SPRINGBANK DAM A NON-STARTER
McLean Creek a wiser choice, writes Chief Lee Crowchild.
While our goal is to make child care more affordable, we are also focused on addressing gaps that already exist ... This means that early learning and child care centres will be a welcoming and supportive place for children. Danielle Larivee
DaDa Nas T’ada ( good day).
On behalf of the elders, council and people of the Tsuut’ina Nation, I offer greetings and sincere best wishes to Calgarians and southern Albertans.
The Tsuut’ina Nation has been pro-development for many years now. From our long-awaited agreement with Alberta on a ring road extension, to our very successful casino, hotel and entertainment centre, and plans for a massive three-part commercial development along our boundary with Calgary, we have worked hard to encourage economic development and partnerships that bring Tsuut’ina people and Calgarians together every day in business, education and entertainment.
Our opposition to the proposed Springbank dam, however, is driven by real concerns that have not been addressed. Tsuut’ina was heavily impacted by the floods of 2005 and 2013. The Elbow River runs through Tsuut’ina, is an important source of water for our treaty lands and is spiritually important to us. But it can be destructive.
We agree with Calgary and the government of Alberta that flood mitigation is needed. But any infrastructure that fundamentally affects our lands and the water running through our nation, must be approached with wisdom, even caution. It is that cautious and thoughtful approach that has led us to conclude that the competing project — a dam higher in the watershed at McLean Creek — is the vastly better solution not just for Tsuut’ina, but all flood-affected communities.
When a major project is being developed near a First Nation, the law requires meaningful consulta- tion. Tsuut’ina set out our concerns about potential impacts of the Springbank dam on our treaty lands and water resources in a detailed letter in May 2016. Alberta has never responded to those concerns.
The government argues that because it has had a few low-level meetings with staff at Tsuut’ina about archeological sites and hunting on private lands, that they have met the consultation requirement. They have not.
In fact, the province made the decision to proceed with Springbank without a single meeting with Tsuut’ina.
The environmental assessment for the Springbank dam does not take into account the potential impacts on Tsuut’ina lands and waters. We are an oversight, a technicality, an inconvenience. That is especially ironic for a government that campaigned on a commitment to implement the United Nations Declaration of the Right of Indigenous Peoples, which says that states must seek from indigenous people their “free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories.”
That has not happened. That consent has not been sought. And because of the risk Springbank presents, and the benefits of McLean Creek, we do not give that consent. That is a not a negotiating position, this is our principled stance on Springbank.
It is my goal to build bridges between Calgarians and Tsuut’ina. And shortly, I will announce several concrete steps to do that. We need to tear down the figurative fence between our people and work together. Let’s start now, by working together to ensure the provincial government gets moving right away on effective flood mitigation, at McLean Creek.
McLean Creek offers more and better flood protection. It would also offer water storage for droughts. Springbank would not. McLean Creek will protect Calgary, Redwood Meadows, Bragg Creek and Tsuut’ina. Springbank will not.
Springbank would create a massive earthen dam looming over Tsuut’ina — a failure would be catastrophic. I cannot take that risk to our people’s land. And yes, as people who have had their traditional lands taken away, Tsuut’ina does sympathize with our ranching neighbours who face the loss of their lands, and heritage. Whereas, McLean Creek is Crown land, so no one need be displaced.
From Tsuut’ina’s perspective, McLean Creek is a vastly better option. Springbank is just too risky.