Phase II: [ Completed ]

First Nations Consultations

• On May 16th, 2005 the province passed The Government of Alberta’s First Nations Consultation Policy on Land Management and Resource Development. The Consultation Policy outlines the need for consultation with First Nations when land management or resource development activities, on provincial crown land, may infringe First Nations rights and traditional uses.

• Phase One of the Oil Sands Consultations was a high level visioning exercise, and as per the Multistakeholder Committee’s (MSC) Terms of Reference, Aboriginal consultation used a “good government” model as opposed to addressing possible infringement to treaty and constitutional rights.

• The second phase of the consultation process sought to identify strategies and action plans for implementing the vision and principles.

• Alberta undertook a separate and parallel First Nations consultation process.

• The Aboriginal Consultation Interdepartmental Committee, chaired by the Department of Energy with representatives from Alberta Environment, International, Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Relations, Sustainable Resource Development and Justice, was formed to conduct the Aboriginal consultation during the second phase.

• As a first step, First Nations who were known to exercise their rights and traditional uses within one of the three oil sands regions were contacted to determine how they would like to be consulted by Alberta.

• Six consultation sessions hosted by the Government of Alberta were held with First Nations during April. Sixty-five First Nation participants attended including representatives from Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta, 12 individual First Nations and 2 regional consultation offices representing eight First Nations.

• Any input received during the sessions regarding non-aboriginal rights based issues such as employment, training, economic development and infrastructure have been passed on to the Multi-stakeholder Committee for incorporation into their report.

• Prior to the conclusion of the consultation process, a Validation Session was held in Edmonton to ensure that the recommendations compiled by the Government of Alberta reflected what was presented during the consultation sessions. Forty-six First Nations participants attended the session representing 19 First Nations and one regional consultation office. First Nations were also given the opportunity to comment on two subsequent drafts of the recommendations prior to their inclusion in the Aboriginal Consultation Final Report.

• The Aboriginal Consultation Final Report contains an overview of the separate consultation processes for both First Nations and Métis as well as the recommendations that the two groups would like government to consider when planning for future oil sands development in the province.

• The Aboriginal Consultation Final Report was submitted to the Ministers of Energy, Environment and Sustainable Resource Development along with the Multistakeholder Committee Final Report on June 30, 2007.

• As the recommendations within both reports cover a wide variety of topics that fall under the mandate of a number of government departments, the government will fully review both reports before developing a response.

• For further information regarding the First Nations consultation process, or to request a hardcopy of the Aboriginal Consultation Final Report, please contact Janelle Wyman, Manager, Aboriginal Relations or Cole Pederson, Director, Aboriginal Consultation with the Department of Energy.

• Janelle Wyman – Phone: (780) 422-7009,
  Email: janelle.wyman@gov.ab.ca
• Cole Pederson – Phone: (780) 644-8173,
  Email: cole.pederson@gov.ab.ca