Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN)

Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for

Shell Canada’s Proposed Jackpine Mine Expansion

September 29, 2012

Alistair MacDonald (The Firelight Group Research Cooperative) Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for Shell Canada’s Proposed Jackpine Mine Expansion

Disclaimer

The information contained in this report is based on research conducted by The Firelight Group Research Cooperative in 2012, as well as published works and archival research. It reflects the understanding of the author, and is not a complete depiction of the dynamic and living system of use and knowledge maintained by ACFN elders and members. The information contained herein should not be construed as to define, limit or otherwise constrain the Treaty and aboriginal rights of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation or other First Nations or aboriginal peoples.

Authored by: Alistair MacDonald (The Firelight Group Research Cooperative)

On behalf of: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN)

Submitted to: The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) for transmittal to the Joint Review Panel for the Shell Jackpine Mine Expansion Project

September 29, 2012

Extended Summary

This report provides information about social, economic and cultural change experienced by the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) and its members over time and anticipated in the future, especially in relation to impacts from the oil sands sector generally, and the proposed Shell Canada (Shell or the Proponent) Jackpine Mine Expansion (JPME or the Project). The perspectives of ACFN members, gathered through community-based sessions, are the primary sources for the data. Shell provided funding for this study, which was designed to directly engage ACFN members and fill some of the gaps identified in the Proponent’s socio-economic and cultural impact assessments in support of the Project.

Jackpine Mine Expansion Project Description

The proposed Jackpine Mine Expansion (JPME) would be an open pit oil sands mine located within the Muskeg River watershed immediately south of the Firebag River. If approved, the JPME would increase the maximum rate of production at the current Jackpine Mine and allow active mining to continue until at least 2050. The total land proposed to be disturbed by the combined mine is approximately 21,000 hectares. Development of the JPME would entail diverting multiple streams, the construction of new infrastructure, facilities, and an external tailings disposal area. It is understood at this time, but open to confirmation, that Shell proposes to continue a fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) option for Fort Chipewyan residents. The Proponent predicts the JPME would cause no unacceptable environmental or socioeconomic effects if the Proponent’s proposed mitigation and monitoring is put in place.

Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in Context

The ACFN is part of the larger Dené sułine cultural group, whose traditional territories include portions of what is now the NWT, Nunavut and northern Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. ACFN members have used the Peace and Athabasca Rivers, Delta, and tributaries for thousands of years for hunting, trapping, fishing, harvesting resources for their sustenance, and other cultural practices. There is a strong perception among ACFN members that the right to continue these practices, guaranteed by Treaty 8, have been infringed upon by government policy and industry uptake of lands over time.

From the late 18th to the early 20th century, trapping for the fur trade was an integral component of the ACFN economy. With the rise of the registered trapline system and increased competition from non-Aboriginal hunters in the 1920s, followed by declining furbearer populations and declining fur prices in the late 1960s, reliance on government assistance for basic sustenance became common. Water levels fell throughout the Peace Athabasca Delta after the construction of the WAC Bennett dam in 1968, resulting in adverse effects on land accessibility and wildlife populations, and prompting many ACFN members to move off reserve lands to Fort Chipewyan, where they encountered an acute housing shortage which persists to the present day.

In addition to the displacement from land and depletion of food resources caused by dam construction, early 20th century government policies and initiatives were responsible for the disruption of families through the placement of children in residential schools, and the suppression of cultural practices, ceremonies, skills, and languages. These are perceived to have led directly to current high levels of social dysfunction and substance abuse.

Oil Sands Impacts in Context

Early oil sands developments were seen as both a boon and a burden: while some welcomed the increased wage and economic opportunities, others observed the early pollution effects on the land and the out-migration of job-seekers from Fort Chipewyan, which caused family disruptions. In the 1980s, the environmental effects of the oil sands started being felt along the Athabasca River and in ACFN’s traditional territory. ACFN elders reported that they stopped fishing on the Athabasca River downstream from the oil sands primary disturbance zone shortly after a Suncor oil spill in 1982, which is also blamed for helping close the commercial fishing sector.

Rapid expansion of oil sands development in the 1990s resulted in a regional population boom and a more robust wage economy in the 2000s. Industry development has been accompanied by an observed decline closer to Fort Chipewyan in ecosystem and human health, a decrease in meaningful access to land, and reduced ACFN member ability to practice their land-based culture. In 1995, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo was created, in part to respond to the oil- sands-sector-driven, exponential population growth in Fort McMurray. With this new administrative body came feelings of political and economic marginalization in smaller, outlying RMWB communities including Fort Chipewyan.

ACFN Values and Valued Social, Economic and Cultural Components

Cultural and social priorities identified by ACFN members are primarily related to a desire for the continued ability to: practice a traditional way of life (including the meaningful practice of Treaty 8 rights and the retention and passing on of traditional knowledge and cultural practices); maintain a healthy environment; keep and strengthen family ties (through strong social values of respect, sharing, reciprocity and fairness, and strong extended family units); keep and strengthen community services and relations (through effective governance, infrastructure and housing development, and education improvement and diversification); sustain physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health (through better access to health services, social services, and substance abuse programs); and encourage economic sustainability (through the management of food and fuel prices, business development, and active participation, reciprocity and sharing in benefits of development plans).

ACFN Key Concerns Regarding Effects of Changes to the Land

ACFN’s traditional territory has, since time immemorial, provided all of the necessary physical means to support human survival, especially through the provision of adequate and clean water and country food. Connection to land also provides a spiritual and cultural sense of identity and solace. The area that would be impacted by the JPME is an important part of ACFN traditional territory. In particular, ACFN members express strong attachment to the Poplar Point Reserve, which is used as a home, gathering place, harvesting site, and for other cultural practices. One ACFN member has a trapline that would be 60 per cent impacted if the JPME proceeds as proposed. The project has the potential to cause cultural, spiritual, and harvesting losses; psycho-social effects; and a loss of connection to the land. No beneficial changes to the land were identified as possible results from the development of the area.

As proposed, the JPME will limit the ACFN’s ability to practice a traditional way of life, as it will cause a physical reduction of the area available for traditional harvesting (due to the project footprint); a reduction in wildlife numbers and altered distribution (through habitat fragmentation, sensory disturbance effect, reduced vegetation abundance, etc.); bioaccumulation of toxins in the food chain; reduced access to lands (because of fencing, gating, security patrols, reduced water level on waterways); increased access to outsiders; sensory disturbances; increased air emissions and deposition; and physical destruction and re-routing of waterways.

Social Effects of Changes on the Land

Human health effects are the most prevalent of all social concerns. These are manifest in concerns about air quality (both particulate matter and noxious gases); surface and ground water quality (for human and wildlife use); contamination of country foods (through water, land, and air pollution); and psycho-social effects of land changes and destruction. Perceived health risks in the environment have multiple impacts: fear of wildlife being exposed to pollution contributes to a lack of faith in the safety of country foods, which can lead to reduced consumption of country food, with attendant negative outcomes for human health, all of which contribute to a loss of access and enjoyment of traditional activities on the land. Increased use of the winter road and highway by oil sands traffic also pose a threat to public health and safety.

