What keeps me going are the generations to come and my love for Mother Earth. When she is hurt I feel it, it makes me cry.

The more Mother Earth is off balance the crazier the world is. I believe a lot of what is happening now and why the world is so insane is because Mother Earth is off balance.”

The first and foremost hope I have is that with the young people coming up and getting educated we will really have Indian control. Control of our education, economic development and real control over a share of the resources within our Treaty areas.”

Individuals have to have that drive, that courage and that choice to go against the norm. Figure out what is really important in your life. What are you chasing and is it because you have been conditioned?

How do you really want to live? Can you do that in a way that your grandkids won’t be saying, “fuck you, you just lived in this crazy way that put my generation in danger.”

J’ai vécu « l’expérience » TransCanada il y a dix ans lorsqu’ils voulaient implanter un port méthanier, et cela a vraiment été désagréable car ils ont détruit le tissus social de nos petites municipalités. Cela a été très difficile à vivre au quotidien. La cohésion sociale est vitale pour développer nos régions, mais tout était basé sur des mensonges. Aujourd’hui, l’histoire se répète, mais nous sommes beaucoup plus nombreux à ne pas les croire…”

Perhaps we have to look at life inward for that answer. For a settlement of compromise, compassion, love, kindness. That’s how you create your walk on the earth. Go in the gentlest way possible.  Simple little words that our grandfathers, our grandmothers taught us when we were children. But we broke ‘em all.

To move ahead, perhaps we have to move within.”

In general men need to start honouring and understanding women. Be it your mother, your grandmother, your sister, whatever female you have in your life. If you understand and respect the female then you understand and respect Mother Earth and you’ll want to do right by that.”

I think mankind needs to come together and re-think their place in society and re-think their future. I hope we choose the right path.”

Imagine you can’t go swimming in that water. Imagine you can’t eat that fish…you can’t eat that moose no more. You will have no more green…how will that make you feel? We need to come together and unify, because if we don’t stand up together, this is going to continue.”

I believe in our future. I believe as an Anishinaabe Ikwe my responsibility is to ensure that there is a future for my children that are playing around here, for their children, for their great great great grandchildren.

How do we do that? How do we look at things today and say, is ‘it’ necessary?”

On a acheté la propriété ici en 2009. C’était comme la consécration d’un rêve. Quand on a eu vent du projet de l’oléoduc, ça a nous complètement jeté à terre. Ça venait vraiment à l’encontre de nos valeurs. Quand on a acheté on se disait qu’enfin on est chez nous, mais là on apprend que c’est que l’un des plus gros pollueurs du Canada qui peut venir s’installer chez nous et nous déposséder de nos biens. C’était terrible.

If faut protéger qu’est ce que on as, puis il faut se défendre.”

(Translation) We bought this property in 2009. It was the realization of a dream. When we found out about the pipeline project it was like the ground had dropped out from under us. The project is completely contrary to our values. When we bought this land it we said, at last we are on our own place. But, what we learned is that the largest polluter in Canada and take over your land. It is terrible.

We have to protect what we have, we have to defend ourselves.”

It is not our job to protect the earth. It is our responsibility.

To sustain what has been left we can’t continue to allow things to be over-developed. We all have a duty and a responsibility. It’s not just our people, it’s everybody. We all live here.”

I try to get the small things right as much as possible. Because I am a business owner, I have a little bit of an opportunity to do small things on a larger scale… The future lies in a mosaic of energy, rather than picking one thing and it being the saviour of our economy. Manitoba has always been good at having a mosaic of things. Hydro, wind, solar… Let’s put it together and come up with a plan for the future.”

I’m part of a growing resistance against Tar Sands expansion. I’m focused on stopping the Energy East pipeline. This pipeline has been in the ground for over 50 years, so it is not a question of ‘if’ this pipeline would burst anywhere, it is a question of ‘when’.”

Do not take lightly what you think is important. There are other people out there that do feel it is important. It is important for all of those voices to step forward so they can be counted. If they are together there is a chorus, there is unison, an echo. There is a greater force in numbers. Make sure you put yourself forward to be counted as well.”

