Canadian Indigenous people protest outside Sen. Kerry's DC office

[TayTay]

Protest doesn't automatically equal dissent. Sometimes there are protesters to spur someone on to actions they are inclined to do.

‘Tar sands are killing us’

Cree, Metis, Dene tell Sen. John Kerry
By Kate Harries, Today correspondent
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/global/40856617.html">Story Published: Mar 11, 2009

TORONTO – Dene, Cree and Metis activists from First Nations affected by Alberta tar sands development made themselves heard in Washington as Canadian Environment Minister Jim Prentice was making the rounds of Capitol Hill.

They hand-delivered a letter to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., head of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee, and later about 50 young people from Canada demonstrated outside Kerry’s office when Prentice went in.

Clayton Thomas-Muller, Canadian tar sands campaigner for the Indigenous Environmental Network, said the goal was to pre-empt Kerry’s meeting with Prentice and ensure the senator got a complete picture of the disastrous effect of the tar sands on environmental and human rights.

“Pollution from these projects are adversely affecting peoples’ health, way of life and violate established treaty rights,” says the letter signed by Melina Laboucan-Massimo, of the Lubicon Cree Indian Nation, Gitz Crazyboy of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and Myron Lameman of the Beaver Lake Cree Nation.

More at the link

[Luftmensch067]

1. Thanks for posting, I never would have known about this!

Very interesting and I'm sure the Senator got the message. Anyone with a problem like this is so fortunate that he's the SFRC Chair because he really will take it seriously.