Reductions in hunting and harvesting activities have led to a loss of community cohesion, according to some ACFN members. Changes in water levels, along with a decline in trust in water quality, have disrupted recreational swimming activities. Contamination concerns and the inconvenience and cost of accessing more-distant, less-disturbed areas limit the community’s ability to engage in traditional, cultural, and recreational activities.

Economic Effects of Changes on the Land

Noise, traffic, and loss of access have made trapping and hunting difficult in traditional areas, and have resulted in displacement and increased fuel costs as harvesters have to travel further afield, increased travel time as hunters are alienated from preferred, local hunting grounds, and the need for water and supplies to travel further afield to find suitable hunting and gathering grounds. Changes to water flows also produce increased costs because of damage to boats from rocks and other hazards usually under deeper water, and increased travel time due to reduced speed.

Many members rely on foods purchased at the Northern store, even though these are less preferred, often of poor quality, and sold at inflated prices. The decreasing availability of and decreasing faith in country food, along with the higher costs associated with their procurement, are leading to decreased food security and a loss of self-sufficiency. Declining population numbers for fur-bearers (due to ecological stressors and increased competition from non-aboriginal hunters) and reduced access to trapping areas also reduce the community’s ability to be economically self- sufficient through trapping, commercial hunting and fishing, and eco-tourism ventures.

Cultural Effects of Changes on the Land

Cumulatively, development projects have limited the amount, quality, and distribution of land available for the meaningful practice of Treaty rights and maintenance of ACFN culture through barriers such as gates and fences, irritants such as noise pollution and increased traffic, and physical disruptions such as built infrastructure and roads. Industrial damage is limiting elders’ ability to teach skills that would allow the next generations to live on the land as their predecessors did. This, in turn affects youths’ willingness to adopt a traditional way of life, and reduces the transference of traditional knowledge from one generation to the next, including practical skills, spiritual and ceremonial practices, and cultural values.

The psycho-social impacts of cultural losses suffered through changes to the land include a general sense of alienation from traditional land, a loss of hope for the sustenance of traditional culture over time, and the disruption of traditional family and community structures.

ACFN Key Concerns Regarding Effects of Changes at the Community and Regional Level

The social, economic, and cultural effects of the JPME are predicted to be strongly adverse for ACFN members living on the land, but there are both adverse and positive effects for those living in Fort Chipewyan and Fort McMurray: improvements to infrastructure and opportunities for employment, education, and training have been beneficial consequences of past developments, while out- migration from the community, social dysfunction, and economic and impact inequities have been negative consequences.

Social Effects – Changes in Communities and Region

Temporary displacement and/or permanent out-migration to access education, training and jobs; increased exposure to social dysfunction risks, particularly drugs and alcohol; and reduced connection to culture, extended family and core values are cited as negative social consequences of oil sands developments. Continual fluctuations in population numbers are having negative effects on the ability of community planners to anticipate needs and provide adequate housing for residents of Fort Chipewyan and Fort McMurray, needs that are further impeded by the accessibility of land, materials, and labour for building.

Less access to traditional livelihoods has resulted in an increased reliance on education and an increased desire for higher-quality and more diverse (non-oil- sands-related) options in the community. The sense that the oil industry is the only employment option in the community has led some ACFN members to feel mental stress; experience social and cultural conflicts in the workplace; feel limitation in their options for meaningful work; feel powerless to control their futures; and experience a dissociation from traditional culture. The latter are cited as factors contributing to youth suicide rates. Costs and logistics associated with seeking employment and education outside Fort Chipewyan are prohibitive to many ACFN members, and have the potential to disrupt community and family dynamics.

The influx of non-Aboriginal oil sands workers in the region affects the availability of health and social services, through increased demand (particularly by those who suffer mental health and dysfunction issues related to work conditions), reduced availability of service providers, and increased pressure on transportation and accommodation required by those seeking services not available in their home community.

These impact pathways contribute to the rising communal and individual anxiety in Fort Chipewyan and may be causing adverse mental and physical health outcomes.

Economic Effects – Changes in Communities and Region

The number of aboriginal workers in oil sands jobs has increased steadily since the late 1990s, though the percentage of aboriginals in the oil sands workforce remains at 10 per cent or less. Large differences in salary and employment rates exist between men and women in the aboriginal workforce. Aboriginal workers report cases of racism in hiring and layoff practices, as well as on the job. ACFN members face obstacles in securing long-lasting employment in oil sands operations, particularly because of lack of education, training, skills, or a driver’s license; inability to pass drug and alcohol testing; and lack of opportunity for advancement to positions considered meaningful by ACFN members, resulting in a high turn-over rate. Companies operating in the oil sands have supported training initiatives and funded educational programs for ACFN members.

The potential for an increased draw of ACFN members back into the community due to Fort Chipewyan being a point of hire and fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) location for the JPME was identified as a benefit by a large majority of respondents. Drawbacks of the FIFO programs include the length and stress of rotation schedules and the social and family dysfunction that may result from long absences of the working family member(s).

The ACFN Business Group has been successful in supporting business development, including in securing contracts within the oils sands sector, performing over $1.3 billion in contract work in 2010. It comprises six wholly-owned companies and seven joint ventures, with a current total workforce of 1,250. Business development hurdles have included the difficulties in penetrating the oil sands market and competition with oil sands companies for skilled workers.

Both Fort McMurray and Fort Chipewyan experience a high cost of living, particularly in terms of the cost of fuel, food, and building materials. Seniors and people on fixed incomes are acutely affected.

Cultural Effects – Changes in the Communities and Region

No beneficial effects of oil sands on ACFN culture were identified. Detrimental effects on culture include: the increased out-migration to Fort McMurray, which reduces exposure to land-based culture, cultural programming and little in the way of services; increased on the land impacts in the Fort McMurray region causing avoidance of ACFN members of the land, and thereby reducing the access to cultural benefits (i.e., sense of well-being from being out on the land); and reduced adherence to Dene cultural values due to increased reliance on the wage economy and exposure to “Western industrial” value set.

Particular Concerns for Youth

Priorities raised by youth included primarily social and cultural issues. Health concerns included fears of disease, wild food contamination, and social drug use. Lack of recreational opportunities, poor quality of education, and lack of training and education opportunities for non-oil sands work are also prominent social concerns. Cultural concerns include those associated with limited opportunities to practice a traditional way of life, particularly because of environmental changes or destruction. These include water quantity and quality issues that affect access to cabins, loss of wildlife and country foods, limited opportunities to get out on the land, and general loss of culture and language. High unemployment is the youth respondents’ primary economic concern.

Particular Concerns for Elders

Priority concerns of elders focused around changes on the land, including health and cancer risk from contamination, air contamination, water quality, water quantity, and the loss of livelihood from trapping. Elders’ concerns about environmental degradation extend to the potential effect on plants and animals, including the loss of abundance of berries, animals, birds, waterfowl, wild vegetables and fruit. Persistent poverty, the high costs of housing and of procuring country foods or store-bought foods, the inaccessibility of health care in Fort Chipewyan, and cultural shifts in the value of respect for elders have led to their economic and social marginalization.

