First Nations push for full inclusion in resource development

First Nations continue to push for resource development inclusion while balancing care for their traditional territory and the environment.

Rallied by actress Tantoo Cardinal, First Nations representatives from Alberta, the Northwest Territories and British Columbia gathered in Fort McMurray Aug. 4, walking 13 km through the tar sands to stress the environmental impact of oil and gas development. The third annual Healing Walk, organized by the Keepers of the Athabasca, attracted a record number of participants. The walk was not in protest of industrial development but to offer healing prayers to the earth.

“Our responsibility as First Nations is innately Mother Earth but at the same time there has to be a balance,” said former Treaty 6 Grand Chief Cameron Alexis.

Meanwhile, in Prince George, Sask., First Nations leaders from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba gathered to discuss treaties that fall under the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement and the rights First Nations have to natural resources. The NRTA shifted control of Crown land and natural resources from the federal government to the provincial governments in 1930.

And fresh off his decisive election victory returning Shawn Atleo to the position of National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations and a strong stand being taken by Chiefs at the AFN’s annual general assembly, Atleo attended the Council of the Federation meeting in Nova Scotia July 25-27 and told premiers and territorial leaders that First Nations had to be “full partners” when it comes to developing natural resources.

“We have to be at the table,” agreed Alexis. “Supreme Court decisions have been very clear: consultation, accommodation, compensation. And to this day we are still stuck on how consultation should take place, who should be at the table.”

Alexis holds that discussions and negotiations need to involve all levels of government, including municipal, as well as multinationals and shareholders.

Eriel Deranger, spokesperson for Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, agrees that First Nations need to be part of the process from beginning to end and that the process has to include the promise of treaty.

“There are multiple issues that need to be addressed. Some of it is definitely along the lines of revenue sharing. Our people were promised land and economic livelihood to be able to participate with the rest of Canadian society… upon the signing of treaty and secondarily that our lives would not be interrupted. Both of those treaty promises have not been kept and it’s largely been because of resource extraction and development across the entire country of Canada,” she said.

Deranger is one of the organizers for the Healing Walk, which included representatives from the Yinka Dene Alliance and Coastal First Nations, BC First Nations groups that have been joined by Alberta First Nations in the fight against Enbridge’s $5.5 billion Gateway Pipeline Project, which will see dual oil and condensate pipelines stretch from north of Edmonton through the BC interior to a marine terminal in Kitimat.

First Nations are not alone in their call for stronger inclusion in industrial development.

In mid-July, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, a non-partisan organization made up of CEOs from Canada’s leading enterprises, released the 12-page report Framing an Energy Strategy for Canada, that included among its “10 key elements” the recommendation to “facilitate stronger partnerships with Aboriginal peoples on energy projects.” The CCCE report further states that “Addressing the role of Aboriginal communities in energy and resource development begins with early engagement and a true spirit of building stronger relationships. It also requires new thinking on the process, scope and funding of consultation and engagement. There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to the large array of resource development projects and the number of distinctive Aboriginal communities.”

Shortly after the CCCE’s report was published, a Senate committee released its on energy plan entitled Now or Never, in which it notes “Canadian law has been evolving with respect to recognizing the Crown’s duty to consult and to accommodate ‘when the Crown is contemplating conduct that could adversely affect potential or established Aboriginal or treaty rights.’” However, there is no mention of resource revenue sharing with First Nations or total inclusion of First Nations in the process. The report calls for a national approach to energy.

“I’m not opposed to industry. Our people at the end of the day still have to work. I’d rather see my people working in meaningful career paths as opposed to continue to be living under the umbrella of high unemployment rates and living on social dollars,” said Alexis. “I hope there could be more dialogue, more discussion on a win-win for everybody and a happy medium.”