'Nothing came about:' Alberta First Nation revives oilsands pipeline lawsuit
An Alberta aboriginal leader says inaction from the provincial government is forcing his First Nation to reactivate a court challenge to an approval for a major oilsands pipeline already under construction.
"With the new NDP government coming in, we were hoping they'd come to the table and start working on things that are outstanding," Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation said Monday.
"But when they came to the table, nothing came about. Nothing has moved on anything."
The band originally filed a lawsuit in January 2015 against regulatory approvals for the Grand Rapids pipeline, a 460-kilometre 900,000 barrel-a-day line from northern Alberta to southeast of Edmonton. It is co-owned by TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) and a unit of PetroChina.
The band alleges Alberta's aboriginal consultation office violated its rights by saying it wasn't directly affected by TransCanada's Grand Rapids proposal, even though it crosses land claimed as traditional territory.
The aboriginal consultation office, intended to make talks between First Nations and industry smoother and more predictable, has instead become a major friction point.
quote:
In papers filed this month, the band also alleges there was pressure to approve the pipeline quickly.
It quotes a letter written by a senior official at the consultation office that says: "TransCanada’s treatment of our staff […] has been minimally professional and on the border of bullying."
Another government official wrote that the handling of the Grand Rapids proposal "will not be the routine way of doing things going forward. This is an exception due to the higher level of interest in this project."
A provincial spokesman wasn't immediately available. The province has changed some aspects of the consultation office but the bulk of it remains in place.
The province's energy regulator began public hearings on the project in July 2014. The Athabasca Chipewyan withdrew after the panel refused to give them an 18-month adjournment to consider project changes. Nor would the panel grant research funding.
The Grand Rapids proposal was ultimately approved and is under construction.
Great day.
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/video/0_ks4mornc
Good stuff.
Alberta's climate change strategy revealed Sunday afternoon, seems about right to me. Carbon Tax, limit on oil sands, phasing out coal plants by 2030... So far so good for Ms Notley and company.
oh gawd listening to Albertans she's stealing the houses from their property
Is that for me?
nope just an observation on what's being said by way too many. like they think they can just keep on destroying everything forever.
then the lying shit going on by the pipeline companies and what they're doing to the few remaining is unreal.
I haven't actually heard anyone seriously complaining except the Wildrose party: but then I'm in Alberta. We sometimes miss the black cloud thing when distracted by the silver lining.
I'm very pleased that the country is finally moving in a constructive direction.
Calgary Tory MLA Manmeet Bhullar killed in car crash:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-conservative-mla-manmeet-...
oh no. my heart goes out to all his family friends and all those whose lives he touched. he may have been the only good guy in the PC's.
link to the pic it's hard to believe the road were even open.
https://www.facebook.com/MeanwhileInRedDeerAlberta/photos/a.148390661516...
Don’t cheer Alberta’s premier yet. Demand she break the oil barons’ vice-grip
Alberta’s new climate plan is drawing praise from sources that have rarely got on with the oil-exporter – Al Gore, labour unions and some of North America’s biggest green groups. At first glance, it’s not hard to see why: Alberta is promising an accelerated phase-out of coal, increased funds for renewable energy and impacted workers, and a price on carbon. It’s a major step hard to imagine scarcely a year ago, when the province was still under a multi-decade Conservative reign.
So why then are the oil barons celebrating? Beaming with pride, the heads of Canada’s biggest tar sands companies flanked premier Rachel Notley during Sunday’s announcement.
quote:
The tar sands now has a glossy new sheen. Alberta’s plan sets a cap on their emissions – an acknowledgement that tar sands will no longer grow infinitely. Except it’s so high as to allow a staggering forty percent increase over the next fifteen years. And if a Conservative government returns to power, could it abandon the policy and ensure nothing is accomplished? In other words, this is a cap big enough to drive a three-story tar sands truck through.
[url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-oil-gas-economy-diversific... oil, Alberta is doomed:[/url]
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/bill-6-farm-safety-bill-passed-1....
WRP/CPC activists have been busy on social media intimidating women in politics. They need to be identified and exposed and told to fuck off.
http://ipolitics.ca/2015/12/11/death-threats-against-premier-notley-need...
Rumours Jason Kenney is considering a move to provincial politics to seek the vacant Alberta PC leadership and attempt to negotiate a merger with Wild Rose.
[url=http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/12/12/tony-clement-organizers-me... Star[/url]
latest crazy ass move by some Albertans
While selfishness and idealism can both be bad in their own ways, used together to describe the same person, they're pretty oxymoronic.
And I can't ge the link to work. Are there any big names behind this goofy petition? I'm somewhat pessimistic about the NDP's chances at winning re-election, but I can't imagine anything better for their prospects than if the right-wing somehow managed to force the province into another election, a year after the last one.