TORONTO – About 100 demonstrators blocked traffic as they marched through downtown Toronto on Tuesday afternoon to protest construction of an oil pipeline in North Dakota.
The protest disrupted traffic at major intersections over about three hours as the protest moved through Toronto’s entertainment and financial districts, saying they were marching to show solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux.
The head of a Texas company building the $3.8-billion Dakota Access pipeline said Tuesday that it is committed to the project despite strong opposition and a federal order to voluntarily halt construction near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota.
The announcement came the same day as a planned “day of action” in cities around the U.S. and in other countries, including the Toronto demonstration.
Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren told employees the pipeline is nearly 60 per cent complete and that “concerns about the pipeline’s impact on the local water supply are unfounded.”
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and others argue the project will impact drinking water for thousands of tribal members and millions downstream.
– With files from The Associated Press