The toxic tailings situation in Canada’s oil sands is out of control. The oil industry’s wastewater has been unregulated for decades, which has allowed oil companies to create huge lakes of toxic waste. These tailings ponds continually threaten the health and way of life of downstream Indigenous communities. 

As these ponds have grown larger year after year, oil companies have evaded taking responsibility for leaks, such as Imperial Oil’s 2022 Kearl spill, and have failed to develop legitimate strategies to clean up their toxic mess. 

Despite this, Alberta and the federal government are weakening environmental laws and assessments for this industry, giving it more taxpayer money and fast-tracking new pipelines, doubling oil production.

Downstream nations are asking for accountability instead. They clearly oppose further harms to the water, land and their communities and want to see a credible plan to clean up and restore the land.

The Athabasca River shouldn’t be a toxic dump. Sign on to ask the federal government to prevent further tailings pollution and harms by using all the regulatory tools it has, including the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. Strong regulations will honour the nations' requests and meet treaty obligations, protect downstream communities from pollution and force industry to clean up and pay for its own mess.

Your letter will be sent to Prime Minister Right Hon. Mark Carney, Hon. Julie Dabrusin, Minister of the Environment, Climate Change and Nature, and Hon. Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health, CC your MP.