TC Energy shareholders vote against Wet’suwet’en and Otomi request for independent assessment of its projects

Published by Brent Patterson on June 19, 2024

Photo: On October 14, 2023, Wet’suwet’en and Otomi land defenders marched together in Toronto in opposition to the construction of TC Energy pipelines on their territories.

On June 10, Forbes Mexico reported: “Indigenous communities in Mexico and Canada demanded that the Canadian firm TC Energy carry out an external assessment of the impacts caused by the imposition of the Tuxpan-Tula and Puerta al Sureste gas pipelines in ancestral territories of Veracruz.”

This request was for “an independent assessment of the financial, time, reputational and goodwill damages that the company has suffered for not obtaining the prior, free and informed consent of the communities affected by its projects.”

Members of the Otomi, Nahua, Totonac, Nuntajɨɨyi’ and Tepehua peoples together with the Wet’suwet’en submitted this request to the TC Energy general meeting of shareholders that was held virtually on June 4.

The TC Energy Report of Voting Results notes: “By resolution passed via ballot, the shareholder proposal submitted by the Salal Foundation requesting TC Energy commission an independent assessment on its practices relating to obtaining Free, Prior and Informed Consent on its projects, as set forth in Schedule M of the Circular, was not approved. The results of the ballot were as follows:

The Victoria, BC-based Salal Foundation seeks “to nurture transparency, citizen engagement, democracy, and communities living within natural limits.”

Tuxpan-Tula

TC Energy is building the Tuxpan-Tula pipeline resisted that is being resisted by Otomi, Nahua and Tepehua communities grouped together as the Regional Council of Indigenous Peoples in Defense of the Territory of Puebla and Hidalgo.

In April 2023, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) confirmed the intention to complete the pipeline. As of June 2023, efforts to complete the construction of the pipeline appeared to be moving ahead despite continued opposition.

Puerta al Sureste

The Southeast Gateway (aka Puerta al Sureste) pipeline would begin on land in Tuxpan and continue across the ocean and flow to Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz and the refinery in Dos Bocas, Paraiso, Tabasco. This pipeline is opposed by the Union of Indigenous Communities from the North of the Isthmus (UCIZONI).

When TC Energy began the construction of this pipeline in May 2023, Carlos Beas Torres of UCIZONI commented: “We are witnessing this Canadian company threaten the Laguna del Ostion estuary, in the south of the state of Veracruz.”

Otomi and Wet’suwet’en

Last year, Otomi and Wet’suwet’en land defenders marched in Toronto against TC Energy pipelines on their territories (October 14), met with Export Development Canada (EDC) and the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) and spoke at a public forum in Ottawa (October 16), and met with Global Affairs Canada and Member of Parliament Mike Morrice (October 17).

We continue to follow this.

Further reading: Wet’suwet’en and Otomi land defenders unite against the TC Energy Coastal GasLink and Tuxpan-Tula pipelines (October 18, 2023) and What we know about TC Energy pipelines in Mexico (December 12, 2023).