ALBERTA’S FIRST NATIONS LEADERS FIGHT TO HAVE PRO-ENERGY VOICES HEARD
Chief Isaac Laboucan-avirom wants to see more jobs and economic development come to the Woodland Cree First Nation in northern Alberta.
That’s why the First Nation northeast of Peace River is pressing for more energy projects to go ahead, as long as they’re developed in the right way.
It’s also why the Woodland
Cree First Nation has signed on to a legal battle against Ottawa’s controversial Bill C-69, receiving a $187,000 provincial grant to intervene in Alberta’s constitutional challenge of the new federal legislation.
It marks the first financial assistance from the provincial government’s new $10-million Indigenous Litigation Fund, designed to help Indigenous groups “voice their support for resource development.”
“Right now, our area, the
Peace River area, is basically at a standstill in jobs. Even as we speak here today, I am getting texts of, ‘Do you know of any work?’” Laboucan-avirom said Wednesday on the sidelines of the Indigenous Participation in Major Projects Conference in Calgary.
“There is no work in our area. Peace River, there was a major oil project a few years ago that got cancelled … due to a lack of access to pipelines and lack of access to tidewater. So now with no resource development in our areas, we’re back into poverty,” he told reporters.
“I am hoping we’re able to create our own destiny by creating our own resource companies.”
Laboucan-avirom’s comments are an example of more First Nations leaders speaking out in favour of oil and gas development in the country.
Much of the public attention in recent weeks has focused on opposition to energy projects, as anti-pipeline protests against the Coastal Gaslink project continue, while court challenges have been launched by some First Nations against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in the past.
On Sunday, Teck Resources withdrew its application for the $20.6-billion Frontier oilsands mine, less than a week before the Trudeau government was poised to make a decision on the proposed project.
What’s disconcerting is the Canadian mining giant pulled out of the process even with the signed support of all 14 Indigenous communities in the area between Fort Mcmurray and Fort Chipewyan.
The communities saw Frontier as a chance for jobs, revenue and a voice at the table in determining how such projects are developed.
“It’s disappointing. We worked hard and put a lot of effort into what we accomplished on this whole thing,” Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan
First Nation (ACFN) said Sunday in an interview, shortly after
Teck pulled the plug on its oilsands project.
“Teck was a wonderful company to deal with. They went overboard in regards to (environmental) mitigation with ACFN, above and beyond.”
Before a federal decision came down, Teck said it saw no path forward for the Frontier development.
The project became a political football in a much larger tussle over energy development and Canada’s climate action.
Bill C-69, also known as the Impact Assessment Act, is another such case. Passed by the Trudeau government last year before the federal election, the legislation has overhauled the way major resource projects are reviewed.
The Alberta government and industry contend the bill will effectively prevent any future pipelines from being constructed.
The Kenney government announced last year it would make a legal reference to the Alberta Court of Appeal, asserting the act violates the province’s exclusive constitutional jurisdiction to control natural resource development.
Some First Nations leaders have also criticized the bill.
Last spring, Chief Roy Fox of the Kainai/blood Tribe told a Senate hearing that Bill C-69 “jeopardizes and sabotages future resource development by opening projects to inevitable court challenges.”
Laboucan-avirom is also a member of the Eagle Spirit Energy Corridor Chiefs’ Council, which wants to develop a corridor to transport energy from northern Alberta to a port near Prince Rupert, B.C., including two large-diameter oil pipelines.
Yet, if Bill C-69 continues, “there would be no resource development,” he said.
“As a sovereign nation with our own inherent rights, we want our voice to be heard and to be recognized. We’re here to see how we can develop our lands in a responsible way,” he added.
The CEO of the Indian Resource Council of Canada, which put on the two-day conference, said many First Nations are ready to move forward on natural resource initiatives.
“When you see economic development in jeopardy because of some legislation, the communities have to speak up. With the resource development here in Western Canada, it’s imperative that we participate,” said Stephen Buffalo.
Speaking at the conference, Premier Jason Kenney said Bill C-69 “threatens to suffocate” every new resource project and energy infrastructure in all parts of Canada.
He also launched a barrage of criticism against environmental activists involved in recent anti-energy protests, calling them “urban green left militants who are trying to shut down Canada’s energy industry.”
He charged “they think they have a right to decide what’s best for Indigenous Peoples who live on the land where Canada’s resources are located. … They are trampling the rights and freedoms of a majority of Indigenous communities who are pushing for new projects to lift their people up.”
Such comments won’t dial down the tension. Projects such as Trans Mountain and Coastal Gaslink do face dedicated opposition within some First Nations. Those voices, and their concerns, can’t be ignored.
But they can’t be the only voice from Indigenous communities that gets attention across the country during this debate.
“We have our own voice, our own mind, our own mindset and our sovereignty,” Laboucan-avirom said. “I think we could work together to just provide a better future for generations to come.”