(The following article is from the April 1-15, 2010 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)

Source: Rainforest Action Network

On March 3, more than 170 people rallied outside the Royal Bank of Canada's annual meeting in Toronto to demand that RBC phase out its financing of tar sands projects and recognize the right to free, prior and informed consent for Indigenous communities. Solidarity actions were held in other cities, including London, Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Victoria.

     Since 2007 RBC has backed more than $16.7 billion (USD) in loans to companies operating in the Alberta tar sands - more than any other bank. Tar sands projects will eventually transform a boreal forest the size of England into an industrial sacrifice zone complete with lakes full of toxic waste, spewing out emissions.

     Four aboriginal groups want Royal Bank to use its influence to stop Enbridge Inc. from building a 1170-kilometer pipeline to carry oil from the tar sands through northern British Columbia to Kitimat, where it would be loaded on tankers for shipment to the U.S. west coast or Asia.

     The Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline is the largest crude-oil pipeline expansion in North America, crossing mountainous terrain, hundreds of rivers and streams, and roughly 35 kilometers of key salmon spawning waters. Enbridge is in the final steps of preparing its environmental application, which will be submitted to the federal National Energy Board.

     First Nations community representatives were joined members of Rainforest Action Network, Indigenous Environmental Network, No One Is Illegal, and Council of Canadians, making their outrage at RBC's investments heard. To the thumping beats of a samba band, the crowd shouted "Cultural Genocide: who do we thank? Dirty investments from Royal Bank!"

     Inside the shareholder meeting, Chief Al Lameman of Beaver Lake First Nation (Alberta), Vice Chief Terry Teegee of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council of BC, Hereditary Chief Warner Naziel of the Wet'suwe'ten First Nation of BC, and Gitz Crazyboy of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation addressed RBC CEO Gordon Nixon directly about the way tar sands extraction projects have jeopardized their health and their rights.

     Downstream communities have experienced polluted water, water reductions in rivers and aquifers, declines in wildlife populations such as moose and muskrat, and significant declines in fish populations. Tar sands development has all but destroyed the traditional livelihood of First Nations in the northern Athabasca watershed.

     Clearly feeling the public pressure, RBC spent half of the shareholder meeting addressing the issue. Recently, the bank convened a meeting with more than a dozen international banks for a "day of learning" about the reputational risks associated with the tar sands. In addition, according to information the bank provided to Rainforest Action Network during a February meeting in San Francisco, RBC is evaluating new lending criteria that would apply to the oil and gas sector, in particular to the tar sands. However, the bank has been reticent to include "Free, Prior and Informed Consent" in its policy, which would ensure that First Nations communities are respected in lending practices.