Discussion of Impact Significance

No formal estimation of significance is made in this Report. Given that significance is based on subjective values, engagement of the ACFN in a formal significance estimation exercise is strongly recommended. However, the author offers the following observations that may contribute to significance estimations:

There is a demonstrably high level of existing adverse effects from oil sands development on ACFN traditional lands. These adverse effects have been well documented by, and are the cause of substantial public concern for and anxiety around, the ACFN and its members. The Project as proposed has a strong likelihood to contribute additional adverse effects to already significant adverse residual effects on ACFN social and cultural conditions. The Project as proposed has already been estimated by Candler (2011, 3) to be “likely to have significant adverse residual effects on specific ACFN knowledge and use values” on portions of the ACFN’s traditional territory. From an overall cultural effects perspective, the Project as proposed has a high potential to contribute additional incremental adverse effects to Dene way of life, time spent on the land by ACFN members, enjoyment and connection with traditional lands, and cultural transmission. The Project as proposed has strong potential to contribute to an already existing high level of psycho-social anxiety strongly related to oil sands development, which is already demonstrably impacting on ACFN well-being and quality of life. The Project as proposed is likely to contribute in an incremental fashion to what many ACFN members already perceive and express as a significant reduction in human and ecological health status in the traditional territory of the ACFN and, increasingly, the community of Fort Chipewyan. Generally, the Project has the potential to marginally beneficially impact on ACFN economic conditions, but on balance ACFN members may not feel the tradeoffs required to the environment, human health, ACFN way of life, well- being and social and cultural conditions required to benefit from an incremental increase in wage economic activity, are acceptable. There is increasing evidence that ACFN members do not feel the tradeoffs required to the environment, human health, ACFN way of life, well-being and quality of life, to benefit from an incremental increase in wage economic activity from any new oil sands development, are acceptable and worth the risk. The author suggests the Panel adopt a multi-faceted sustainability criteria test for its significance determination.

Mitigation and Monitoring Recommendations for Impacts on the Land

Both ACFN members’ and the author’s recommendations for proactive mitigation and monitoring to partially manage and track the effects of the JPME are provided in this Report. Please note that these recommendations do not constitute adequate measures to deal with all potential adverse effects of the JPME. Some adverse effects may be deemed significant and unmitigable by the ACFN.

Stopping additional oil sands development is seen as the most efficient way to prevent further impacts on the land. Mitigations suggested to boost the resilience of the ACFN to manage the cultural loss associated with reduced access to their traditional lands include funding for culture programs related to land-based knowledge that involve both elders and school-age children, and expanded teaching of Chipewyan language in the school system. Funding to subsidize the increased costs of going on the land, including the need for an alternative drinking water supply, would further bolster the community’s ability to adapt to alienation from local, preferred areas, and attendant higher travel costs.

More effective and continuous environmental and human health monitoring systems are recommended, including: additional training and implementation for ACFN members in a project-specific and downstream community-based monitoring system; support for implementation of a full baseline community health study; and continual human health monitoring. Studies on and monitoring of the consumption of country foods and its relative health and safety are also recommended.

Mitigation and Monitoring Recommendations for Effects at the Community and Regional Level

Community- and regional-level effects can be mitigated by making social services more accessible and affordable through community-based governance, community- focused programming, and funding and support mechanisms. Support and funding are recommended for education and training programs, initiatives to reduce housing pressures, programs to combat social dysfunction, workplace improvement initiatives, governance to enable greater stewardship for ACFN members, policies that enable and maximize ACFN employment and business development, and cultural programming that increases opportunities for ACFN members to practice land-based activities and reinforce their cultural values. A socio-economic monitoring program for the community should be initiated to follow up on the successes and challenges of the proposed mitigation measures.

ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

Table of Contents

Extended Summary ...... 3

1 Introduction and Outline of the Report ...... 1 1.1 Purpose of the Report ...... 1 1.2 Community-based Socio-economic and Cultural Impact Assessment ...... 3 1.3 Layout of the Report ...... 5 1.4 Authors of the Report ...... 6

2 Methods ...... 8 2.1 Methods of Data Collection and Analysis ...... 8 2.2 Temporal and Geographic Scope of Assessment ...... 10 2.3 Assessment Framework — ACFN-Defined Well-being and Quality of Life ... 14 2.4 Limitations of the Report ...... 17

3 The Project – the Jackpine Mine Expansion (JPME) ...... 18

4 The Weight of Recent History: Cumulative Effects on the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation ...... 20 4.1 Traditional Way of Life of the ACFN ...... 20 4.2 Cumulative Effects on ACFN Society, Economy and Culture ...... 21

5 What Matters Most: ACFN Values, Goals and Aspirations ...... 34 5.1 ACFN Values ...... 34 5.2 Previously Identified ACFN Priorities, Goals and Aspirations ...... 36 5.3 Priorities, Goals and Aspirations Identified through Focus Groups and Interviews ...... 39 5.4 What Matters Most: ACFN Valued Social, Economic & Culturl Components 42

6 Pathways and Impact Outcomes for ACFN From Changes to the Land ...... 44 6.1 Introduction ...... 44 6.2 Effects on the Land Causing Social, Economic & Cultural Impacts on ACFN 47 6.3 Social Impacts of Physical Changes on the Land ...... 51 6.4 Economic Impacts of Changes on the Land ...... 61

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6.5 Cultural Impacts of Changes on the Land ...... 66 6.6 Summary of Impacts of Changes on the Land on ACFN Society, Economy and Culture ...... 73

7 Community-Level Effects of Oil Sands on ACFN Society, Economy and Culture .. 76 7.1 Introduction ...... 76 7.2 Social Effects of Oil Sands in Communities ...... 77 7.3 Economic Effects of Oil Sands in Communities ...... 100 7.4 Cultural Effects of Oil Sands in Communities ...... 107 7.5 Summary of Community Level Effects of Oil Sands on the ACFN ...... 108

8 Promoting Well-Being for ACFN Youth and Elders ...... 111 8.1 Concerns and Priorities for ACFN Youth ...... 111 8.2 Concerns and Priorities for ACFN Elders ...... 114

9 Analysis and Recommendations ...... 118 9.1 Social, Economic and Cultural Impact Considerations ...... 118 9.2 Significance Considerations ...... 129 9.3 Mitigation and Monitoring Recommendations ...... 134 9.4 Recommended Further Work ...... 143

10 Closure ...... 145

References Cited ...... 146

Appendix A: Potential Criteria for a Human Environmental Monitoring System for First Nations in the Oil Sands Region ...... 157

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Abbreviations and Acronyms Used in this Report

Acronym/Abbreviation Full Name/Title

ACFN, or the Nation Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation

ACFN IRC Industrial Relations Corporation of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation

ATC Athabasca Tribal Council

FIFO Fly-in, fly-out

Firelight The Firelight Group Research Cooperative

JPME Shell’s proposed Jackpine Mine Expansion Project

JRP or Panel Joint Review Panel for the Shell Jackpine Mine Expansion Project

km kilometre

MCFN Mikisew Cree First Nation

MCFN GIR Mikisew Cree First Nation – Government and Industry Relations (Department)

PAD Peace Athabasca Delta

RMWB Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo

SEIA Socio-economic Impact Assessment

Shell, or the Proponent Shell Canada Inc.

