Indigenous groups remain split on Alberta’s pipeline pact with feds

The Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation was named a key partner in Ottawa and Alberta's MOU on on Friday for a pipeline to the B.C. coast, but others have concerns.

While Alberta and the federal government have struck a pact to lay the groundwork for a pipeline to the B.C. coast, Indigenous nations in Alberta remain mixed in their reception, even as one group has been named a key partner.

The Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation was named a key partner in Ottawa and Alberta’s memorandum of understanding last week.

Channa Martineau with the AIOC says it’s a first step.

“This is an opportunity to start with the way you mean to go on,” she said.

The memorandum says Ottawa’s approval of the pipeline would be based on whether the project is seen as being in the national interest and “provides opportunities for Indigenous co-ownership and shared economic benefits.”

To date, the corporation has helped provide approximately $745 million in loan guarantees to projects affecting 43 First Nations.

But it’s not without difficulty, as the pipeline is unlikely to go ahead without sign-off from Alberta and British Columbia’s First Nations. And Martineau worries that consultation is often done too late.

“A lot of it (consultation) happens after a lot of the design work has been done,” said Martineau.