I realized that the oil is going to go through Ontario. It is going through areas that I love to hunt and fish. What are we going to get for it? There are few jobs here because the pipeline is already built and they just have to modify it. Who’s going to get the money?

The oil will be shipped out of the country. It isn’t for Canada the oil, it is to ship to other parts of the world. The end result is we have the risk but we don’t get any of the money from the product.”

We have to transport oil; we’re going to be an oil based economy for decades to come.

The railway method is proving to be quite hazardous. I believe that if we have to use pipelines, they should be built new to begin with, not converted from old pipelines. They should be engineered to include every possible safety precaution that engineers can dream of. Sure, it will be expensive but we want to protect our environment.”

Do your research, do your homework, what are the benefits of this pipeline? Are there any benefits? Do you see any benefits and are they fair for the environment?

What other modalities can we use besides oil and gas? Let’s make more jobs, work together, and figure that one out.

The money in oil and gas is so good. It is like an alcoholic. They can convince themselves that they don’t have a problem because they are having such a good time. They are making so much money, how else are they going to keep that up?”

Stop using the word ‘Job’ and let’s just say ‘Money’.

I made the conscious decision to get out of the money grab and quit my oil industry job, to go find a job that was more sustainable. Yeah, there are some things you gotta to do in your life to do that. But what is more important? Your grandchildren being able to breathe and swim in the Lake of the Woods, or that you have a V8 truck with extra big rims on it? These are the decision we have to make. I made mine.”

I understand that there is growth and there is development and we need to probably keep going down that road… But, do we not need to find alternate ways of satisfying that need?

My immediate concern with having a pipeline coming through this area is that if there was a leak or a problem, it would affect the natural beauty of why we are here and how a lot of us make a living.”

I am here in Canada for 2 years but Hardisty only for 2 months. I just want to work, that is what I am here for. Canada is really a rich and wealthy county and it helps a lot of people like us. Hardisty is a pretty good town and there are a lot of good people here… If they don’t have an oil field here how can they open a restaurant?”

People adapt. We’re so used to adapting that if fossil fuel energy was taken away from us, I think we could adapt to live without it. They did before, why can’t we do it now?”

It is obvious to anyone who has eyes and can think: all that sustains life is under immense strain.

We must put leaders in power who recognize the long and difficult road to a healthy and sustainable planet. Leaders who have the strength to curb the short-term “me- now”, corporate mentality that controls our country and world.

If we fail to put ecological health first, life as we know it will suffer enormous negative consequences.”

I want the government to come to terms with our Peace and Friendship Treaties and acknowledge that the land is ours.

We don’t want everybody’s front yard or backyard, we’re not after that. We would like to have that acknowledgement and have the government sit down with our people and discuss – whether it be pipelines, fracking, or mining – discuss those projects with us first. We should have a say as to what is taking place within our ancestral territories.”

What bothers me most is the ethics of the whole thing. Irving always gets its way, nobody can challenge them. It’s like there is no other way. There is the one way, narrow path, only for Saint John. We gotta take the dirtiest, the most volatile, for the city.

It’s a mafia, an oil mafia.”

Depuis l’été 2013, les gens qui représentent oléoduc Energie Est de Transcanada sont passés. Au début, ils étaient extrêmement gentils mais après quelques appels ils sont devenus arrogants disant que le tuyau va passer. Ce n’est pas long qu’on vous dit, ‘et si vous ne voulez pas, on va vous exproprier!'”

People who live in our ancestral lands must realize that this is our homeland and it has never been surrendered. Our Peace and Friendship Treaties protect our rights and nobody has the power to exploit or destroy them.

We have nowhere else to go… our ancestors are deeply rooted in this land. We are the Wolastoqewiyik, the People of the Beautiful River.”

If there was ever an oil leak, my property would be worthless. I don’t think they know how to clean it up.

I just wish I had more faith in what TransCanada says.”

There are extremes on both ends of this issue. There is a middle road out there somewhere.”

Every day, our group puts on hazmat suits and gas masks and goes downtown with ‘Our Risk – Their Reward’ signs. We just sit on rocks downtown in a park and wave at the pedestrians and cars. We have leaflets and people can sign and join us. We really want to preserve the purity of this place, especially the water.

