Trans Mountain pipeline gets approval to open

First Nation in Alberta hopes expansion will offer path for economic development

Some Indigenous communities in northern Alberta hope the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will mark the start of a new chapter in their relationship with Canada’s oilsands industry.

The long-awaited Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is complete and the Canada Energy Regulator has given the go-ahead for the project to open.

The regulator said Tuesday it has approved the last remaining “leave to open” applications submitted by Trans Mountain Corp., the Crown corporation behind the project. Approval of these applications was required before the expanded pipeline could begin shipping oil.

Also on Tuesday, Trans Mountain confirmed that Wednesday will mark the commercial start date for the expansion.

However, due to logistics and marine timing, the first transport ship is not expected to load with oil from the new line for export until the middle of May, a Trans Mountain Corp. spokesperson said.

The pipeline’s opening is a big deal for the Fort McKay First Nation, located about an hour’s drive north of Fort McMurray and home to around 800 people of Dene, Cree and Métis descent.

“It matters to the Fort McKay First Nation. When there’s an opportunity like the Trans Mountain pipeline, the question is, how can we actually leverage it to transfer that opportunity to Fort McKay?” said Chief Raymond Powder.

“Because I’ve shared that with my industry partners across the table from time to time — I’ve said, ‘You know, if you guys want to grow and want to expand and all that, that’s not an issue for us.’ ”

But Fort McKay also needs opportunities for growth as the industry expands, he said.

Located smack-dab in the middle of the Athabasca oilsands, Fort McKay is the bull’s-eye on the dart board of the world’s third-largest crude oil reserve.

The First Nations community is surrounded by industrial development, and the acrid scent of nearby oilsands facilities can be detected in the breeze.

Band members like to point out the black, tarry-smelling soil that lines residents’ roads and driveways here — evidence of the rich bitumen deposits that lie so close to the surface.

In Fort McKay, the complicated relationship the oilsands industry has with Indigenous people is evident.

The First Nation is one of the wealthiest in the country, thanks to revenue generated from impact benefit agreements with oilsands developers as well as from the many Nation-owned businesses that serve the oil and gas sector.

But Powder is quick to point out his community’s relationship with industry has not always been so rosy.

“When you go back to the history of who Fort McKay is, we actually did not initially begin with a good relationship with industry because of the fact that who we are as First Nations and our identity was tied to the land,” he said.

Fort McKay also has significant current concerns about the safety and environmental impact of the massive oilsands wastewater tailings ponds in the area.

Last month, the Fort McKay First Nation struck a memorandum of understanding with Suncor Energy Inc. on an oilsands lease development opportunity on its reserve lands.

While Suncor is still assessing the quantity and quality of minable bitumen in the area, if the project goes ahead, it would be the first oilsands production on reserve lands in Canada.