Indigenous Resistance to Alberta Oil and Gas Development
Indigenous Climate Action (ICA) is dedicated to raising awareness about the impacts of climate change on Indigenous communities and advocating for just solutions that respect Indigenous sovereignty, knowledge, and cultural practices. As we navigate the complexities posed by this climate crisis, it is vital to address the intentional lack of choice afforded to Indigenous communities by predatory oil and gas industries and government officials.
Alberta is quite unique with consideration to oil and gas projects, as this province is home to the largest extractive project on planet Earth - the Alberta Tar Sands, which are the size of New York state. At the most recent Conference of Parties (COP 28) in Dubai, UAE, Alberta was awarded the ‘Fossil of the Day’ for being "the best at being the worst and doing the most to do the least," as outlined by the Climate Action Network. This award is typically reserved for countries as a whole, but Alberta served as the provincial exception for consistently barring genuine climate action at both the national and international levels. While the Albertan government persistently tries to expand the Alberta Tar Sands, Indigenous resistance across Alberta is ever present and steadfast and collectively reminds us of the importance of a Just Transition to equitable climate solutions and Indigenous-led energy projects.
Participation Due to Lack of Meaningful Choice
In collaboration with ICA, Ecojustice prepared the 2021 report, Indigenous Resistance to Alberta Oil and Gas Development. This report sheds light on the widespread and sustained Indigenous resistance to oil and gas expansion across Alberta in response to the Public Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns. Although the Inquiry characterizes Indigenous opposition as a “vocal minority,” this report reveals a crucial landscape of Indigenous concerns and oppositions spanning the entire province for over three decades.
In ‘Appendix 1’ of this report, the research identifies 131 accounts of Indigenous resistances to oil and gas development across Alberta. This opposition does not form one uniform stance, as it varies based on the community’s perception of risks, impacts, and benefits of each oil and gas project, as well as the effectiveness of the engagement process. The report showcases the multifaceted nature of Indigenous resistances, which cannot be reduced to a simplistic binary of either “support” or “opposition.”
“Therefore, Indigenous groups’ “support” or “cooperation” in the regulatory process does not reflect a real choice, as Indigenous groups instead have often felt they have no choice but to participate to make sure they get something out of the process, as opposed to the nothing they would get for only formally opposing the project. Thus, Indigenous “cooperation” does not necessarily equate with consent, and more often is instead accompanied by significant unresolved concerns.”
Indigenous Resistance to Alberta Oil and Gas Development, p. 9
A photo taken from the Kearl site in northern Alberta. Photo: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.
A tailings pond at Imperial Oil's Kearl Lake oilsands operation north of Fort McMurray on February 25, 2023. Image by Nicholas Vardy for Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation
One crucial finding is the inadequacy of regulatory processes in addressing Indigenous concerns, complaints or formal oppositions. Despite Indigenous resistance, regulatory bodies like the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) have created systemic imbalances that continue to marginalize and undermine Indigenous voices, sovereignty and ways of knowing that have been informed by relations with the lands and waters outside of colonial records of time.
In February 2023, 5.3 million liters of toxic industrial wastewater leaked from Imperial Oil’s Kearl Mine in the Tar Sands into the Athabasca watershed and surrounding environment for over 9 months before any Indigenous communities were notified. Nearly a year after this spill, the AER decided that Imperial Oil was not at fault because this company did ‘not breach any regulatory policies or procedures.’ This Ecojustice report highlights how oil and gas industries fail to provide meaningful avenues for Indigenous communities to voice their opposition or have a say in what is reaped from their unceded territories, while minimizing the apocalyptic consequences of waste mismanagement on the health and livelihoods of all beings that are forced to live alongside mega-extractive projects.
“In the majority of cases where an Indigenous community expressed concern, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) dismissed that party as not directly (nor) adversely affected. In making these dismissal decisions, the AER uses an interpretation of the ‘directly and adversely affected’ test which sets an inappropriately high threshold for Indigenous groups. According to the AER’s decisions, Indigenous groups must establish that they have rights in the project area, that the proposed activity might interfere with those rights, and that it exercises those rights in that particular area. According to the AER, evidence of use must be incredibly specific and detailed, such that even affidavits from members of the concerned Indigenous group stating that they make some use of the project area are insufficient.”
Indigenous Resistance to Alberta Oil and Gas Development, p. 8
Consultation Does Not Equal consent
Many Indigenous communities across Alberta have resorted to frontline resistances and lengthy legal battles to reinforce a constitutional right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), reflecting years of devastating experiences with half-hearted engagement attempts and unfulfilled promises.
FPIC is a specific right granted to Indigenous Peoples, recognized in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which aligns with the universal right to self-determination. FPIC upholds the rights of Indigenous Peoples to provide, withhold, or withdraw consent, at any point, regarding projects impacting their territories. It also allows Indigenous Peoples to engage in negotiations to shape the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of projects. When UNDRIP was first negotiated at the United Nations in 2007, staunch rivals of this Declaration included the settler-states that have, both historically and currently, displaced and disenfranchised their Indigenous populations, such as so-called Canada, the United States, and Australia. Canada initially viewed this Declaration as 'inconsistent with the [Canadian] Charter,' and it took nearly a decade after the General Assembly for them to remove their ‘objector status’ and enshrine UNDRIP within Canadian law.
It takes decades, sometimes even centuries, for colonial societies and western thought to catch up to Indigenous science and our interdependent ways of living alongside the lands, waters, and all of our non-human kin. Frontline and legal Indigenous resistances to the expansion of oil and gas projects in Alberta stems not only from environmental and socioeconomic concerns, but also from a deep-seated distrust of a colonial legal system that relies on our continued complacency and erasure as sovereign Indigenous Peoples.
“Such behavior is indicative of the colonial legal framework in which oil and gas projects operate in Canada, namely a system which provides no meaningful choice to Indigenous groups over how their traditional territories are used by settler society.”
This unwavering resistance is truly a testament to Indigenous agency, resiliency, and commitment to protecting the land, water, and air for future generations.
In summary, this Ecojustice report exposes the harms of dismissing Indigenous voices and resistances as a “vocal minority” to continued oil and gas expansion across Alberta, while calling for a paradigm shift in how these projects are approved and regulated. The Public Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns failed to acknowledge the rights and perspectives of Indigenous Peoples, while downplaying the catastrophic consequences of exponential growth in the Tar Sands and other oil and gas projects across Alberta. By amplifying Indigenous voices and recognizing their inherent rights, we can pave the way for genuine climate action and environmental justice in Alberta and beyond.
Keep Learning
Read the 2021 report prepared by Ecojustice in collaboration with ICA, Indigenous Resistance to Alberta Oil and Gas Development
Check out the Just Transition Guide to learn more about how Indigenous communities are leading the collective shift to renewable energies across Turtle Island
Learn more about Indigenous-led climate action initiatives through the Grounding Our Work In What Has Come Before report.
About the Author
Willo Prince (they/them) is Carrier Dakelh from Nak’azdli Whut’en, otherwise known as ‘the place where arrowheads fly.’ They currently live on the lands of the W̱SÁNEĆ, Esquimalt and Songhees Nations in so-called Victoria, BC, and work as the Education Coordinator with Indigenous Climate Action.