Call for local consultation for new oil sands monitoring program

While applauding the recently announced Joint Canada-Alberta Implementation Plan for Oil Sands Monitoring, Fort McKay Métis President Ron Quintal has told the Edmonton Journal that consultation with local communities is needed. “What should happen, in alignment with this monitoring system, is there should be an independent board, or independent group structured, of local Aboriginal stakeholders, to help with the monitoring of the system, to make sure that it’s looking at all the various aspects of the environment, not just what effects the oil (development is having). There’s so much more that’s built into this. One of the biggest key parts of this is the traditional knowledge,” said Quintal. The $50-million-a-year oil sands monitoring strategy is aimed at increasing the number of land, air and water sampling locations and, overall, improving environmental oversight of northern Alberta’s bitumen production.