So what really happened to the Teck Frontier oilsands mine? Hint: It wasn’t anything Justin Trudeau did or didn’t do. That’s pure United Conservative Party gas lighting, a game a career politician like Alberta Premier Jason Kenney just can’t make himself stop playing. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney (Photo: David J.
Continue readingTag: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation
The Canadian Progressive: In Alberta, First Nations engage in a complex dance of resistance to and cooperation with Big Oil
In this illuminating piece, Seattle journalist Erika Lundahl examines how, in Alberta, First Nations are forced to “engage in a complex dance of resistance to and cooperation with” Big Oil “in order to survive.”
The post In Alberta, First Nations engag…
The Canadian Progressive: Alberta Activists Join Tar Sands Bloc at People’s Climate March
Activist members of Alberta First Nations to tell world leaders: “We will not stop fighting until we’ve stopped tar sands at the source.” The post Alberta Activists Join Tar Sands Bloc at People’s Climate March appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: The Athabaska Oil Sands: Enough to make you sick. Real sick.
I don’t normally reprint news releases. This time I will make an exception. At the end of the news release are two videos I recorded earlier this year that speak to this issue. In the first, Dr. Stéphane McLachlan, of the Environmental Conservation Lab at the University of Manitoba, talks
Continue readingTHE CANADIAN PROGRESSIVE: Tar sands pollutants contaminate traditional First Nations’ foods: Report
A new study confirms that pollutants from the Alberta tar sands contaminate traditional First Nations’ foods. The post Tar sands pollutants contaminate traditional First Nations’ foods: Report appeared first on THE CANADIAN PROGRESSIVE.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Meet two ambassadors from Canada’s indigenous tar sands resistance
by Kristin Moe | First published by YES! Magazine on March 5, 2014 In 1885, a revolutionary leader wrote, “My people will sleep for one hundred years” and then wake up. In the “genocidal” wilderness of Canada’s tar sands, that renaissance has begun. The debate over the tar sands has heated up once again
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Canadian Rocker Neil Young Blasts Stephen Harper, Alberta Tar Sands
Canadian rock legend Neil Young has blasted the Harper government for “trading integrity” in its single-minded appetite for Alberta tar sands dollars. The post Canadian Rocker Neil Young Blasts Stephen Harper, Alberta Tar Sands appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Neil Young’s 4-city concerts to benefit First Nation’s tar sands fight
Neil Young’s 4-city Canadian concert tour to raise money to support the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation’s legal defense against tar sands developments. The post Neil Young’s 4-city concerts to benefit First Nation’s tar sands fight appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Extreme Energy development is a risk for investment and the planet, Indigenous delegates tell Royal Dutch Shell shareholders
By: Polaris Institute | Press Release: Tuesday May 21st, The Hague, Netherlands – Today members of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) and the Native Village of Point Hope, Alaska attended the Royal Dutch Shell AGM to confront the Chairman and Board over Shell’s decision to pursue highly risky ‘extreme energy’ projects
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation challenges new Shell tar sands mines [VIDEO]
By: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation | Press Release: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) Indigenous people living downstream from the tar sands explain in their own words why they are saying enough is enough. Shell Canada is proposing two new tar sands mine projects in northern Alberta, Canada. From the perspective of the Athabasca
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: 30 groups demand removal of Alberta Energy Regulator chair Gerry Protti
By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive: Over 30 environmental, landowner, labour, rights and First Nation groups have written to Alberta Premier Alison Redford demanding the immediate removal of Gerry Protti, the new chair of the Alberta Energy Regulator. The groups argue that Protti “is not an appropriate choice to head the Alberta government’s Provincial energy regulator.”
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: 30 groups demand removal of Alberta Energy Regulator chair Gerry Protti
By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive: Over 30 environmental, landowner, labour, rights and First Nation groups have written to Alberta Premier Alison Redford demanding the immediate removal of Gerry Protti, the new chair of the Alberta Energy Regulator. The groups argue that Protti “is not an appropriate choice to head the Alberta government’s Provincial energy regulator.”