SIR Supplemental Information Request (from the Joint Review Panel)

TUOS Traditional Use and Occupancy Study

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1 Introduction and Outline of the Report

1.1 Purpose of the Report

This Report provides information about social, economic and cultural change experienced by the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) and its members over time and anticipated in the future, especially in relation to beneficial (good) and adverse (bad) impact from the oil sands sector. It identifies, based largely on input from community members and staff:

Key values, goals, aspirations, and associated valued social, economic and cultural components, of the ACFN and its members; ACFN perspectives on the current status of those valued components; ACFN perspectives on the effects of the oil sands sector and other cumulative developments on those valued components; and Potential impacts of the proposed Shell Canada (Shell or the Proponent) Jackpine Mine Expansion (JPME) south of Fort Chipewyan on traditional ACFN lands, on the social, economic and cultural well- being and quality of life of the ACFN and its members.

Specific ACFN concerns about the impacts of the JPME – alone and in combination with other factors changing social, economic and cultural conditions among the ACFN and its members – have been documented through primary data collection at the community level. Review of other secondary documents was also conducted, including previous submissions by the ACFN to regulators about the JPME and other oil sands developments.

1.1.1 Study Rationale

“Lake Athabasca as an integral part of the MacKenzie River system and its influence on the ecology of the Delta, have been dealt with in some detail. However, there has been no attempt made to draw a clear picture of the region as a place where people live, raise families, build communities and interact with each other to weave a unique fabric of social and economic activities to which their lives are tied... The human dimension that is the catalyst in a region’s growth – life style, human values, community structure and leadership – cannot be expressed by a recital of raw statistics. Some knowledge of the elusive quality of the human aspect is essential to the www.thefirelightgroup.com 1 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

understanding of the problems of the region.” — Peace-Athabasca Delta Project Group (1972, 39).

What was true in 1972 remains true today. The recital of raw statistics cannot uncover the essence of the human environmental conditions and concerns of the people of Fort Chipewyan, including ACFN members. The ACFN has strongly criticized the Proponent’s previous socio-economic and cultural impact assessment efforts because they have failed to provide the Joint Review Panel (JRP or the Panel) with proper contextual information about how ACFN members live, what they care to protect and what risks they seek to avoid. Shell’s submissions have not included essential information about what ACFN members value, how they have been and will continue to be impacted by oil sands development, and what they think should be done to prevent adverse change and promote maximum benefits for the ACFN from the JPME.

The JRP issued Supplemental Information Requests (SIRs) in January 2012 to shore up information deficits in the Application materials. The Panel’s SIR 30 stated the following:

1.1.1.1 Aboriginal Rights and Interests

30) Shell states, in its January 18 response under Aboriginal Rights and Interests, page 36 that “In consideration of the TEK and TLU information available, Shell is undertaking to assess cultural effects.”

The Panel’s Terms of Reference indicate that the Joint Review Panel shall consider any effects (including the effects related to increased access and fragmentation of habitat) on hunting, fishing, trapping, cultural and other traditional uses of the land (e.g., collection of medicinal plants, use of sacred sites), as well as related effects on lifestyle, culture, health and quality of life of Aboriginal persons. The Panel requests that Shell:

a) ensure that the above requirements are included in its assessment of the cultural effects and provide a date of when this assessment will be made available to the Panel; and

b) ensure Shell’s assessment includes the potential effects specific to each First Nation or Aboriginal group.

The Panel’s SIR 32 stated:

32) As related effects on lifestyle, culture and quality of life of the Aboriginal peoples are of interest to the Panel (Terms of reference, Part III – Scope of the factors) and that the Alberta Environment Terms of Reference, section 10,

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provides for an assessment of the socio-economic factors. The Panel requests that Shell:

a) provide an assessment of the socio-economic effects for each First Nation or Aboriginal group respecting Aboriginal rights and interests before and after reclamation (Environment Canada and ERCB 2012).

At the request of the ACFN, The Firelight Group Research Cooperative (Firelight) previously conducted third party sufficiency reviews of both the “Cultural Assessment” conducted by Golder (Golder Associates 2012) in response to SIR 30 from the JRP and the “Assessment of Socio-economic Effects on Aboriginal Groups” by Nichols (Nichols Applied Management 2012) done in response to SIR 32. The results of those sufficiency reviews were filed with the JRP on August 3, 2012. Those reviews stand alone and their critiques are by and large are not reiterated here.

However, among the gaps identified in those third party reviews (MacDonald and G. Gibson 2012; MacDonald and D. Gibson 2012), the lack of a community perspective in both assessments was at the forefront in both. In neither case did the Proponent incorporate primary information (e.g., from interviews or focus groups) or show evidence of close analysis and incorporation of a variety of socio-economic and cultural concerns raised by the Nation in previous regulatory submissions or other readily available secondary documents.

It is this particular gap – that is, the failure to incorporate the perspectives of the members of the First Nation being studied – that this supplemental socio-economic and cultural assessment submission is primarily structured to overcome. The focus here is on issues, concerns, goals, aspirations, values and experiences of the ACFN and its members themselves. This Report provide the JRP with a more individualized portrait of what the ACFN believes in, seeks to protect, desires and fears, and how the oil sands in general and the JPME in particular have and may continue to impact on the Nations’ rights and interests. It does so largely in the words of the Nation and its members themselves.

1.2 Community-based Socio-economic and Cultural Impact Assessment

Socio-economic and cultural impact assessments are environmental assessments that focus on people – that is, where “people matter.” They assess the effects of change caused by project-specific and cumulative industrial development by looking beyond the project site to the human situation. Impacts1 can be beneficial (good),

1 The terms “impacts” and “effects” are used synonymously throughout this Report. Both imply only a change, not directionality (good or bad). www.thefirelightgroup.com 3 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

adverse (bad), or have different outcomes on different people, demographic sub- groups, communities, and culture groups.

It is exactly because of this potential for different impacts between different groups that impact assessment on the human environment is most effectively conducted at the community or culture group-specific level (O’Faircheallaigh 2009; Knight et al. 1993). Such community-focused assessment recognizes that each community has different:

Vulnerabilities (weaknesses in the face of externally imposed adverse change) and resilience (strengths available to take advantage of change or to avoid negative outcomes); and Values, goals and priorities. People who live in New York City (and, arguably, Fort McMurray) may have different aspirations and visions of the future than people born and raised in Fort Chipewyan. These differences need to be recognized, and impact assessment must be filtered through these unique lenses.

In the context of decision-making in environmental impact assessments, the purpose of socio-economic and cultural impact assessment is to provide decision- makers with a better understanding of the above-noted factors and other related considerations – for example, the ability of different groups to take advantage of economic development and the distribution of impact equity (“who wins and who loses” from a project’s development). In this case, the information provided by the Proponent was fundamentally insufficient to provide a contextual picture of the ACFN and its members.

