New York, May 21, 2025 — For the third year in a row, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) recognized the dangers posed by Line 5 and called on Canada and the U.S. to decommission the aged pipeline. In its report, the UNPFII included the following recommendation:
“The Permanent Forum reiterates its call for Canada and the United States to decommission the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipeline, which poses a real and credible threat to the Great Lakes and Indigenous Peoples. Both States must implement the Declaration in connection with Line 5 by respecting the free, prior and informed consent of the affected Indigenous Peoples.”
The UNPFII’s recommendation is increasingly urgent. Indigenous Peoples on both sides of the border have publicly expressed opposition to the pipeline and called for its decommissioning. Yet, the Canadian and U.S. governments continue to enable its operations. Canada has invoked a bilateral treaty, the 1977 Pipeline Treaty, to initiate closed-door negotiations with the U.S. about Line 5’s fate and to prevent a court-ordered shut down of the pipeline. Most recently, the U.S. expedited federal permitting processes for a proposed tunnel project to house Line 5 deep within the lakebed, under the Straits of Mackinac. Experts have warned that the tunnel project design, which has never been tried before anywhere else in the world, could lead to an explosion under the Straits.
Representatives of the Bay Mills Indian Community attended this year’s UNPFII, along with partners from EarthRights International and the International Human Rights Program of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, to highlight how Canadian and U.S. actions regarding the Line 5 pipeline stand in stark opposition to international human rights obligations to respect and protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples. The renewed recommendation from the UNPFII adds to mounting statements by international experts expressing grave concerns about Line 5.
In response, Whitney Gravelle, President of the Bay Mills Indian Community, said: “The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues has once again made clear what we, as Anishinaabe people, have been saying for years – Line 5 poses an unacceptable risk to our waters, our treaty rights, and our future. Canada and the United States cannot continue to ignore their international and legal obligations to Indigenous Peoples. Our voices, our consent, and our sovereignty matter. It’s time to decommission Line 5 before there is another Standing Rock in the Great Lakes.”
Sydney Speizman, Attorney, EarthRights International, said: “Prolonging the operations of a pipeline that is over 20 years past its expected lifespan is a disaster waiting to happen. Canada and the U.S. must heed the recommendations of the UNPFII and other U.N. experts who have called for Line 5 to be decommissioned to avoid a catastrophe in the Great Lakes.”
Nabila Khan, Research Associate, University of Toronto Faculty of Law International Human Rights Program, said: “Canada’s continued support for the Line 5 pipeline stands in contradiction to its international human rights commitments. Domestic implementation of UNDRIP must be matched by meaningful action – this means not ignoring the repeated calls of Indigenous peoples to decommission the pipeline. It is time for Canada to align its actions with its professed values and withdraw its support for Line 5.”
Media Contacts:
Bay Mills Indian Community: Shannon Jones, newspaper@baymills.org
EarthRights International: Daniela Colaiacovo, daniela.colaiacovo@earthrights.org
