Chief scolds NWT premier for talking pipelines with Alberta – Northern Journal

December 15, 2014

With First Nations and governments going head to head in courtrooms across the country, Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus is hoping those in the NWT can avoid a future lawsuit against the territorial government by being included in any talks on future pipelines.

NWT Premier Bob McLeod met with Alberta Premier Jim Prentice in November to talk about an array of interjurisdictional issues, most notably plans for a shared energy strategy, which includes the possibility of a Northern oilsands pipeline through the territory.

Erasmus, who learned of the meeting through media reports, chided McLeod for beginning talks about the project before coming to First Nations, hinting that no pipeline project would go through without support from indigenous communities.

“As you know, the Dene Nation which consists of the 30 communities throughout the Mackenzie Valley have made it very clear that they don’t support the expansion of the tar sands until much work is done,” Erasmus wrote in a letter to the premier last week.