We need to be going right off fossil fuels. This won’t happen in my generation, but it might happen in yours. I agree with the experts and think that we are right on the cusp of closing the window if we don’t do something right now.”

I’m tired of landowners subsidizing these pipeline projects. I am pro industry and pro pipeline, but let’s address some of the key issues.

The National Energy Board is an enabler for the companies and the only leverage landowners have is to work with their neighbours.”

I remember when they put the first pipeline in. I know as kids we went there and when they had the pipe strung out we would play on it, run on top, run through them. We used to go as close as we could because there was a lot of equipment and things I had never seen in my life before. Everything was new at the time.

Thinking back now, I more than likely was as interested in that pipeline coming through as my grandson was with the new wind turbines we have.”

S’il y a une marée noire dans le Saint Laurent, il ne nous restera plus rien. Il ne restera plus d’emplois, plus rien du tout.”

Il faut que les gens se mobilisent, c’est le seul espoir que nous avons face à des gouvernements totalement favorables aux pipelines. Dans tout projet, on ne parle que des profits économiques sans tenir compte de son impact environnemental. Il faut que les gens exigent le changement de la part de leur gouvernement. Les jeunes familles et toutes les générations doivent manifester et exprimer leur inquiétude.”

Our council has taken the attitude that “If this pipeline is going to create work, then we want it.” The lumber industry that the economy of this town is built on is coming back up, but it will never be what it used to be. We want to try and diversify a little bit.

The oil is going to get to market one way or another, so why don’t we cash in on it?”

I quit school when I was 14 and started fishin’. I’ve pretty well been aboard a lobster boat ever since. There is good money it in and it is a good lifestyle. I knew I wasn’t smart enough to be in school ’cause I had problems in school, so I figured fishin’ would be my lifestyle. Right now lobster fishin’ is the only thing that keeps this island goin’. I’d never want to see something bad like an oil spill here ’cause it would affect everyone.”

Our concern is that the pipeline goes through our only source of drinking water.

We’re a city of 55,000 people. Should that source become contaminated or if there was a major spill into that source of drinking water, there is no Plan B.”

When TransCanada first came through here in the 50’s they never did any consultations because First Nations didn’t have the education to deal with it. Now they are coming back. We can deal with this now.”

It is just a lot of stuff to take in, being at this age and having to go through all this. But it is fun to stand up and be a voice, because nature doesn’t have a voice. We have to be that voice.

The great spirit gave this land to us. We have to take care of it, we have to treat it the way that it treats us.”

Imagine a mother. When she is carrying her baby, she carries that baby in water. If you remove that water from our wombs, that baby will not survive. Every mom in this world understands when we talk about our children.

Work together to fight this big black snake and protect the waters. It doesn’t matter what colour we are, we all have to drink water.”

Think about your unborn and think about the future when your grandchildren and great-grandchildren look back at you. What are they going to feel and what are they going to think about what you did?

At least I know that my future grandchildren can say that my kookum fought.”

We have the main CN, the main CPR line, the Trans-Canada Highway and TransCanada pipelines coming through Austin, Manitoba. I have seen train derailments, major accidents, pipelines blowing up. I know it is a matter of time until it happens again. The question I have to our emergency personnel is, are you ready for it? And are you ready for it when it happens in a sensitive area, like my water source?”

I believe we should all live within our own means and our own environment.”

I think as a country we all want the same thing. The media just polarizes us.

I’m a balance person. I know there are risks to the pipeline, I just don’t know if some of the activists are well grounded.

I think we have extremists on all sides of this pipeline debate.”

I worked hard all my life. I worked hard so that I could have a little bit of comfort in my retirement age.

All I worked for, it doesn’t matter what I worked for. I realize that my grandchildren are going to be dealing with the legacy that we leave behind.

I am not going to leave one that is going to be horrible for them.”

You don’t really believe in all that climate change stuff, do you? I think the pipeline is great. We need to get the oil out of Alberta.”

