Land claim ratified

Page 15

Members of Fort McKay First Nation in Alberta have voted in favor of a land claim settlement that will see the community receive 92 sq. km of land and close to $40 million in compensation.

The vote was held on Oct. 23 and 24, with 92 per cent of votes cast in favor of accepting the compensation package.

The First Nation filed its land claim with the federal courts in 1986, and it was accepted for negotiation in 1999.

"We've been involved in negotiations with the provincial and federal governments, as well as third-party interests, since 1999," Fort McKay Chief Jim Boucher said.

With ratification of the settlement, the First Nation can now turn its attention to using its new lands as a means of creating jobs and economic opportunities for its membership.

The First Nation will concentrate on the mining end of things in the short term.

In the longer term, the community may consider expanding to include on-reserve facilities to extract the bitumen from the oil sands.

This proposed oil sands project is a natural next step for the First Nation, many of whose members are already involved in the oil sector, either through employment with the big operators-Suncor, Syncrude and Albian-or in businesses servicing those operations.

With the land claim ratification vote behind them, the next step for Fort McKay First Nation will be to look at the environmental and engineering aspects of the proposed oilsands mining project, and to get regulatory approval for the project, as well as approval from the band membership.