{"id":416522,"date":"2025-12-01T05:00:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T05:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/416522\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T05:00:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T05:00:32","slug":"indigenous-groups-remain-split-on-albertas-pipeline-pact-with-feds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/416522\/","title":{"rendered":"Indigenous groups remain split on Alberta\u2019s pipeline pact with feds"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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The Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation was named a key partner in Ottawa and Alberta\u2019s memorandum of understanding last week.<\/p>\n

Channa Martineau with the AIOC says it\u2019s a first step.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an opportunity to start with the way you mean to go on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The memorandum says Ottawa\u2019s approval of the pipeline would be based on whether the project is seen as being in the national interest and \u201cprovides opportunities for Indigenous co-ownership and shared economic benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

To date, the corporation has helped provide approximately $745 million in loan guarantees to projects affecting 43 First Nations.<\/p>\n

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But it\u2019s not without difficulty, as the pipeline is unlikely to go ahead without sign-off from Alberta and British Columbia\u2019s First Nations. And Martineau worries that consultation is often done too late.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of it (consultation) happens after a lot of the design work has been done,\u201d said Martineau.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhere you want that Indigenous participation is at the very beginning. I always say those conversations might be hard, they\u2019re not easy conversations, but you\u2019re better to have them up front than to get mired in quagmire when you\u2019ve already invested in a project that isn\u2019t workable from an Indigenous perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Though the AIOC is involved, some First Nations are concerned about the project, including the Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the Confederacy said it expects collaboration with both Ottawa and Alberta to discuss future economic opportunities, but is \u201cdisappointed\u201d it was not included at the decision-making table.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe require a seat at any table where decisions are made that impact our People,\u201d the Confederacy said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The Confederacy\u2019s treaty covers much of a likely pipeline route.<\/p>\n

The proposal in the MOU is aimed at establishing a bitumen pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast and would carry an additional 300,000 to 400,000 barrels per day destined for Asian markets.<\/p>\n

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The MOU also notes that there could be an \u201cappropriate adjustment to the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act,<\/a>\u201d if necessary.<\/p>\n

The act, often referred to as a tanker \u201cban,\u201d was first introduced by the federal Liberal government in 2017 and became law two years later.\u00a0It prevents tankers carrying more than 12,500 metric tonnes of oil from docking on B.C.\u2019s North Coast. The affected area stretches from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to the Alaska border, and encompasses the archipelago of Haida Gwaii.<\/p>\n

Then-transport minister Marc Garneau, who sponsored the bill, defended it at the time by citing the \u201cnavigational hazards\u201d of the region, which he said would make responding to an oil spill more challenging.<\/p>\n

A potential oil spill remains a concern, especially as the groundwork is laid for this potential pipeline, with the Exxon Valdez as one such disaster on the mind of Rick Steiner.<\/p>\n

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Steiner was one of the first on scene of the disaster and has studied its aftermath closely.<\/p>\n

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