Just because a pipeline is going to be shipping crude across this country doesn’t mean that rail is going to stop. Now you have two forms of transportation, where you had one before. The Energy East pipeline and other transportation modes for fossil fuels are high on our radar. Our biggest issue is where they are going to cross waterways, especially when they impact the Great Lakes.”

TransCanada says Energy East will bring lots of money and money will pour into my community, along with the oil. Bullshit. I don’t believe that. And even if it were true, I wouldn’t want their dirty money because I couldn’t live with myself thinking that I had something to do with the eventual frying of this planet.”

I consider myself a Cree woman warrior. It came into my spirit that I am willing to go all the way: I’m willing to get arrested, I’m willing to lock myself down to some machinery, I’m even willing to put my life on the line if it comes down to that, because this pipeline is going through sacred territories of our ancestors. I’ve got to take a stand, because if I don’t, who else will? I’m hoping there’ll be more warriors out there that will ‘warrior up’.”

I think ultimately climate change is the reason we shouldn’t even put the pipeline in. We shouldn’t develop tar sands until it can be done without destroying the planet. That only makes sense to me. Right now, they’re telling us the oil industry is driving our economy. If that’s the driver, we need a new driver, because we’re not happy with the direction this one’s going.”

I don’t think that we need to rip through the oil sands as fast as we can, extracting everything that is possible, as fast as possible, so a few people can make a lot of money.

It doesn’t make sense to me.”

I am worried about those pipelines when they are done with them, when they start to deteriorate. I don’t think they are going to remove those and reclaim the land. I think they’ll just leave them there.”

We are the people of the Wolastoq, the beautiful bountiful river. A river that has supplied food and medicines not just to the two-legged but to the four-legged, birds, fish.. She, the river, is already struggling to provide these things for us and many won’t even eat from Wolastoq anymore.

We need to protect her at all costs. Not for today, but for the many tomorrows that we will never see.”

The pipelines were not really designed for this crude oil, they were designed for something else. So, them saying that it is OK doesn’t give me any assurance.”

I work in the oil industry and I see a lot of things, and then I question myself – is it the right job to be in? Does it work with my beliefs and what I’d like to see changed? I do believe there needs to be a sustainable energy change. but in regards to the pipeline, I agree with it to an extent. If we don’t look at shipping oil in a safe way, we’re going to have more and more catastrophic things going on above ground.”

I’m pro pipeline. It brings good tax revenue for the municipality and TransCanada has always supported our community through donations. I trust what they are doing.

I don’t believe we will see the end of oil & gas in my lifetime.”

I’m not sure where I stand on this issue. I think there are a lot of people that think it is an easy answer, ‘just stop using oil.’ Well that is fine, but it will be cold tomorrow morning and the lights wouldn’t be on. We’re just not there yet.

I would like to think that in this day and age, if we are going to spend one billion dollars on oil development, then we should be spending one billion dollars on renewable energy. If we don’t make a real effort getting there, we will be having this conversation 20 years from now. That’s not where we should be 20 years from now.”

The greater concern for myself is the environmental one. We are connected not only locally but globally and the expansion of the tar sands by this project would worsen climate change.

I’m very much opposed to that. I don’t see any benefit, not only to our local Canadian population, but as a citizen of the world, this expansion is what I would call a madness.”

TransCanada veut laisser le pipeline en place à perpétuité. Donc après ça, nous les propriétaires des deviendront responsables déversements qui s’en suivront. Un pipeline sur notre terre… Qu’est-ce qu’on va faire avec ça?

Qu’est-ce que nos enfants vont dire? Qu’est-ce que vous avez fait maman et papa pour laisser passer une affaire comme ça sur notre terre?”

We bought this house 8 years ago. Now I understand that there is going to be an Energy East pipeline into Saint John and ending in the back field, where there will be a tank farm.

I am thinking of staying – at least until I get so sick from the tanks that I can’t stay here. I don’t know what is going to happen in the future, nobody ever does, but this is definitely our retirement home.”

I guess I didn’t really notice the oil industry growing up. Now I notice it more. It is really prevalent here, it is big money & jobs. It is sort of a conflict of interest depending on where your focus is… the agriculture? Or getting as much oil out of the land as possible?

I don’t have any solutions, but I do see problems.”