In the author’s experience, the best way to find out what matters most to a select group, and to dig deeper into the issues underlying how different communities and culture groups experience, are affected by, and take advantage of change, is to work with the community members themselves. Effective socio-economic and cultural impact assessment requires having communities involved in determining appropriate valued components, criteria and indicators of change, and talking to community members themselves about impacts, their causes, their significance, and potential management solutions.

Such was the case in this community-focused appraisal of oil sands and JPME- specific effects on the ACFN and its members. This assessment, in addition to reviewing the developer’s submissions and collecting factual documentation specific to the ACFN:

Gathered secondary information submitted previously by the Nation (much of it specific to the JPME) which identifies potential impacts and concerns on the human environment from an ACFN-perspective; Was facilitated and run between ACFN IRC and Firelight;

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Engaged a broad cross-section of ACFN members in dialogue about what matters most to their well-being and quality of life, their values, goals and aspirations, and how oil sands have impacted those priorities and changed their lives for better and worse over time; and Encouraged and captured mitigation and monitoring recommendations by ACFN members and staff to at least partially reduce the adverse impacts they have encountered and expect to encounter from the JPME, and to maximize benefits from the Project as a partial compensatory measure for expected adverse effects.

1.3 Layout of the Report

The Report is organized into 10 sections, including this introduction:

Section 2 identifies the methods used to gather and analyze information, the temporal and geographic scope of assessment, the assessment framework, and limitations to the Report. Section 3 provides a summary description of relevant socio-economic aspects of the Project based on documentation provided by the Proponent. Section 4 provides contextual information regarding changes to the human environmental conditions of the ACFN over time, with emphasis on cumulative social, economic and cultural change over time and its causes. Section 5 identifies, based on secondary research and direct engagement with ACFN members and staff, some of the key social, economic and cultural values, goals and aspirations of the ACFN, and associated valued social, economic and cultural components. Section 6 identifies and examines priority issues and concerns of the ACFN about the effects of changes to the land on their society, economy and culture, as well as identifying potential impacts caused or contributed to by the Project. Section 7 identifies and examines priority issues and concerns of ACFN members about the effects of the oil sands in the community and regional society, culture and economy, and identifies potential impacts caused or contributed to by the Project. This includes an examination of the degree to which ACFN members can reasonably expect to access economic benefits to partially offset environmental, social, economic and cultural costs associated with the JPME and ongoing oil sands development.

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Section 8 highlights specific concerns regarding, the effects of, oil sands development on ACFN youth and elders. Section 9 summarizes, based on the information available, the Project’s likely influence on ACFN society, economy and culture, alone and in combination with other past, present and reasonably foreseeable future developments. It examines the potential implications of the JPME for the ACFN and its members across a series of important human environmental themes such as impact equity, the ability to take advantage of benefits, futures foregone, and psycho- social impacts. Section 9 also identifies recommended mitigation and monitoring mechanisms to reduce adverse impacts and maximize benefits to the ACFN and its members from the Project, and additional work required to provide a more fulsome portrait of impacts of oil sands development on the ACFN and its members. Section 10 provides closure to the Report.

The Report includes the following Appendix: Appendix A: Potential Criteria for a Human Environmental Monitoring System for First Nations in the Oil Sands Region CVs of the author and peer reviewer for this Report.

1.4 Authors of the Report

Alistair MacDonald, lead author, is an environmental assessment specialist with eight years of experience working with Aboriginal communities on socio-economic and cultural impact assessment issues, and over a decade of experience in the extractive industries. Mr. MacDonald, a Director of Firelight, has written guidelines for the Mackenzie Valley Review Board on socio-economic impact assessment. He has also written and presented extensively on cultural impact assessment. He has been involved in traditional use and occupancy studies (TUOS), Aboriginal consultation and engagement, and socio-economic and cultural impact assessment across western and northern Canada.

Dr. Ginger Gibson (PhD), internal peer reviewer for Firelight on this Report, is a cultural anthropologist who has authored publications on cultural impact assessment methods and research. She also works for First Nations across western and northern Canada on socio-economic and cultural impact assessment. Dr. Gibson co-authored the Impact and Benefit Agreement (IBA) Community Toolkit with Dr. Ciaran O’Faircheallaigh in 2010, for the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation.

CVs for the lead author and internal peer reviewer are attached to this submission. Diana Gibson, a Firelight Director, was also a valuable member of the Project Team.

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The author and The Firelight Group Research Cooperative would like to thank all of the participants in focus groups and interviews, whose voices informed this submission.

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2 Methods

2.1 Methods of Data Collection and Analysis

2.1.1 General Approach

Upon completion of the sufficiency review of Shell's SIR 30 and 32 responses, submitted by the ACFN to the Panel on August 3, 2012,2 the ACFN decided to move forward with a community-focused social, economic and cultural scoping and effects assessment study to deal with some of the remaining information gaps identified in the sufficiency reviews. Given the breadth of those gaps and the time available, only certain priority work could be completed. The key gaps focused on included a lack of community-based information on ACFN values, priorities, baseline conditions, and the potential for impacts from the JPME on the ACFN’s specific social, economic and cultural environment. Shell provided funding for this study to proceed.

The project was conducted with logistical support provided by ACFN IRC. In addition, ACFN staff identified secondary documents (existing research and other paper and digital documents) that add to the understanding of the baseline conditions and trends in the social, economic and cultural way of life of the ACFN and its members.

2.1.2 Data Collection

Data collection involved:

Collecting existing paper and digital documentation related to social, economic and cultural conditions and impacts on the ACFN, including: o Web-based information, including government and academic research; o Archival information made available by the ACFN; o Previous ACFN regulatory submissions for the JPME and other oil sands developments; and o Notes from previous meetings held by the ACFN regarding socio- economic and cultural scoping issues; Conducting interviews and focus groups in Fort Chipewyan and Fort McMurray in August and September, 2012.

Two visits to the region were conducted, including both Fort McMurray (August 27 and September 12-13, 2012), and Fort Chipewyan (August 28-30 and September

2 MacDonald and G. Gibson (2012); MacDonald and D. Gibson (2012). www.thefirelightgroup.com 8 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

13-14, 2012). Six focus groups and four individual interviews were conducted with a total of 25 ACFN members and seven ACFN staff3, for a total of 32 participants. Focus groups were held with:

ACFN IRC and other Fort McMurray and Fort Chipewyan-based ACFN staff – August 27, 2012; ACFN opinion leaders – August 28, 2012; ACFN female adults – August 29, 2012; ACFN male elders – August 30, 2012; ACFN Chief and Council – September 14, 2012; and ACFN youth – September 14, 2012.

Focus group and interview themes were designed to identify the following:

"What Matters Most" – those elements of community well-being and quality of life that are most important to ACFN members; Values, goals and aspirations for the ACFN and its members; ACFN members' biggest concerns for the future; Which social, economic and cultural issues are most important to ACFN members and which have been changed for better or for worse by oil sands development and how; Potential benefits and adverse impacts likely to be caused by the JPME; and Recommendations to reduce bad change and promote benefits from the JPME.

All interviews and focus groups were facilitated by Firelight staff. The team took a semi-structured approach. Each session focused on key questions and provided the attendees maximum flexibility to direct the conversation towards their values, priorities and concerns for the future. In some cases individuals wrote down their responses on a handout provided. These were incorporated into the focus group or interview notes for subsequent analysis.

