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6TuesdaySeptember172013ByMEAGANWOHLBERGAftereightyearsofworkonthenewAlbertaWetlandPolicyenvironmentalistsintheprovincehavetwomoretowaituntiloilsandscompa-niesbecomesubjecttonewrulestoprotectwetlandspeatbogsandfensdestroyedbymining.Theprovincialgovernmentletsliplastweekthatthepol-icysimplementationdateforapprovedandin-processindus-trialprojectsonpubliclandswillnotbeginuntilAugust2015afterbeingproddedbymediaandpolicythinktanksaboutthelackofcleartimelinesandimplementationdetailsinthenewpolicyreleasedonTues-dayduringapressconference.Itsactuallyreallydisap-pointingsaidJenniferGrantoilsandsdirectorforthePem-binaInstituteanenvironmentallobbygroup.Itsarealmissedopportunitytostrengthentheexistingenvironmentalman-agementregime.Theresnogoodreasonwhythepolicycouldnotbeimplementedim-mediately...becauserightnowwehavenothing.ThepolicyfocusesonthreeprioritiesforwetlandprotectionbeginningwithavoidingimpactThepolicywillhelpusavoidimpactwhenpossibleminimizedamagewhennecessaryandguidereplacementasneededAlbertaEnvironmentandSus-tainableResourceDevelopmentMinisterDianaMcQueentoldmediaatthepressconference.Thispolicyprovidesthecer-taintyconsistencyandpredict-abilityweneedtoeffectivelymanagewetlandsacrosstheprovincewellintothefuture.theprovincecouldhaveeasilyadoptedalesscomplicatedsys-temforwetlandrecoveryfortheoilsandsstartingrightnowusingareplacementstrategyforim-pactedhabitatbasedpurelyonarearatherthanwetlandvalue.Ratherthanthisreallycom-plicatedvalue-basedsystemthattheyretryingtodevelopthatlooksattheabundanceofwet-landsandalltheservicesitof-fersjustusearea.Imeanthatsresourcesandoilsandsbeingareallyprominentresourcewevegottowalkthetalkandthisisjustanotherexampleofustalking.Itsrhetoric.Grantsaidthereisalsoconcernaroundpiecesofthepolicythatallowfornon-re-placementcompensationtobeachievedbywayofputtingmoneytowardseducationre-searchordevelopmentratherthanactualwetlands.ReallyweshouldbetryingtoachievewhattheAlbertaWaterCouncilrecommendedyearsagowhichisano-netlosspolicyandthatmeansthatforeveryhectarelostdevelopershavetoreplacethathectarethroughreclamationofanoldhectareorbyoffsettingitsome-whereelseshesaid.Thereare195projectseitherunderwayorintheapprovalprocessthatwillbeexemptfromthepolicyoverthenexttwoyearsmeaningaverysignicantfootprintonpos-siblythousandsofhectaresofunrecoverablewetlandareaintheprovinceGrantsaid.Oftheminableregionmea-suredatroughly4750square-km99percentisalreadyunderleaseforoilsandsmin-ingactivity.Ifthecommonassumptionholdstruethat60-65percentofthatareaiswetlandhabitatGrantsaidminingactivityalonecouldpotentiallyresultinthelossofupto300000hectaresofwetlandoverthenextseveralyearspotentiallypermanently.Oilsandsminingprojectsapprovedasof2011areex-pectedtoresultinthelossofroughly28000hectaresofpeatlandontheirown.Accordingtorecentstud-iesonwetlandreclamationthemajorityofthatpeatlandintheoilsandsregionwillbeimpossibletoreclaimandisreleasingtonnesofstoredcarbonintotheatmosphere-emissionsthatarenotac-countedforbyindustryorgovernmentintheirreporting.OnestudybyLeeFooteoftheUniversityofAlbertastatedthatpeatlandstheprimaryclassofwetlandcoverthrough-outtheoilsandsregioncannotfeasiblybereplacedbecauseofinsufcientavailableareatimerequirementsforpeatde-velopmentgapsinreclama-tionknowledgeandexpense.Thestudyfoundthatitwouldtake100-300yearstogeneratethe30-cmminimumofpeatrequiredtoqualifyanareaasapeatland