Neil Young speaks during a news conference for the "Honor the Treaties" tour in Toronto on Sunday. Mark Blinch/AP

Musician Neil Young kicked off his Honor the Treaties tour Sunday in Canada to raise money for a First Nations' legal battle against a tar sands project activists say would violate treaty and constitutional rights of indigenous communities. "We are killing these people," Young told a crowd gathered at Toronto's Massey Hall. "The blood of these people are on modern Canada's hands." The tour began in Toronto, where Young spoke at a news conference along with Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) Chief Allen Adam and environmentalist David Suzuki before performing in front of a sold-out crowd. The week-long tour will visit Winnipeg, Regina and Calgary. Proceeds from the shows will be donated to the legal-defense fund of the northern Alberta-based Athabasca tribal government challenging new tar sands projects. During a news conference, Young, who visited a tar sands site near Fort McMurray, Alberta, called the industry “the greediest, most destructive and most disrespectful demonstration of something just run amok.” The rock legend said what he saw was a “devastating environmental catastrophe” that could only be compared to Hiroshima. “We went to the homes of First Nations people and I met them," Young told concert attendees at Massey Hall. "While I was there, I drove around the tar sands in my electric car and experienced this unbelievable smell and toxicity. My throat and eyes were burning, and this was about 25 miles away from the actual site at Fort (McMurray).” Calls by Al Jazeera to Alberta's government representatives were not returned in time for publication. According to the Oil Sands Division of the Alberta Department of Energy website, the tar sands industry provides significant economic benefits to Albertans. The energy sector accounted for over 22 percent of Alberta's GDP in 2012, according to the Alberta Department of Energy. Alberta, furthermore, can expect $350 billion in royalties and $122 billion in total tax revenue from work at the tar sands over the next 25 years, according to the Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI).

Development of tar sands involves the extraction of heavy crude oil called bitumen from underneath the wilderness. Critics have warned of potentially catastrophic environmental consequences. Fort McMurray lies on the outskirts of Jackpine Mine, which was approved for expansion by the government in July, 2013. That order convinced the Athabasca they had no choice but to fight the move in court for violating treaty agreements, which prohibit any activity that interferes with Athabasca's ability to survive by hunting, fishing and trapping on their territory. Jason MacDonald, a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, told CBC Canada Monday that the natural resource sector is a fundamental part of the country’s economy. “Even the lifestyle of a rock star relies, to some degree, on the resources developed by thousands of hard-working Canadians,” MacDonald said in a statement. He added the government would “continue to ensure that Canada’s environmental laws and regulations are rigorous.” Suzuki, who introduced Young in Toronto, said that the First Nation is simply asking the government to respect an agreement that it signed. “These are some of the poorest people in Canada, and they’re telling us there’s more important things than money — like the air, the water and all the other living organisms on the planet,” Suzuki said.

'David and Goliath'