Data was collected during the interviews and focus groups via flip chart notes, handwritten or digital notes, and audio taping (later transcribed). All attendees were provided with informed consent sheets to sign before engaging in the interview. All project-related information is the property of the ACFN and will be provided to the ACFN to be stored in an appropriate fashion by the ACFN for archival purposes.

3 Several of the ACFN staff members were also ACFN members. www.thefirelightgroup.com 9 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

2.1.3 Data Analysis

Secondary data analysis involved coding key facts and previously identified impact pathways from existing documents, and inputting information into excel tables by impact theme. Where relevant, proxy or case studies of the effects of industrial development on other Canadian Aboriginal peoples were also incorporated into the identification of potential impact pathways and outcomes.

Primary data analysis involved two Firelight staff, including the author, reading over the transcripts, coding the responses, sharing ideas about themes arising from the data, and selecting quotes that reflected these themes.

The author conducted the initial impact estimation based on the mix of themes and concerns raised in the secondary and primary data and on its prior experience in conducting socio-economic and cultural impact assessments. Given the subjective, value-based nature of significance determination for socio-economic and cultural impact assessment, no formal estimation of significance is provided. However, the author provides analysis that may assist the Nation and the JRP in determining the significance of impacts of the JPME on the ACFN’s well-being and quality of life.

2.2 Temporal and Geographic Scope of Assessment

2.2.1 Temporal Scope

The temporal scope of assessment roughly covers the time period between the start of oil sands development in the 1960s and the time at which ACFN members predict that the JPME would no longer have an impact on the human environment. As such, it represents both a back-cast, to identify the cumulative effects that have shaped and molded ACFN society, economy and culture in the past half-century, and a forward-looking effects assessment of changes predicted for the future.

Major changes to ACFN society and its economy occurred in the late 1960s with a sudden and since un-reversed decline in trapping success and revenues. Trapping was at the time, along with forestry, the primary economic activity in and around Fort Chipewyan (see Section 4). This change, along with the subsequent extremely difficult times in Fort Chipewyan, was not caused by oil sands development – most ACFN members place the majority of blame for this socio-economic crisis period on the WAC Bennett Dam on the Peace River in British Columbia. However, the initial development of the oil sands did contribute substantially to the social, economic and cultural conditions of the ACFN from the 1970s forward in both positive and negative ways. The identification of this “weight of recent history” – all of the (primarily externally imposed) changes on the human environmental conditions of the ACFN – is essential to understanding the context of the ACFN’s current conditions, and the Nation’s vulnerability and resilience to further change. www.thefirelightgroup.com 10 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

The temporal scope of assessment into the future is generally based on timelines of concern raised by community members, some of who focused on the “seven generations” concept, which holds that First Nations planning needs to look at the effects outcomes seven generations into the future.4 Other members expressed shorter-term forward-looking issue horizons, including:

The amount of time it will take until lands and waters impacted by the JPME can be meaningfully used by ACFN members for the practice of Treaty 8 rights. This is estimated at between 50 and 100 years or more by many members; The amount of time before critical components of ACFN culture (e.g., Dene language; cultural skills and knowledge; Dene values like sharing) are irrevocably damaged, often estimated by ACFN members to be within one or two generations; The amount of time before people can no longer live a safe and healthy life in Fort Chipewyan due to contamination from oil sands. Some ACFN members estimated this could be an issue within one generation and may require the community to be abandoned; and The lifetime of the oil sands sector, with fundamental questions regarding: o What will be left for ACFN members to enjoy on the land after the mines are gone; o What benefits, if any, will remain in the community after the oil sands are gone versus what adverse impacts will remain; and o What type of economic, social and cultural lives ACFN people will be able to enjoy after the oil sands are gone.

2.2.2 Geographic Scope of Assessment

The geographic scope of assessment focused on four distinct areas. The first two primarily focus on “land-based impacts,” while the latter two focus on “impacts on community life.” These areas are:

4 There is a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety in the community about how long oil sands impacts will last. For example, one ACFN leader stated (September 14, 2012): “If they’re going to be 30 years within the Jackpine area, regardless of how big their operation is, that’s 30 years of lost – of abuses of that land. Probably maybe in the range of 40 years of habitat in that area. Probably in regards to maybe 500 years in regards to clean drinking water after the tailing ponds and everything are closed up and done away with. So how much have we lost? Generations, like five times, 35 generations to come in regards to you know, our people going back to normal again. We think about seven generations of First Nations people and 500 years of contamination on the soil, that’s 35 generations before they are living a proper life again.” www.thefirelightgroup.com 11 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

1. The JPME Project location and its surroundings, wherever impacts from the Project upon ACFN rights and interests might be felt. Impacts on the ACFN’s human environment from physical changes to the land in and around this location are assessed in Section 6. Figure 1 provides the location of the proposed JPME physical footprint;

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FIGURE 1: GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE OF ASSESSMENT

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2. The traditional territory of the ACFN, including preferred harvesting areas and traditional occupancy areas (especially in the Old Fort Point, Jackfish Lake, and Poplar Point Homelands shown in Figure 1 – as defined in ACFN 2010); 3. The community of Fort Chipewyan. The effects of oil sands development on life in the community are primarily assessed in Section 7; and 4. The community of Fort McMurray and associated oil sands development work environments (primarily camps). The effects of oil sands development on the ACFN who live in or travel to Fort McMurray and these work environments are also assessed in Section 7.

2.3 Assessment Framework — ACFN-Defined Well- being and Quality of Life

“The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples distinguishes two very different ”schools of thought” for impact assessment, namely the “modernist” and “culturalist” approaches. The proponents of industrial projects tend to utilize a “modernist approach” which, at its core, assumes that the expansion of wage opportunities is an unquestionable benefit. Modernists highlight the benefits of a particular development based on variables such as the number of jobs created, the spinoff activities that will accrue, the revenues that the project will generate, and royalties that will be paid to government. Therefore, the negative impacts of a project are either downplayed, are seen as necessary sacrifices for the greater good of society, or are virtually ignored.

A different way of viewing development is from a “culturalist” perspective. This approach recognizes that there are different types of economies that are not solely capitalistic but are viable, healthy, and mixed. For example, First Nations economies rely on wage labour, entrepreneurship, and products from the land. For culturalists, choice of lifestyle is key. Therefore, culturalists assess impacts partly based on cultural intangibles that include the values and the customs of the group.” — West Moberly First Nation Lands Department (2006, 14).

This assessment focuses on a “culturalist” perspective, while still evaluating the ability for the ACFN to take advantage of jobs and other “modern” benefits. The perceptions, beliefs, priorities and values of the ACFN and its members, it is suggested, are the foundation against which change and its effects on the human environment must be considered.