.AsimilarstudybyRebeccaRooneystatedthesamepar-tiallyblamingthelackofanAlbertawetlandpolicyrequir-ingcompensationforborealwetlandsforthebleakfuturefacedbypeatlandsintheoil-sandsregionalongwithpost-miningtopographyissuesandthehighconcentrationofsaltsmetalsandnaphthenicacidsleftinthesoilaftermining.OilsandsexemptfromnewwetlandpolicyfortwoyearsEnvironmentalistscallnewguidelinesamissedopportunityEnvironmentWetlandsByMEAGANWOHLBERGChiefsofTreaty8collec-tivelyrejectedthegovernmentofAlbertasrecentlyproposeddraftAboriginalconsultationpolicylastweekclaimingtheprovinceignoredthreeyearsoftheirinputwhendevelop-ingthenewguidelines.InapressreleasesentoutearlylastweekGrandChiefRichardKappooftheTreaty8FirstNationsofAlbertasaidtheprovincialgovernmentfailedtotakeanyrecommen-dationsissuedbythechiefsinaSeptember2010positionpaperintoaccountindevel-opingtheprocess.Thishasbeenaveryfrus-tratingprocesshesaid.Afteryearsoftryingtoimprovecon-sultationforbothusandAlber-tansthechiefsarenothappy.Wewanttobeclearthatwewerenotjustoutrightrejectingpreviouspoliciesbutinsteadweprovidedthegovernmentwithworkablealternativesallofwhichwereignored.TheTreaty8FirstNationsof-ciallyraisedconcernsabouttheprovincesexistingconsultationpolicyinapaperdatedSept.302010signedby21chiefsfromnorthernAlbertaincludingtheMikisewCreeAthabascaChipewyanFortMcKayDeneThaandSmithsLandingFirstNationsamongothers.ThatpositionpapercameoutofmeetingsbetweenchiefsfromTreaty67and8andwasaninvitationtotheprovincialgovernmenttoenterintonego-tiationsonanewconsultationagreementratherthanapolicy.Listedinthedocumentalongwithsubsequentlettersoverthelastthreeyearswereahostofgeneralconcernswiththeprov-incesapproachtoconsultationincludingalackofstandardsoftheCrownandindustryareadverselyimpactingourrightscultureandwayoflifeifAl-bertawillnotworkwithustodevelopbaselineinformationandcriteriatomakethosede-terminationstheletterstates.TheprovincesnewdraftpolicymadepubliconAug.16andexpectedtocomeintoeffectthisfallproposesestablishingOneoftheitemsthatFirstNationsinTreaty8requestedwasannualgovernment-to-gov-ernmentmeetingstoreviewtheconsultationpolicywiththemtoidentifystrengthsandweak-nessesintheprocess.ThisissomethingMinisterRobinCampbellagreedtoandisapartofthenewpolicyZaharasaidinanemail.Treaty8chiefsindeterminingtheadequacyofconsultation.Zaharasaidfurtherengage-mentsessionswillbeheldbe-tweenFirstNationstechnicalstaffstakeholdersandtheAl-bertagovernmenttodeveloptheoperationalguidelinesconsid-eredthemeatandpotatoesofthenewpolicy.EngagementindevelopingtheseguidelineswillgiveFirstNationsandstakeholderssig-nicantinuenceonhowcon-sultationdutiesarecarriedoutinAlbertahesaid.Stillhesaidthenalcallwillbewiththegovernment.Whileourpreferenceisapolicyacceptabletoallpartiesultimatelyitisgovernmentsre-sponsibilitytodecidewhetherthepolicystrikestherightbal-ancebetweenthepreferencesofallparties.GuidelinesfacevarietyofcriticismThenewguidelineshavealreadyreceivedharshcriti-cismfromFirstNationsandMtisleadersfromacrosstheprovincemanyofwhomareupsetthatthepolicyoverridesexistingconsultationpoli-ciesdevelopedbyAboriginalgovernments.ErielDerangerspokespersonforAthabascaChipewyanFirstNationsaidthepolicyrepre-sentsanerroneousattemptbytheprovincetointerpretwhatsection35rightsAboriginalpeoplehaveintheprovince.Theyretryingtolimitthoserightsanddenetheminaverynarrowwayshesaidnotingthattherightstohunttrapandsharecontin-gentuponavarietyoffactorsleftoutinthepolicy.Rightsmeantheprotectionofwater-waysitmeanstheprotectionofcriticalhabitatofspeciesitmeanstheprotectionoftheborealforestandwetlandsandwaterlevelthresholds.Therearesomanythingsthatthosetreatyrightsaredependenton.Furthercriticismstemsfromthefactthatthegovernmentwillstillnotbeginconsulta-tionatthelandtenureorex-ploratorystagesofdevelop-mentanissuethatrecentlytriggeredpublichearingsoveranexploratoryoilsandsdrill-ingprojectbyTeckResourcesnorthofFortMcMurray.Kapposaidthepolicyshowsnoneoftheconcernsraisedbychiefsovertheyearshavebeentakenseriouslyanddoesnotbodewellforfutureconsultation.Wehavealreadycompre-hensivelylaidouthowtomakethesystembetterbutIdontseeanyofthatworkreectedhereinthepolicyanddraftguide-lineshesaid.Theywillhavedifcultyinndingreceptivechiefswhenrecenthistorysug-geststhatourinputwillhavenoinuenceontheoutcome.Treaty8chiefsrejectnewAlbertaconsultationpolicyPoliticsFirstNationsIfwereseriousasaprovinceandasacountryaboutresponsiblymanagingourresourcesandoilsandsbeingareallyprominentresourcewevegottowalkthetalkandthisisjustanotherexampleofustalking.MinisterDianaMcQueenAlbertaEnvironmentandSustainableResourceDevelopmentonwetlandsandfollowedbymitigationandreplacement.Workingonavalue-basedsystemthepolicyprovidesamatrixforreplacingwetlandsbasedontheirlevelofbiodiver-sitywaterqualityimprovementfunctionsoodreductionser-vicesandhumanvalue.Thereasongivenbytheprovinceforthestartupdelaywasthatitwouldbetoooner-ousandcostlytoaskcompa-niestomeetnewstandardsthatwerenotinplacewhentheirprojectsbegan.Whilethenewpolicyisbet-terthannopolicyGrantsaidcommonlyusedelsewhereintheworld.Foreveryhectareofwet-landthatisdestroyedbymin-ingorwhateverthreehectaresiscompensatedforshesaid.WhynotdothatintheinterimIfwereseriousasaprovinceandasacountryaboutresponsiblymanagingourWehavealreadycomprehensivelylaidouthowtomakethesystembetterbutIdontseeanyofthatworkreectedhere.GrandChiefRichardKappoTreaty8FirstNationsofAlbertaagainstwhichtoassesscon-sultationandaccommodationhavingtoonarrowaviewofFirstNationsrightsandthefailuretobeginconsultationatthestrategicplanningstage.ItrecommendedTreaty-centeredconsultationfocusedonthebigpictureratherthanaseriesoflandusedecisionsmadeonaproject-by-projectbasisthatFirstNationssayignorecumulativeimpactsonconstitutionallyprotectedAboriginalrights-aconcernagainlaidoutinaMay172013followupletterfromthegrandchief.PutsimplyhowcanAlbertaknowwhetherornottheactionsasinglewindowconsultationofceintheprovincerespon-siblefordeterminingwhatprojectsrequireconsultationwhichFirstNationsrequireconsultationandwhatlevelofconsultationwillberequired.Thatofcewillalsobetheonlypartyabletoassesstheadequacyofconsultationintheprovinceassimilarpow-ershavebeenremovedfromthejurisdictionoftheprovincesnewenergyregulator.AlbertaAboriginalRelationsspokespersonKevinZaharasaidmanyrecommendationsmadebyFirstNationsfromTreaty8andbeyondwerein-cludedinthepolicy.Asignicantchangefromthepreviousversionistheabil-ityforFirstNationstoenterintoindividualprocessagreementswiththegovernmentofAlberta.Itallowsfortheprocesstore-ectlocalcustomsandtradi-tionswhilebeingconsistentwiththepolicy.IfaFirstNationentersintoanindividualprocessagreementwiththegovernmentofAlbertaindustrywouldbeexpectedtofollowtheprocesssetoutinthepolicyandguide-linesasmodiedbythecon-sultationprocessagreement.HeaddedthatwordingfromthelandmarkMikisewCreecourtdecisionwasincludedinthepolicyatthebehestof