PRESS RELEASE - Greenpeace Action at TD BANK
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- Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
- Written by editor
Greenpeace calls out TD on financing Tarsands by demonstrating how it ‘feels’ when they don’t respect Indigenous property and rights
VICTORIA - Today, Greenpeace Victoria Volunteer Group undertook to educate the TD Bank in Victoria (1080 Douglas St.) on how it ‘feels’ for indigenous communities when the bank invests in the tarsands and pipeline development on indigenous lands without consent --- by brazenly postering overtop of the windows of their main branch.
“We are at a turning point in the history of this country,” Greenpeace volunteer Sue Andrews said. “First Peoples’ struggle for justice, equity and protection of their lands, title and rights in Canada is threatened by the callous and disrespectful attitude of banks which invest in tarsands and pipeline expansion without consent. Indigenous people and settler allies have marched, crowded the offices and jammed the phone lines of their representatives, and organized in their communities. But there is a feeling in the air that something more is needed. Now is the time for non-violent direct action."
TD is one of the key financiers for the proposed expansion of one of the dirtiest sources of energy on the planet — Canada’s tar sands. For more information on the environmental and social impacts of tar sands oil, read here.
Based on information gathered from SEC filings and the Bloomberg Business Terminal, TD participated in 13 of the 18 credit facilities active this year that banks have provided to the three pipeline companies (Kinder Morgan, TransCanada, Enbridge) proposing to build four pipelines (Trans Mountain expansion, Keystone XL, Energy East, Line 3) to transport tar sands to refineries and markets. TD was the lead agent in four of those deals – more than any other bank – and it participated in every one of the credit facilities for both Kinder Morgan and TransCanada. TD played a lead role in arranging Kinder Morgan’s $5.5B project loan to build its Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, and according to research published by the National Observer, overall TD has helped Kinder Morgan obtain $731M for its pipeline, more than any other bank.
TD played a key role in the Initial Public Offering (IPO) for Kinder Morgan Canada, where the US parent company sold shares in a new Canadian subsidiary to help finance the proposed Trans Mountain pipeline. TD also facilitated a recent a share offering by TransCanada and helped lead a $1B bond sale by Enbridge earlier this year.
“TD must immediately end its complicity in the ongoing colonization of ingenous peoples”, said Greenpeace volunteer Keith Cherry. “This is not how people want their money managed. Funding projects on indigenous land without indigenous consent is wrong, and it incurs significant shareholder risk.”
Click here to obtain an enlarged version of the poster used to ‘sensitize’ and help decolonize TD management, shareholders, and account holders.
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Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organization that uses non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems, and to force solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.