AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak speaks on Tuesday at the Special Chiefs Assembly in Ottawa.

First Nations chiefs from across Canada passed an emergency resolution Tuesday morning rejecting any proposed exemptions to the federal ban on oil tankers off the northern coast of British Columbia, after Ottawa and Alberta reached an agreement that could see the prohibition modified if a pipeline is approved.

The memorandum of understanding signed last week pledges political support for a bitumen pipeline from Alberta’s oilsands to British Columbia tidewater, provided it meets certain conditions, including a private sector proponent and Indigenous support. If that happens, Ottawa would adjust the oil-tanker ban, which Coastal First Nations in B.C. are opposed to.

The Assembly of First

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