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href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Victory-for-Ecuadors-Indigenous-People-Canada-Court-Rejects-Toxic-Spilling-Chevrons-Case--20171031-0031.html">https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Victory-for-Ecuadors-Indigenous-People-Canada-Court-Rejects-Toxic-Spilling-Chevrons-Case--20171031-0031.html</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">Victory for Ecuador's Indigenous People,
Canada Court Rejects Toxic-Spilling Chevron's Case<br>
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<div id="reader-estimated-time"> 31 October 2017 </div>
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<p>Ecuador's Indigenous groups will no longer have to
cough up US$1 million on legal fees that Chevron, the
oil giant, had earlier claimed from the groups,
Ontario's top court has ruled.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>RELATED</strong>:<br>
<a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Indigenous-Groups-From-Canada-Join-Ecuadors-Fight-Against-Chevron-20170926-0005.html">Indigenous
Groups From Canada Join Ecuador's Fight Against
Chevron</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The court dismissed Chevron's claim to legal fees,
saying it was a recourse to block the case. </p>
<p>"An order for security for costs should only be made
where the justness of the case demands it," the Appeal
Court said. "Courts must be vigilant to ensure an order
that is designed to be protective in nature is not used
as a litigation tactic to prevent a case from being
heard on its merits." </p>
<p>"Chevron Corp and Chevron Canada have annual gross
revenues in the billions of dollars. It is difficult to
believe that either of these two corporations, which
form part of a global conglomerate with approximately
1,500 subsidiaries, require protection for costs awards
that amount or could amount to a minuscule fraction of
their revenues," the court added in a statement. </p>
<p>The decision marks an important victory for the
Indigenous people in the region, as they can now
continue with their 5-year fight where they are seeking
US$9.5 billion for decades-long damage caused to the
ancestral lands and trauma caused to the inhabitants. </p>
<p>"We are thrilled Canadian courts denied this naked
attempt by Chevron to block justice to the affected
peoples of Ecuador," Luis Yanza, a Goldman Prize winner
representing the Defense Front of the Amazon, an
Ecuador-based nonprofit that spearheaded the case said. </p>
<p>Ecuador's Indigenous groups first filed the case
against the oil conglomerate in 1993, Patricio Salazar,
the lead Ecuadorian lawyer for the plaintiffs, said.
"This decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal is
critically important," Salazar said. "Twenty-four years
obviously is too long for any litigation, but especially
one involving severe harm to indigenous groups as a
result of environmental pollution." </p>
<p>“This decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal is
critically important,” Salazar added. “Twenty-four years
obviously is too long for any litigation, but especially
one involving severe harm to indigenous groups as a
result of environmental pollution."</p>
<p>Chevron is known for causing an "Amazon Chernobyl" with
the oil behemoth dumping billions of gallons of toxic
waste into the rainforest and water bodies that severely
impacted the Indigenous people in the region, even
causing a cancer epidemic, where many communities saw
their families decimated. </p>
<p>"There can be no doubt that the environmental
devastation to the appellants’ lands has severely
hampered their ability to earn a livelihood. If we
accept the findings that underlie the Ecuadorian
judgment – findings that have not been undermined in our
courts – Texaco has contributed to the appellants’
misfortune," the court said in a statement. </p>
<p>Chevron lost the case against the Indigenous
communities in Ecuador in 2013, but rejected the court's
ruling, further selling off its assets in the Latin
American country. But the Indigenous communities
continued to fight for their rights and the damages
caused, taking their fight to the Canadian court. The
Canadian top court, too, ruled against Chevron once in
2015 but the oil giant made several claims rejecting the
ruling, saying the court had no jurisdiction. </p>
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