September 20, 2024

The Bay Mills Indian Community, with support from EarthRights International, is raising concerns to Export Development Canada – Canada’s official export credit agency – about the human rights consequences of its financial relationship with Canadian oil and gas company Enbridge. Since 2001, EDC has provided financing to Enbridge over 40 times, including a $200-300 million loan renewal this July.

One of Enbridge’s major projects, the Line 5 dual pipelines, poses severe human rights and environmental threats. Line 5 carries up to 87 million liters of crude oil and natural gas liquids daily from western to eastern Canada through Michigan and Wisconsin, crossing hundreds of interconnected waters and traversing traditional territories of numerous Indigenous Nations, including BMIC. Line 5 has already spilled over 4.5 million liters of oil and is at real risk of a catastrophic spill. Such a spill poses grave threats to the Great Lakes, which provide drinking water to more than 48 million people in Canada and the United States and sustain numerous communities, including Indigenous Peoples. Despite credible evidence of the risks and broad opposition to the pipeline, Enbridge continues to operate Line 5 – including in some places where it lacks legal permission and is fighting in court to continue operating on Tribal and Michigan lands.

In a recent letter to EDC leadership, BMIC provided information about Line 5’s human rights consequences and requested that EDC take corrective action with Enbridge to ensure its activities are aligned with EDC’s human rights responsibilities.

“Bay Mills Indian Community has long stood against Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline due to its significant threats to our lands, waters, and people. Despite the clear evidence of the environmental and human rights risks posed by this aging pipeline, Enbridge continues to operate, putting our communities and the Great Lakes at peril,” said Whitney B. Gravelle, president of BMIC. “Export Development Canada’s continued financial support for Enbridge raises serious concerns about their commitment to upholding human rights and environmental protection. We call on EDC to take immediate action to ensure their investments reflect their stated responsibilities and values.”

“As Canada’s official export credit agency, EDC must respect human rights across its operations. This includes ensuring that its financing and customer relationships do not contribute to human rights violations,” said Sydney Speizman, legal fellow at EarthRights International. “Given the ongoing violations of the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the grave threats to the Great Lakes region from Line 5’s continued operation, EDC’s support to Enbridge cannot be squared with its human rights responsibilities and commitments.”

BMIC’s letter also echoes concerns raised by environmental organizations in a recent submission to EDC. The environmental organizations assert that EDC’s support of Enbridge, which has significant plans to expand fossil fuel infrastructure, does not align with EDC’s climate commitments, nor with international obligations to phase out fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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Media Contacts:

Bay Mills Indian Community: Shannon Jones, newspaper@baymills.org

EarthRights International: Daniela Colaiacovo, daniela.colaiacovo@earthrights.org