Final LAR Plan ignores ACFN recommendations

A “heads-up” from the provincial government to the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation about the pending announcement of the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan was a telephone conference call the day prior to the release of the final version.

Chief Allan Adam and council were “very disappointed” with the treatment, which included little discussion and no advanced copy of the plan, says Eriel Deranger, spokesperson for Adam.

Deranger says Adam was put on speaker phone to hear from Sustainable Resource Development Minister Diana McQueen that the province would not be considering co-management of the area, a proposal put forth numerous times by the First Nation, including most recently in a report entitled NÌh boghodi: We are the stewards of our land, which examined steps to be taken to protect woodland caribou and wood bison.

In the news conference announcing that Premier Alison Redford and Cabinet had given the nod to the province’s first regional land-use plan, McQueen said she had given the “heads-up” to three chiefs the day before the announcement “out of respect.”
That council did not receive an advanced copy of LARP did not sit well with the chief, says Deranger.

And the news that co-management would not even be considered at this time was a “slap in the face,” she adds.
“We thought that there would at least be room for discussion,” said Deranger, who points out that co-management has worked well in other parts of the country.

At the news conference, McQueen said the government will continue to work with First Nations as it moves forward in implementing the plan, which came into effect Sept. 1.

“As we roll out these plans in areas that are especially important for (First Nations) … we’re listening to them and working with them and using their traditional knowledge as we’re moving forward as well,” said Mc    Queen.

But Deranger questions McQueen’s commitment and says McQueen’s statement is one more “optic” in a report full of recommendations “creating optics that things are getting better.”

“Discussions are one thing, but to integrate traditional ecological knowledge into western science takes dollars,” said Deranger.  “There’s no commitment made by the provincial government to support that financially.”

As one of the “more substantial changes,” McQueen points to the Dillon River conservation area, which was originally a public land-use zone but is now a wildland provincial park. It has also been increased in size.

“This move supports Aboriginal traditional use and secures more habitat for woodland caribou,” said McQueen.

“The Lower Athabasca Regional Plan … represents major progress in Alberta’s ongoing efforts to enhance our environmental stewardship  and resource development processes and practises. It ensures we achieve the balance, a strong and vibrant economy and protection of our environment,” she said.

But even in the establishment of six conservation areas, the government is allowing for horizontal drilling, which still has environmental impacts, says Deranger.  She adds that areas that have been listed as protection zones are “not oilsand rich” and that the government is not doing away with leases that are already operational in the newly protected areas.

“The whole scope of the thing really sort of says we will allow business as usual as long as it doesn’t damage these areas, but ACFN and other communities have asserted that there are other areas that need protection and those areas haven’t been protected,” said Deranger.

LARP is the first of seven land-use region plans that will be rolled out by the government.

“This plan was our first priority in meeting the high expectations of Albertans and Canadians that we will deliver enhanced environmental management and orderly growth in one of the most dynamic economic regions in the world,” said McQueen.
She also noted that LARP is only one part of an integrated resource management system that the government is rolling out, which includes enhanced environmental monitoring and regulatory processes.

Deranger says ACFN is still optimistic that it can play a larger role in the creation of such plans as the biodiversity management framework, which is still two or three years down the road.

“We don’t want to sit here and butt heads with the government because we have to work in partnership,” she said. “But that’s exactly what we need:  a partnership. Not a day-before heads-up call and without a preview of the draft.”

Deranger says none of the 150 recommendations ACFN presented to the government for consideration in LARP were included.

In the meantime, ACFN legal counsel is examining LARP and will provide chief and council with a recommendation on how to move forward, says Deranger, who notes that Adam is not opposed to pursuing legal action.