N.W.T. targets oilsands

Carol Christian, April 6, 2009, Fort McMurray Today -- Oilsands development is coming under fire from two new sources: a municipal councillor in Yellowknife and the Nadleh Whut’en First Nation in British Columbia.

A motion from the Yellowknife council asking the Alberta government to stop all new oilsands development is expected to be tabled at the Northwest Territories Association of Communities in May. The motion, brought forward by Coun. Shelagh Montgomery, wants new development stopped until a number of measures have been met, including the creation of public contingency plans for catastrophic breaches of oilsands tailing ponds, and a 10-year plan to reclaim all existing tailings ponds that does not involve any releases of toxic effluents into the river system.

Meanwhile, the Nadleh Whut’en First Nation has taken a stand against Enbridge Inc.'s proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline.

The band invited members from neighbouring Carrier and Sekani First Nations to learn more about the impacts of the pipeline Thursday. Elders, hereditary leaders, youth and other members voiced concerns about the environmental impacts and the failure of the environmental assessment process to address aboriginal rights and title. The message that come out of the meeting was that the band’s lands are not for sale, according to a statement from the community.

“We have provided independent, non-biased information to our members and neighbours, and we have heard loud and clear that we cannot risk the health of our land and future generations for short-term financial gain,” said Chief Larry Nooski of the Nadleh Whut’en First Nation in the statement.

“We stand behind the First Nations who are speaking out against the health and environmental impacts of the oilsands, we lend our hand in friendship and unity to the Fort Chipewyan and other First Nations affected by the oilsands,” said Nadleh Hereditary Chief George George Jr. He added the band plans to send a delegation to tour the oilsands and meet with the affected First Nations.

The proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline would transport oil and condensate across unceded Carrier Sekani lands between Kitimat, B.C., and the Alberta oilsands. The Nadleh Whut’en have voiced concerns to both Enbridge and the federal government over the lack of a legitimate process to address aboriginal rights and title, and has proposed a parallel First Nations review process with other First Nations along the pipeline and tanker route.

The lack of government consultation has been an increasingly raised concern for area First Nations, and is at the root of two legal actions launched against the province last year by First Nations communities: the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and the Chipewyan Prairie Dene First Nation.

“Our land has not been surrendered to the Crown. Enbridge seems to think that all they need is approval from the federal government, but we want to be clear that this project will not proceed without the free, prior and informed consent of our people,” added Nooski.

The statement included a paragraph stating that free, prior and informed consent is an international standard for development on unceded indigenous lands, protected under the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Rights. Canada is in the minority of countries that have not signed on to support and adopt this declaration.

Before Montgomery's motion can be presented at the association’s annual general meeting in May, it first needs approval from the Yellowknife council, which is expected next Tuesday.

“Our concern is there's not adequate environmental regulations in place, and there's not adequate planning in place for the development that's happening in the tarsands,” Montgomery told Today. “The pace is extremely fast. There are definitely concerns (over) being the downstream people, concerns with respect to leakages from tailings ponds in the Athabasca.”

Montgomery said the draft resolution doesn’t address current development, but callings for a moratorium on new approvals until there are a number of “key things” in place.

“One of those would be an enforceable transboundary water agreement between the N.W.T. and Alberta.”

This municipal call for such an agreement seconds another such piece of legislation in the works by N.W.T. deputy premier Michael Miltenberger, who has called the Territories the "ultimate downstream jurisdiction."

"The biggest issue for all of us is cumulative impact,” he said.

The Athabasca River, one of the most well-known oilsands-related rivers, drains into the Peace-Athabasca Delta near Lake Athabasca, south of Fort Chipewyan and Wood Buffalo National Park. From there, its waters flow north as Slave River into Great Slave Lake, which discharges through the Mackenzie River system. The Mackenzie River Basin links water resources in Alberta's oilsands with communities downstream. The basin ultimately feeds into the Arctic Ocean.

Also the minister of environment and natural resources, Miltenberger told Today in February the Northwest Territories is finalizing its own water strategy, which he described as "very ambitious." As a signatory of the Mackenzie River Basin Transboundary Agreement of 1997, the N.W.T. is also ready to enter formal negotiations with Alberta to develop a bilateral agreement. Alberta Environment has confirmed formal negotiations are scheduled to begin in the fall.

Montgomery acknowledged her motion reinforces Miltenberger's plans; however, she cautioned, there are “lots of things in the works but they never seem to get implemented until it's too late,” like land-use plans, and First Nation land claim agreements.

Upon approval at the association meeting next month, she said Miltenberger would communicate to the Government of Alberta that there are concerns in the Northwest Territories as a “downstream people.” In addition, the president of the association will pass the motion along to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

She added the N.W.T. should have a place in the consultations for these developments. “That's what we're trying to voice if this motion does pass.”

With oilsands already in development for about 40 years, Montgomery said there has been a historical tendency to forget about the impacts on outside jurisdictions.

“People are becoming more and more aware of it, and certainly some of the aboriginal governments are becoming more aware of it and becoming more vocal. I think it's because in the last decade or so, the pace of development there has been much greater and so people recognize it more now than previously, and there's been a bit more science done, monitoring done.”

She noted that having 1,600 ducks die in a tailings pond causes a lot of concern for people. “Those are the types of accidents that are extremely unfortunate but that make people realize, 'Oh, maybe there's something we should be paying attention to here a bit more.'”