Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN), whose territory in northeastern Alberta is the epicentre of Alberta’s oil sands activity, is suing Canada and Alberta over the impacts on its land and people.
In a statement of claim filed in Court of King’s Bench Tuesday, the Nation alleges both parties authorized extensive industrial development without adequately managing the cumulative environmental and health impacts.
Mikisew alleges Alberta and Canada allowed decades of cumulative industrial development in northeastern Alberta, severely infringing its Treaty 8 rights.
It also says the activity has harmed the Nation’s lands and waters, displaced wildlife, and contributed to serious health impacts within the community.
“Our people are downstream from one of the largest industrial developments on earth, and we are paying the price with our health, our lands, and our way of life,” said Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaro of MCFN.
Tuccaro brings the claim on his own behalf, as a representative of Mikisew Cree First Nation, and as a representative on behalf of all other MCFN beneficiaries of Treaty 8.
“For generations, our people have relied on these lands and waters for hunting, fishing, trapping, and cultural practices. Today, those practices are being severely impacted as wildlife declines, waters are contaminated, and access to our traditional territory is increasingly disrupted,” Tuccaro said in a news release.
The lawsuit alleges Alberta and Canada have failed to uphold their constitutional, fiduciary, and Treaty obligations to Mikisew.
The claim focuses on the long-term effects of oil sands development, industrial activity and resource extraction impacting the Peace-Athabasca Delta region.
“Rather than protecting MCFN’s way of life and ensuring the meaningful exercise of their rights, the Defendants have engaged in a pattern of conduct that, taken together, has significantly diminished MCFN’s right to hunt, fish, trap, and gather on their traditional territory as part of their way of life,” the claim states. “Among other things, pollutants have been introduced, habitats have been fragmented, lands and waters have been degraded, and lands have been put to uses that are incompatible with the continued meaningful exercise of MCFN’s Treaty rights.”
Rather than challenging individual projects, the lawsuit targets the cumulative effects of decades of project approvals and alleges Alberta and Canada failed to properly assess, monitor, or limit the combined impacts of industrial activity.
MCFN went public in April regarding a study it commissioned but says it hasn’t been able to complete due to a lack of data from the province since 2022. Preliminary findings of the study released by MCFN appear to show cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan are at least 25 per cent higher than the rest of Alberta, with 149 confirmed cases between 1993 and 2022 among a population of roughly 900. MCFN suggests it shows strong link to downstream industrial contamination from oil sands operations.
According to MCFN, the study’s preliminary findings show cancer has likely touched six out of every 10 households, significantly higher than provincial averages.
“Our community has experienced alarming health impacts, including elevated cancer rates,” added Chief Tuccaro. “Our people deserve answers, accountability, and meaningful action to protect our Treaty rights and our future.”
The Nation is seeking declarations from the court that Alberta and Canada have breached Treaty 8 and infringed Mikisew Cree’s Treaty rights. MCFN is also seeking enforceable mechanisms and thresholds to manage cumulative impacts moving forward.
One of those is “a declaration that the Defendants and MCFN must act with diligence and good faith to consult and negotiate for the purpose of establishing timely, effective and enforceable mechanisms to assess, quantify, manage, mitigate and remedy cumulative impacts in the Traditional Territory, protect MCFN’s Treaty Rights and ensure their continued meaningful exercise…”
It is also asking for a declaration those mechanisms be developed and implemented by the governments in consultation with the MCFN and must include enforceable “cumulative effects thresholds, disturbance limits, restoration targets and land use planning measures” as well as “restoration, remediation and land-healing measures.”
It says these need to be “supported by sufficient funding to address cumulative adverse impacts” in the MCFN traditional territory.
The Claim also calls for “compensation, revenue sharing and other financial measures necessary to remedy the Crown’s breaches and prevent future infringements and damages,” as well as costs.
The Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN) is headquartered in Fort Chipewyan, Alta., located in the northeastern part of the province within the Peace-Athabasca Delta and Wood Buffalo National Park. Primarily a Woodland Cree community, they are a Treaty 8 nation with over 3,000 members residing in Fort Chipewyan, Fort McMurray, and Fort Smith, NWT.
With files from the Canadian Press
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