It is understood by the author that the protection and promotion of maximum well- being and quality of life as defined by the ACFN is of particular importance to the ACFN in any assessment of the effects of an oil sands development on the human environment. The ACFN’s overarching question has in the past been “What does the Project mean for ACFN Treaty and Aboriginal rights and overall well-being?” (ACFN

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IRC 2012a, 18) The ACFN has gone on to further define its notion of “well-being” (in ACFN and MCFN 2012):

“Basic determinants of human well-being may be defined in terms of: security; an adequate supply of basic materials for livelihood (e.g. food, shelter, clothing, energy, etc.); personal freedoms; good social relations; and physical health.” (World Health Organization, no date)

The ACFN further define “wellness” as:

“The optimal state of health of individuals and groups. There are two focal concerns: the realization of the fullest potential of an individual physically, psychologically, socially, spiritually and economically, and the fulfillment of one’s role expectations in the family, community, place of worship, workplace and other settings.” (Smith, Tang and Nutbeam 2006)

Aspects of well-being and quality of life focused on by the ACFN in previous assessments and focused on herein include:

Food and water security; Physical and mental health; Age and gender and roles; Intergenerational knowledge transmission; Child and elder care; Disposable income and income-in-kind; and Faith in environmental quality.

The culturalist approach adopted herein also recognizes that a multi-faceted – and not solely or primarily biophysical - approach needs to be taken when considering population health. Figure 2 indicates some key elements of the Public Health Association of Canada’s Social Determinants of Health model (PHAC 2006). This model holds that substantial contributions to one’s overall health come not merely from one’s biological and genetic endowment and physical environmental surroundings, but from the ways in which people interact and one’s access to services and ability to practice one’s culture, among a variety of other factors.

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FIGURE 2: SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH MODEL (HEALTH CANADA: PHAC: 2006)

The Athabasca Tribal Council (ATC), a regional umbrella group that includes the ACFN as a member, has adopted a model of health that reflects this multi-variable approach:

“Healthy living is “feeling vital; having a good social relationship and feeling in control of one’s life; being able to do the things which one enjoys; having a sense of connection to a community and its members.” Being healthy depends on determinants of health, and encompasses the total environment of good education, housing, justice, and level of income and health services.” — Athabasca Tribal Council (2009)

Factors that contribute to the maintenance of ACFN population health, well-being and quality of life are described further in Section 5. These factors and associated valued social, economic and cultural components are then used to guide the effects assessment in Sections 6 and 7.

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2.4 Limitations of the Report

Information provided herein is the most current available to the author, but is not complete due to time constraints and limited resources. It is based on the understanding of the author, and is not intended as a complete depiction of the dynamic and living socio-economic and cultural environment of ACFN members. Firelight staff met with a broad range of ACFN staff and members in this research, including youth, elders, leadership, former oil sands workers, women and members of the business community. However, this study does not claim to be a comprehensive social, economic and cultural impact assessment. Interview and focus group data is from a limited sample of 32 ACFN members and staff. In addition, the study sample was primarily ACFN residents from Fort Chipewyan; thus, the concerns and priorities raised do not necessarily reflect those of ACFN residents of other communities.

Additional studies are necessary to fill existing information gaps regarding ACFN socio-economic and cultural values, baseline conditions, change over time, causes, impact loads and the resources, criteria, thresholds and indicators necessary to sustain ACFN well-being and quality of life into the future. Recommended additional work is included in Section 9.

In addition, this Report is not a full depiction of the way of life and history of the ACFN, nor does it attempt to fully characterize the degree to which impacts to the land from the JPME and other projects constitute encroachment on ACFN Treaty rights. It is understood by the author that other ACFN submissions to the Panel, as well as project specific TUOS (e.g., Candler 2011) do or will cover this ground. This is not a TUOS or an in-depth historical study5. The focus herein is on airing the concerns of ACFN members across a broad spectrum of social, economic and cultural values and valued components, identifying the role oil sands developments have played and continue to play in beneficial and adverse changes on the ACFN, and identifying mitigation and monitoring tools that may partially mitigate or offset adverse outcomes for the ACFN and its members, should the Project proceed. Many of these recommendations come from ACFN members themselves.6

This Report is Project-specific and should not be relied upon to inform other projects or initiatives.

5 This study did, however, allow for community members who would typically not be a part of a TUOS to express their concerns about changes on the land and in the communities. These often quieter voices of women, youth, and service providers merit attention as well. 6 This Report clearly distinguishes between proactive recommendations made by ACFN members or staff and by Firelight. www.thefirelightgroup.com 17 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

3 The Project – the Jackpine Mine Expansion (JPME)

Note: The information provided here is based on information that has been filed with the JRP and ERCB. While an attempt was made to utilize the most up-to-date information in the preparation of this summary, the author recognizes that Shell and the JRP may possess more accurate information.

The existing Shell Jackpine Mine is located on the east side of the Athabasca River, west of Kearl Lake and approximately 70 km north of Fort McMurray, Alberta. It has an approved production capacity of 200,000 barrels per day. Other operating or proposed oil sands mines in the immediate area include the Kearl Oil Sands Project (operated by Imperial Oil), the Muskeg River Mine (operated by Albian Sands, partially owned by Shell), Fort Hills Oil Sands Project, and the Northern Lights Oil Sands Project.

The proposed JPME would be an open pit oil sands mine located within the Muskeg River watershed immediately south of the Firebag River, and include areas north and west of Kearl Lake. The JPME anticipates diverting multiple streams, including portions of Pemmican, Green Stockings, Blackfly, Wesukemina and Iyinimin creeks. Later in the mine life (approximately 2041) upper reaches of the Muskeg River would be diverted through either an 11.3 km water pipe or through ditches around the northern perimeter of the Project footprint.

The JPME, if approved, would increase the maximum rate of production at Jackpine Mine from 200,000 barrels/day to 300,000 barrels/day. The expansion would allow active mining to continue until at least 2050. The footprint of the JPME (shown in Figure 1 in Section 2) would more than double the approved footprint of the existing Jackpine Mine. The total amount of land proposed to be disturbed by the combined mine is approximately 21,000 hectares, all of which is proposed to be reclaimed at the end of the mine’s life.

The JPME is estimated by the Proponent to be a development of regional and national importance, with an estimated construction capital cost of between $8 and $12 billion (in CDN 2008 $). Of this amount, it is estimated that 5 per cent of the direct construction spending on labour, goods and services would go to local and regional companies and workers7. JPME construction would require approximately 9,310 person‐years of on‐site employment. During the construction phase, the vast majority of construction workers would be recruited from outside the region, and

7 Shell does not estimate the percentage of employment, contracting and other beneficial effects likely to accrue to regional Aboriginal groups. www.thefirelightgroup.com 18 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

most of the equipment and materials sourced from suppliers outside the region. During the construction phase of the mine expansion, construction workers would be housed at work camps.

At full production, JPME annual operations expenditures would be about $260 million per year, of which 20 per cent is projected to go to workers (4/5th) and suppliers (1/5th) in the region. Project operations would create 750 direct permanent jobs.

During the operations phase, the mine workers would be expected to commute to work, most likely from Fort McMurray or Fort MacKay. However, it is understood that Shell proposes to offer a fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) option for Fort Chipewyan residents. Shell’s proposed typical shift rotation for FIFO workers from Fort Chipewyan is unknown at this time and requires confirmation (see Section 7.2.1.3 for discussion of impacts of long-distance commuting on workers and families). Once on site, workers would be housed in a camp environment.

