ACFN responds to Ontario Carbon Pricing Case

ATHABASCA CHIPEWYAN FIRST NATION CHIEF ALLAN ADAM RESPONDS TO ONTARIO COURT OF APPEAL RULING

FORT CHIPEWYAN - "Today is a great day for Canada and the people of the Athabasca. For the second time this year, the courts have reaffirmed the right and the necessity of the federal government to take urgent action on climate change. We are particularly grateful that the Ontario Court of Appeal acknowledged that climate change poses a unique impact to indigenous people in Canada, and specifically cited threats to ACFN. To quote the decision:

"...members of the intervener Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (“ACFN”) – whose traditional territory extends from northeastern Alberta, northward into the Northwest Territories, and eastward to Hudson Bay – depend for their survival on hunting caribou, gathering food and medicinal plants, and trapping and fishing. The ACFN has adduced evidence that these traditional, survival-based practices are threatened by climate change. A declining barrenland caribou population, the reduction of surface water in lakes and rivers, and an increased risk of wildfires, each of which is caused or exacerbated by climate change, threaten the ACFN’s ability to maintain its traditional way of life."

Thugs like Doug Ford have no regard for the future of this planet or our children. He has wasted 30 million dollars fighting pollution pricing, while at the same time cutting programs like student aid and assistance for kids with autism." For the people of Canada's north, the climate crisis is not an academic matter -- it is an existential threat. The rapidly changing environment is making it increasingly difficult for us to continue living in a region where we have resided for ten millennia. All levels of government can and must do more to stop this urgent environmental catastrophe."

For additional comment, please contact Chief Allan Adam at 780-713-1220 or ACFN's legal counsel Professor Amir Attaran at 613-276-7687