Alberta Treaty 8 chiefs demand pause on pipeline agreement, threaten legal action
CBC
Chiefs from Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta are calling for a pause on the pipeline memorandum of understanding until they are consulted and sign off on the potential project. And they're threatening legal action if that doesn't happen.
The chiefs spoke in Ottawa Thursday, decrying what they said was a lack of consultation with First Nations before Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith agreed to the MOU in November.
“We have formally notified the prime minister that any further attempt by Canada, Alberta, or industry to move ahead without us will result in immediate action,” Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi said.
Mercredi said actions on the table could include withdrawing Treaty 8 co-operation from joint initiatives and exercising "treaty, constitutional, political and legal mechanisms" to defend their sovereignty.
“Every nation must be consulted,” said Mercredi. “And when we're receiving information or news media releases about MOUs that are affecting our territory, we have a real problem with it and we will deal with it accordingly.”
The MOU sets out conditions for a new bitumen pipeline from Alberta to the B.C. coast, including language allowing Ottawa to adjust B.C.’s tanker ban if necessary.
Mercredi said the MOU was carried out with “zero consultation, zero notice and zero involvement of the First Nations of Treaty 8.”
The Assembly of First Nations has also called for the pipeline agreement to be withdrawn.
In a statement, Alberta Indigenous Relations Minister Rajan Sawhney said she appreciates the perspectives shared by the Treaty 8 chiefs, and said she looks forward to meeting with them to discuss the potential project.
“At this stage, work is still in its earliest phase," she said. "When an application is submitted to the Major Projects Office, the duty to consult will be fully activated, ensuring Indigenous communities impacted by the pipeline are engaged at every step."
Carney has said any pipeline will need Indigenous co-operation to move forward. He will be holding a joint first ministers’ meeting with First Nations representatives early in the new year.
Mikisew Cree First Nation Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaro said he recently met with the prime minister and other chiefs, and told Carney it was unacceptable the MOU had been signed without prior consultation.
“Carney, Premier Smith, you guys need to get yourselves in order and come and speak to the people that these resources, their lands lie on,” Tuccaro said.
Coun. Mike Mercredi with the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation said his community and others are no strangers to pipeline consultations and engagement. But he said this time was different.
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