The Northern Gateway project was a proposal by Enbridge Inc. to build a twin pipeline between Bruderheim, Alberta, and Kitimat, British Columbia.
The Yinka Dene Alliance, and many other First Nations groups, opposed the project because of the threat it posed to the environment, their ways of life, and their land rights.
[3] A pipe leak or oil tanker spill – which the Yinka Dene Alliance deemed "inevitable" – could devastate the water supply, imperiling the ecosystem and local communities' health.
The Yinka Dene Alliance, whose traditional territories made up 25% of the land directly affected by the Northern Gateway project, argued that Enbridge had no legal right to proceed without First Nations' approval.
[6] The Yinka Dene Alliance did not participate in the Joint Review Panel public hearings, calling them "bogus" on the grounds that the Canadian government had already made up its mind to support the project.
[4] The Save the Fraser Declaration is a document of indigenous law, banning the Northern Gateway pipeline, and any similar projects, from crossing the signatories' territories.
The signatories declare: "We will not allow the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines, or similar Tar Sands projects, to cross our lands, territories and watersheds, or the ocean migration routes of Fraser River Salmon.
The group took out a full-page advertisement in The Globe and Mail announcing their opposition to the project, and staged a march in Vancouver to deliver the Declaration to the Enbridge headquarters.
[18] In May 2012 it emerged that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had been closely monitoring the Yinka Dene Alliance for signs of "acts of protest and civil disobedience".