Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow has just addressed a crowd of more than 200 people in front of the Canadian embassy in Copenhagen.

Indigenous leaders of communities impacted by the tar sands and allies stated that Canada has not kept its Kyoto commitments and has not ratified the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples because of the half-trillion dollar investments the massive tar sands development represents.

In a gesture of hospitality and an act of solidarity with communities directly impacted by the tar sands, Indigenous representatives and their allies delivered a gift basket full of Treaties for Prime Minister Harper to honor and/or sign in Copenhagen.

These included important documents such as the Kyoto Protocol, First Nations Treaties and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

This basket was received by a representative of the embassy this morning.

Today’s action was part of a global day of action organized by a coalition of groups including the Indigenous Environmental Network, the Rainforest Action Network, the Council of Canadians, the Indigenous Peoples Power Project, and the UK Tar Sands.

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Brent Patterson

Brent Patterson is a political activist, writer and the executive director of Peace Brigades International-Canada. He lives in Ottawa on the traditional, unceded and unsurrendered territories of the Algonquin...