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: First Nation demands resignation of Alberta Energy Regulator chair, ex-Big Oil exec Gerry Protti
By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive: The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) is demanding the resignation of Gerry Protti, the newly-appointed chair of Alberta Energy Regulator, a new agency charged with monitoring environmental issues. The ACFN is concerned that, under Protti’s leadership, the agency will prioritize advancing the interests of the oil, gas and
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: “The people have said that enough is enough”: ACFN Chief Allan Adam
By Chief Allan Adam, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Jan 15, 2013: January 15, 2013 – Fort McMurray, AB: In the wake of Idle No More and the AFN’s calls for blockades, peaceful protests and a stall of the Canadian economy Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) has made waves
Continue readingCanadian ProgressiveCanadian Progressive: First Nation: Bill C-45 allows tar sands industry to destroy vital waterways and treaty rights
by Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Today the conservative government tabled a new version of Bill C-45, a 443-page bill, to implement its federal budget. The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) was taken aback by the proposed amendments stating they are indicative of the further erosion of Treaty rights in Canada. ACFN
Continue readingStraight Outta Edmonton: Premier Stelmach Places Conditions on Fort Chip Visit
Premier Ed Stelmach has delayed his visit to Fort Chipewyan. Before traveling to the hamlet and listening to the health concerns of residents, the Premier is now requiring the community’s leadership to sign on to the parameters of a baseline health study. However, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation — the
Continue readingStraight Outta Edmonton: Premier Stelmach Places Conditions on Fort Chip Visit
Premier Ed Stelmach has delayed his visit to Fort Chipewyan.
Before traveling to the hamlet and listening to the health concerns of residents, the Premier is now requiring the community’s leadership to sign on to the parameters of a baseline health study. However, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation — the second largest First Nations’ community in Fort Chipewyan — has refused to sign on, arguing that what the province has proposed is inadequate and does not address the concerns of residents.
For years, Premier Stelmach refused to acknowledge Fort Chipewyan’s health concerns or travel to the community. Initially, the Premier claimed health concerns were entirely unfounded, concocted by ‘silk-suited’ environmentalists and the media. However, after health and pollution studies seemed to confirm the concerns of residents — as well as a visit by Hollywood film director James Cameron — the Premier backtracked from his initial position.
Instead, the Premier claimed that he took the community’s concerns seriously and had in fact actually visited Fort Chipewyan. When these claims were scrutinized, Stelmach once again backtracked stating that he had never actually been to Fort Chipewyan, but had traveled to Northern Alberta. After questions began to emerge over the Premier’s priorities, Stelmach vowed to travel to Fort Chipewyan, meet with residents directly, and demonstrate his commitment towards addressing the community’s concerns.
Now, that commitment is once again being questioned as the Premier has placed conditions on his visit, requiring Fort Chipewyan’s leadership to endorse a study many find inadequate. Whether this is an attempt to prevent what will surely be a high profile event or a public relations management strategy, Premier Stelmach’s decision to delay his visit does not demonstrate a genuine commitment to address the community’s concerns.
At this point, there’s likely little that will.
Straight Outta Edmonton: Premier Stelmach Places Conditions on Fort Chip Visit
Premier Ed Stelmach has delayed his visit to Fort Chipewyan. Before traveling to the hamlet and listening to the health concerns of residents, the Premier is now requiring the community’s leadership to sign on to the parameters of a baseline health study. However, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation — the
Continue readingStraight Outta Edmonton: WOA Profile: Lorraine Hoffman — Where Industry Meets Ancestry
“We’re all capitalists here. We’re not anti-industry, but we do strive to find a balance. We need to find sustainable ways of doing things.” — Lorraine Hoffman, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Councillor Work of Arts, the University of Alberta Faculty of Arts Alumni Magazine, has a great profile on Lorraine
Continue readingStraight Outta Edmonton: WOA Profile: Lorraine Hoffman — Where Industry Meets Ancestry
“We’re all capitalists here. We’re not anti-industry, but we do strive to find a balance. We need to find sustainable ways of doing things.”
— Lorraine Hoffman, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Councillor
Work of Arts, the University of Alberta Faculty of Arts Alumni Magazine, has a great profile on Lorraine Hoffman, an alumni who is currently a councilor for the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN).
The piece highlights the complex relationship First Nation communities have with the oilsands. As Hoffman outlines, communities like Fort Chipewyan have benefited tremendously from partnering with industry. Yet, development has also led to the emergence of significant social issues, which have forced many to speak out.
Hoffman dismisses the notion that such criticisms indicate an anti-development bias from First Nation communities. In reality, these communities see development as a positive force, providing jobs and boosting local economies. However, there is a feeling that the current development approach is tilted towards industry at the expense of the environment and other local concerns.
What Hoffman calls for is a balance between development and these associated environmental, public health, and social concerns — similar to the language industry and the province uses to defend the current development policy that communities like Fort Chipewyan oppose.
Read the entire article: “Where Industry Meets Ancestry” by Benjamin Freeland.