Peigans headed to court in water rights

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A federal court decision giving the go-ahead to the controversial Oldman Dam isn't the end of the road for the Peigan Band, says a band lawyer.

"They're on a different track all together" than the Friends of the Oldman River Society which tried to stop the project, said Vancouver lawyer Louis Mandell, who will represent the

band at a hearing Tuesday in Calgary.

A preliminary application is to be heard by the Alberta Court of Appeal in a landmark case involving aboriginal water rights.

Last August, the Peigan band became the first Canadian Indian band to file a water rights' case.

They claim water rights are included in Treaty 7, signed in 1876. The Oldman River flows through the northwestern corner of the reserve, which is located about 60 kilometres east of

Lethbridge.

American Indian tribes have won court battles in similar cases.

"What we're asking the court to do is to allow us to divide the case into manageable units so we can quickly get to court on the issue of whether the band has rights to the water,"

said Mandell.

She said the Peigans have a "very strong argument."

"There's no precedent in Canada which would bind either party's argument. If there's a strong case, this is it," she said.

The band hasn't yet made opposition to the dam a priority.

"We first want to establish the band has rights and then we're asking that all other issues like quantity and the impact of the dam be dealt with at another time," said Mandell.

If the band is given priority status on the water and if the band wants to well that water or do whatever it pleases with it, it can, she said.

"If the dam is constructed, those water right will still be there. The question is whether they get them first or the downstream users get them first or the water is shipped to

Saskatchewan for the benefit of somebody else," she said.

Mandell said the Aug. 11 federal court decision was "a bit of a surprise. Nobody's happy about it.

"The Oldman River Dam project seemed very similar to the Saskatchewan dam was stopped on the basis it was and the Oldman River Dam wasn't," she said.

The $250 million Rafferty-Alameda dam in Saskatchewan was halted earlier this year by the federal court because Ottawa had failed to study the environmental impact.

The conflicting lower court judgments make it likely the Supreme Court of Canada would hear an appeal by the Friends of the Oldman River Society, she said.

Peigan Chief Leonard Bastein couldn't be reached for comment this week.