Despite recent Hollywood opposition, the Royal Bank of Canada has struck down two proposals to stop funding fossil fuel projects.
Those proposals called for RBC to eliminate the eligibility of fossil fuel projects, and those which oppose Indigenous groups, to acquire sustainable funding.
Another proposal called for them to stop funding and advising on the privatization of high-pollution assets.
Each of the denied proposals came during the Bank’s annual shareholder meeting, held virtually yesterday.
Originally, the meeting was intended to be held in person in Toronto, prompting a group of Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs to make the trip from Northwest BC.
But, the meeting was shifted to an online format late, after a staff member tested positive for Covid-19.
Nonetheless, the Chiefs called in to the meeting to voice their displeasure with the company for funding the Coastal GasLink pipeline project.
They ridiculed the bank for funding a project which they say has caused damage to rivers and forests, and impeded on their rights to hunt.
In response, RBC CEO David McKay defended his bank’s funding of the project, reiterating that they have approval from all 20 elected councils along the pipeline’s route.
Since the beginning of the project, the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs have asserted that authority over the non-reserve land lies with the Hereditary leadership, and not the elected councils.
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