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EDMONTON — Alberta’s energy minister says the United Nations is an unelected, unaccountable body that has no business criticizing Canada’s energy megaprojects.

Sonya Savage, in a statement, says that it’s the job of elected leaders, not the UN, to make decisions on how best to govern people and economies.

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The UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has urged Canada to stop work on three major resource projects — including the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion — until it obtains approval from affected First Nations.

The committee, in a directive last month, says it’s worried that work is going ahead without free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous groups.

Savage says the committee is ignoring the majority of First Nations groups that support projects such as Trans Mountain and the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline.

She says the criticism is unfair and out of context, given Canada’s track record on making sure all voices are heard.