By The Canadian Press

fort mckay

Chief of Indigenous community wants the province to honour promises made years ago

Nov 1, 2019 | 2:18 PM

The chief of an Alberta Indigenous community that’s taken the province to court over what he calls their last wilderness wants to meet with Premier Jason Kenney to get him to honour the government’s promises.

Mel Grandjamb of the Fort McKay First Nation says Alberta agreed years ago to protect the only area band members can still practise treaty rights that hasn’t been affected by oilsands development.

He says the Alberta Energy Regulator ignored the promise when it approved an oilsands mine that didn’t recognize a 10-kilometre no-go zone around Moose Lake.

Those permits are now being challenged in the Alberta Court of Appeal, which heard arguments this week.

But Grandjamb says he believes Kenney will recognize and approve the deal protecting the lake.

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He says Kenney’s previous statements on Indigenous inclusion, and his comments when he visited the community, suggest the premier will grant his request.

Fort McKay is surrounded by open-pit oilsands mines on three sides, with the closest four kilometres way.