Natives unite to fight oilsands
Vow to go to court to stop ‘poisoning’ of rivers
Darcy Henton, The Edmonton Journal
FORT CHIPEWYAN - Aboriginal leaders vow to go to court to stop what they say is the destruction of their land and the poisoning of their water.
Chiefs from three provinces and the Northwest Territories made the joint declaration Sunday at the conclusion of a water conference in Fort Chipewyan.
They say Alberta’s oldest European settlement is on the brink of catastrophe.
Athabasca Chipewyan Chief Allan Adam said aboriginal people cannot sit still and allow their land and water to be destroyed.
They want a moratorium on oilsands project approvals until government and industry can assess the damage caused by the developments and find ways to mitigate it, he said.
“Our message is plain and clear,” he said Sunday to a standing ovation. “We have to slow down industry to let us catch up. … If we continue to let industry and government behave the way they’ve been behaving the last 40 years there will be no turnback because it will be the total destruction of the land.”
Residents believe leakage or spills from oilsands tailings ponds has polluted the Athabasca River and is poisoning their fish and their people.
Their former community physician reported a disproportionate number of rare cancers in the community of 1,200 on the northwest corner of Lake Athabasca, but the provincial government and Health Canada have resisted calls for baseline health tests.
Adam said that if the Chipewyan, Cree and Metis people of Fort Chipewyan don’t act now, the government will have to move the entire community in 50 years because there won’t be anything left to sustain them. “We’ll be refugees in our own land,” he said.
The chiefs approved a declaration to strengthen unity in their communities, work with other organizations and “initiate legal action to assert our rights.”
“We believe that the pace of development within our territories is unsustainable and we are deeply concerned that governments are permitting development to proceed without our consent,” the resolution reads.
Mikisew Cree Chief Roxanne Marcel said her people are banding together with the Chipewyan to hold industry and government to account.
“I think this will send a strong message to government,” she said. “One First Nation is not a strong enough voice.”
Adam said the local First Nations will try to negotiate a moratorium on oilsands development and if that doesn’t work, it will launch court action alleging the government and industry has failed to consult with them as required by law.
“As First Nations people we’re supposed to stay quiet and let everything be. No more!” he said. “What is happening here in this region is affecting everybody. We, as First Nations people, have the power to let the government and industry know — no more!”
Aboriginal leaders are confident the courts will rule that the corporations have failed in their constitutional obligation to consult with them on the massive, multibillion-dollar projects and that they have not adequately assessed their cumulative impact.
“We’ve taken some bold steps and bold steps are what we need,” said Mikisew Cree spokesman George Poitras.
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