatives from Tar Sands impacted
regions, meet with Members of European Parliament in Ottawa
OTTAWA, Nov. 4 /CNW/ - On Friday, November 5th the Indigenous Environmental Network will be hosting a meeting with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and First Nations representatives from various Tar Sands impacted communities followed by a press conference at the Charles Lynch press room at the federal Parliament Building at 10 am.
European MEP's have come to Canada to collect information on the Tar Sands for the European Union Fuel Quality Directive that proposes to list Tar Sands as a dirty fuel. Canada, Alberta and the Tar Sands industry are locking horns over this initiative with the EU, fearing this new directive will restrict European energy imports from Alberta's Tar Sands. The EU has been a world leader in setting the bar for emissions initiatives that have been copied by neighbouring countries.
The MEP's will be wrapping up this whirlwind tour by meetings with First Nations and later federal government representatives on Friday, November 5th. First Nations representatives will meet with the EU representatives to discuss Indigenous rights violations in their communities as a result of the world's largest and most destructive development known as Canada's Tar Sands and the impacts of the current proposed EU Fuel Quality Directive.
They will be joined by trade lawyer Steven Shrybman, author of a new legal opinion for the Council of Canadians and Indigenous Environmental Network on how a proposed Canada-EU free trade agreement would impact the development and regulation of Tar Sands production.
Although Canada has not endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Europe has and is among the 146 states in support Indigenous peoples' rights.
What: Breakfast meeting with First Nations and EU MEPs followed by Press Conference.
Who: First Nation's representatives from Assembly of First Nations, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Beaver Lake Cree Nation, the Sai'kuz First Nation, as well as Steven Shrybman, Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP.
Where: Charles Lynch Room, 130-S Centre Block, Parliament Hill, Ottawa
When: Friday, November 5th, 10 am - 10:30 am
For further information:
Clayton Thomas Muller, Indigenous Environmental Network, 218 760 6632
Dylan Penner, Council of Canadians, 613-795-8685
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