The split in support for oil pipelines among indigenous Canadians is putting livelihoods at risk as Canada’s oil industry waits for new conduits to win approval, the country’s top aboriginal leader said.
Canada has C$650 billion ($496 billion) worth of natural resource projects that may be developed in the coming years, and indigenous Canadians stand to gain, Perry Bellegarde, national chief of Canada’s Assembly of First Nations, said during a speech in Calgary on Monday. Already “13 or 14 first nations” are involved in oil production, and pipelines, if built and operated safely, would help communities prosper.
