Metis to control resources

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Alberta's eight northern Metis settlements are looking into starting an oil and gas exploration company after signing a ground-breaking resource development agreement with the province.

"If we are going to participate with industry, we are going to need a vehicle to do it," said Garry Parenteau, vice-president of the Metis Settlements General Council.

"It will be like any other company that has a right to go in and extract resources from our land...We are looking for a vehicle to get as much as we can out of our resource."

Consultants are working on a survey of oil and gas reserves on Metis lands and will submit a report at the end of January, Parenteau said. Once the report is in, the settlements will decide whether to invest in a company.

Last fall, the settlements inked a deal with the province that allows them to control development on Metis lands. While the province retains ownership of the resources, communities control access to their lands. Companies wanting to develop in settlement areas must negotiate agreements with the communities that can include extra royalties, training and hiring clauses as well as environmental protection and conservation agreements.

Interest in a resource development company has been helped along by concerns that the ability to impose extra royalties may deter companies from investing on Metis land, Parenteau said.

If a company is set up, it will give the settlements a vehicle to negotiate with other developers that can offset some concerns about the cost of doing business on Metis land, he said.