IN JANUARY, Neil Young and Diana Krall held an "Honor the Treaties" tour across Canada to draw attention to the social and environmental impact of tar sands development and raise money for the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation's legal defence fund. Along with online donors, the effort raised more than a million dollars for the ACFN.

With the aid of this funding, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation filed four lawsuits challenging specific Shell projects, holding that these were developed without proper consultation. The Mikisew Cree and Frog Lake First Nation sued the government over massive changes to the country's environmental assessment and water protection laws. The Lubicon Cree, a non-treaty nation lacking a reserve and basic amenities like running water, allege that billions of dollars in minerals, oil, and gas have been removed from their territories without consent. They are suing the government to nullify thousands of current oil and gas extraction permits and pay $700 million in compensation, while also seeking an injunction against a fracking company called Penn West. In B.C., Tsleil-Waututh Nation launched a lawsuit against the government over the immense Kinder-Morgan export pipeline, while inOntario the Chippewa of the Thames First Nation is suing the government over inadequate consultation regarding Enbridge Line 9.

In early April, despite relentless lobbying by Big Oil, residents of the small town of Kitimat, BC voted against Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline proposal in aplebiscite. Despite Kitimat's reliance on industry as its economic engine, 58 per cent told Enbridge not to bother bringing its pipeline to town.

In May, tens of thousands of people in more than 100 communities across Canada came out for the second national Defend Our Climate, Defend Our Communities day of action. The reason? To deliver a strong, clear message to our elected officials that it's time to shift to a clean, local and just energy future that doesn't involve tar sands development or more dirty oil pipelines.

June saw the Supreme Court of Canada rule in a suit brought by the Tsilhqot'in First Nation that in unceded areas where aboriginal communities have not surrendered their lands through treaties, title is granted to First Nations on its traditional land; in other words, title applies to all the areas Aboriginal people roamed before white settlement, far beyond the reserve boundaries they were confined to.

"This [title] changes everything," hailed Pamela Palmater, a Mi'kmaq lawyer with the Centre for Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University. "It's not just about the duty to consult anymore, it's a requirement to get consent over all unceded territory in this country." In other words, a virtual veto over investment.

"It means that if you're a miner or a forester or a B.C. hydro transmission company or a pipeliner, that the legal landscape ... has shifted," explained Bill Gallagher, a former treaty rights negotiator.

This ruling in effect kills the Northern Gateway proposed by Enbridge that would pipe Alberta tar sands to the BC coast across no less than four territorial land claims. Emboldened by the Tsilhqot'ni decision, the Haisla Nation, Gitxaala Nation, Council of the Haida Nation, Gitga'at Nation, Heiltsuk Tribal Council, Kitasoo/Xaixais Nation, Nadleh Whut'en First Nation and Nak'azdli First Nation all announced constitutional legal challenges to Harper's recent approval of thepipeline. Twenty municipal governments and the Union of BC Municipalities also opposed the project.

September saw the People's Climate March, the biggest climate gathering in history. More than 400,000 people filled streets and parks and squares in NYC and cities all over the world, asking President Obama and other politicians to address the threat of climate change by leaving fossil fuels (including tar sands) in theground and developing a clean energy future. True to its goals, the People's Climate March put climate change back on the global agenda.

Late September, Statoil announced it was pulling the plug on a multi-billion dollar project to extract bitumen, the third cancellation of a tar sands project in 2014. These projects were all cancelled because of public pressure and the lack of pipeline capacity to carry tar sands crude.

Mid October: Thousands marched in Cacouna in opposition to a proposed export terminal for Transcanada's East Energy pipeline. Cacouna is a nursery for beluga whales, already endangered by industrial pollution in the St. Lawrence River. Transcanada's drilling for the terminal was stopped temporarily by a court order sought by environmental groups.

December 15: Québec's environmental communication agency, BASPE, issued a report on shale gas exploration that found exploration and production in the St. Lawrence Lowlands where Québec's fracking projects are concentrated "would not be advantageous for Québec because of the magnitude of the potential costs and externalities compared to royalties that would be collected by Québec."

Early November Québec solidaire tabled an anti-fracking petition with 34,000 names in the National Assembly, which brought to 60,000 the number of Québécois who have petitioned for a complete ban on fracking.

Late November: Prominent student activist Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois kicked off a fundraising campaign against Transcanada's East Energy pipeline by putting out a challenge to match his $25,000 literary prize money; more than $400,000 was raised. The Energy East pipeline, once considered a shoo-in, faced increasing opposition from community groups in Québec, Ontario and Atlantic Canada, and even from provincial governments.

Early December: As 2014 wound down, the people of Burnaby and Vancouver, BC, were just getting started. Thousands have joined the protests, climbing Burnaby Mountain and risking arrest to counter Kinder Morgan's pipeline plans. HI