Members of the Lubicon Lake Indian Nation and their supporters gathered outside the Calgary Roundup Centre last week during TransCanada Pipelines’ annual general meeting (AGM) to protest the company’s proposed 300-kilometre pipeline that would go through unceded Lubicon land.
According to the Lubicon,
TransCanada did not sufficiently consult with them before filing an application for a construction licence with the Alberta Utilities Commission last November.
In the application, TransCanada stated, “No objections were raised in extensive consultation with landowners, native communities, and other interested stakeholders.”
The Lubicon reject this statement, claiming TransCanada did not respond to their queries about the project’s construction, operation, and environmental impact.
“All we want TransCanada to do is to get them to recognize that they are on Lubicon land,” says Lubicon elder Reinie Jobin. “They threaten to come there to build that pipeline whether we like it or not. All we want them to do is sit with the Lubicon, do their environmental assessment, and do it properly.”
Known as the North Central Corridor pipeline project, the proposed $983 million natural gas pipeline would stretch from the MacKenzie Valley in northwestern Alberta to northeastern Alberta. Much of the gas is expected to be used in the extraction of bitumen in the tarsands.
During the AGM, held on April 25, TransCanada CEO Hal Kvisle told shareholders it would be inappropriate for the company to recognize and declare the Lubicon rightful owners of the land, adding that the matter would be best dealt with by the federal and provincial governments and the Lubicon.
“It’s not our position to take a leadership role in a very complicated situation involving two levels of government and the people of the Lubicon,” Kvisle says.
According to TransCanada spokesperson Robert Kendell, Lubicon consent is not required as the Alberta government is registered as the owners of the land. The provincial government claims to have obtained land and resource rights from the federal government in the 1930 Land Transfer Agreement.
Overlooked by the Canadian government in the 1899 signing of Treaty 8 (which extinguished rights and title to traditional territory for many First Nations people), the Lubicon are to this day without a settlement to the 10,000 square kilometres of land they claim as theirs. “The Lubicon have never sold, have never leased,” Jobin says. “We have not signed treaty with any government in this country.”
Before being asked to leave the property by the Calgary police, the 50 or so protesters had hoped to inform shareholders of the issue, but most shareholders entered the building through a different entrance and did not see the protest.
Some, however, were aware of the situation and openly questioned TransCanada’s tactics during the meeting. Clint Mooney, a clergyman and chair of the faith-based KAIROS Calgary committee, asked Kvisle about the approach TransCanada has taken with the Lubicon.
“I think there’s been delay on the part of the company and some attempt to end-run and I don’t see the Lubicon’s requests are unreasonable at all,” Mooney says. “I’m not sure that in this particular instance with the Lubicon that I would agree that the highest ethical standards have been maintained.”
Calling the company’s dealings with the Lubicon “questionable,” Mooney asked TransCanada’s board to do more to address ethical concerns and state the company’s support for good corporate citizenship.
According to Kvisle, TransCanada is already committed to behave according to the highest of ethical and environmental standards and respect the rights of all people in their business dealings.
“We continue to work with the Lubicon people and their representatives,” Kvisle told shareholders, “and we are prepared to do all the things that we would normally do in a circumstance like this, including helping with education, helping people get good careers, good jobs—perhaps with our company.”
David Swann, the Liberal MLA for Calgary Mountain View (and the Liberal environment critic), attended the protest. He says oil and gas interests are superseding human rights and sustainable energy development in the province, and that the government has abdicated their responsibility to ensuring the long-term well-being of the province and the planet.
“I think we’ve failed the aboriginal folks,” Swann says. “I think we’ve failed to do a reasonable consultation, and we continue to violate their sovereignty in many areas as a result of making decisions on land uses totally irrespective of what First Nation interests and wishes are.”
