Leonardo DiCaprio among stars to sign letter condemning Canada gas pipeline

Over 65 Hollywood stars have added their names to an open letter urging the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) to stop financing a gas pipeline that runs through the territory of local Indigenous peoples.

Famous faces including Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Taika Waititi and Scarlett Johansson were among those condemning the multi-billion-dollar Coastal GasLink in north-western British Columbia.

The petition, organised by Indigenous Climate Action, says the work is being done without the consent of the hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en peoples.

The open letter is addressed to City National Bank (CNB), which is owned by RBC, and has been dubbed the Bank To The Stars due to its ties with numerous celebrities.

Also included in the list of signatories are Brian Cox, Jane Fonda, Robert Downey Jr, Edward Norton, Ben Stiller, Amy Schumer, Michelle Pfeiffer and Joaquin Phoenix.

“It has come to the undersigned’s attention that our industry’s premier ‘bank to the stars’, City National Bank (CNB), has a problem,” the letter reads.

“Its parent company, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), is financing the climate crisis and disregarding the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

“Despite claiming to ‘respect the inherent right of Indigenous peoples to self-determination’, RBC is now the lead financier of Coastal GasLink, a fracked gas pipeline being built through the pristine territory and waters of the Wet’suwet’en Peoples without the consent of the Hereditary Chiefs.

“For over a decade, the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs, members of the nation and their supporters, have protested this pipeline—at significant risk to their own lives.”

CNB declined to comment on the letter and RBC was also contacted.