The Proponent predicts the JPME would cause no unacceptable environmental or socioeconomic effects if the Proponent’s proposed mitigation and monitoring put in place.

Regarding Project benefits, the Proponent states that the Project would result in approximately 2,130 new full time permanent jobs and approximately 28,790 work years of construction employment over a 10 year period:

“These new projects will contribute billions of dollars in taxes and royalties to the municipal, provincial and federal governments, which will benefit all Canadians…Since the Muskeg River Mine started up in 2002, Albian Sands has paid more than $50 million in taxes to the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. The proposed projects will continue to build on this tax base, contributing substantial economic benefits to the region.” (Shell Canada Limited 2007, 1-9)

Regarding Project benefits to aboriginal peoples, the Proponent is more muted:

“Indirect benefits from these projects will be created by using local suppliers, including First Nations and Métis companies, provided that they are competitive and meet the project and operations requirements.” (Shell Canada Limited 2007, 1-9)

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4 The Weight of Recent History: Cumulative Effects on the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation

This section provides a brief overview of the change agents that have caused effects on the way of life, culture, and socio-economic status of the ACFN over time.

4.1 Traditional Way of Life of the ACFN

NOTE: This is by no means meant as a comprehensive introduction to the ACFN. Other historical documents (e.g., McCormack 2010; ACFN 2003) provide a more in- depth introduction to the cultural history and way of life of ACFN and its members.

As described in Candler (2011), the ACFN is part of the larger Dené sułine, or Chipewyan cultural group. Up to the late 18th century and the rise of the northwest fur trade, Dené sułine peoples relied primarily on barren ground caribou, accessed through an extremely large annual round covering portions of what is now the NWT, Nunavut and northern Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

The demand for furs and low prices for trade goods were important factors in the shift of Dené sułine peoples from the forest-tundra ecozone into the boreal forest, and onto the Peace Athabasca Delta area where furbearers, especially muskrat, were plentiful.

The North West Company established Fort Chipewyan in 1789. With the rise of the fur trade in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the establishment of Fort Chipewyan, many Chipewyan people in the area began to reside more permanently near the Fort and traded there in the spring and fall.

Seasonal rounds tended to become shorter and covered less ground and while ACFN members still relied in part on the annual migration of barren ground caribou into the Lake Athabasca area, they also became increasingly reliant on boreal forest species including woodland caribou and moose that were available year round in their immediate vicinity.

The ACFN know themselves as the K’ai Taile Dene or “People of the Land of the Willow,” which is a reference to their long relationship to the Peace Athabasca Delta

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and the Peace and Athabasca Rivers and their tributaries. They have used this area for “thousands of years, hunting, trapping, fishing and gathering to sustain ourselves from the lands, to carry out our livelihood and to practice and to pass down our culture” (ACFN 2009).

Wein, Sabry and Evers (1991, 198) provide the following broad categorization of the seasonal harvesting pattern of Fort Chipewyan residents, circa 1987:

“The autumn season was characterized by the greatest use of moose, berries, especially cranberries, waterfowl and upland birds. The winter season was characterized by the greatest use of large mammals, especially moose, and small mammals, especially hare, along with frequent use of berries and fish. In spring caribou dominated the large mammal use, while use of fish remained high. In summer, use of fish increased; however, except for berries, consumption of other categories was the least of any season.”

The land provided not only sustenance and an economic base, but a spiritual, cultural and social hub for the ACFN people, as shared in ACFN (2003, 79):

“A family would take anywhere from 20 to 200 ducks, five to 50 geese, and two to 10 swans each year. In their spring camps the people dried the waterfowl meat, made grease from the fat and collected feathers for making bedrolls and pillows. In the evenings, the people exchanged stories around their campfires, and shared food and bottomless pots of tea. This was a time of much joy and laughter as they celebrated the end of the recent, successful muskrat season.”

4.2 Cumulative Effects on ACFN Society, Economy and Culture

According to ACFN members, the following key social, economic and cultural change agents have impacted the ACFN and its members for better or for worse in the 20th century:

Failure of the Crown to live up to Treaty 8 promises. Colonization policy and practices, including residential schools, the registered trapline system, and centralization into Fort Chipewyan. Decline of the fur trade economy, exacerbated by the WAC Bennett Dam on the Peace River, which in the late 1960s had devastating effects on water levels in the Peace Athabasca Delta.

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Early development of oil sands mines in the 1960s and 1970s, which combined increased wage economic opportunities, out-migration from Fort Chipewyan, and early pollution effects on the land. Creation of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) in 1995. Rapid expansion of oil sands mining, regional population and wage economy in the 2000s, accompanied by an observed decline closer to Fort Chipewyan in ecosystem and human health, a decrease in meaningful access to land, and reduced ACFN member ability to practice their land-based culture.

These factors must be understood because they create part of the underlying context against which baseline conditions and the ACFN’s vulnerability and resilience to further change are to be considered.

4.2.1 Failure of Government to Live up to Treaty 8 Promises

The Dene speaking peoples of Fort Chipewyan signed Treaty No. 8 at Lake Athabasca in 1899. As noted in Candler (2011):

“The Crown made many promises in entering into Treaty No. 8 and the ACFN considers these to be the foundation on which all subsequent non-aboriginal use, including Crown and industrial use, in the region depends. The spirit and intent of Treaty No. 8, and the oral promises made, involved ACFN’s agreement to share lands and resources with the Crown. In exchange, as a priority over all other uses, the Crown confirmed guarantees regarding hunting, trapping, fishing, and protection of the First Nation’s mode of life throughout the extent of Treaty 8.

Treaty No. 8 is held up by ACFN elders as a vital and foundational document that forms the basis for a relationship between aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples based in reconciliation, sharing, and protection of ACFN cultural livelihood in relation to all lands and waters covered by the Treaty.”

There is a strong perception among ACFN members that these treaty rights have been infringed upon time and again by government policy and industry uptake of lands over time:

“We got Wood Buffalo [National Park] on one side, which we weren’t allowed to go into. And now we are finally allowed back in, but who wants to get back in there now? ….We are stuck in our little corner here now, we can’t get out, we got booted out of there, where else we going to go? These guys [ACFN

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elders] got trap lines they can’t even go and trap.” — ACFN elder, August 30, 2012

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4.2.2 Colonization Effects

“Colonization, which brought epidemics, displacement from lands, depleted food supply, suppression of ceremonies and languages, and the loss of children to residential schools and child welfare agencies, has had lasting effects that have been transmitted from one generation to the next” — Taylor, Friedel and Edge 2009, 12

ACFN members have been subject to the effects of colonization for over 200 years, starting with the establishment of Fort Chipewyan as a fur trading post in 1788. The effects of government controls and policies on the ACFN multiplied and sped up during the 20th century.

4.2.2.1 Residential Schools

“From 1920 to 1969 the church operated [a residential school] here under federal policy ... Fast forward to 1973 when the mission was closed and people were forced to raise their own children then, for the first time in 50 years ... so there were no family models to build on. Kids had grown up in dormitories, bullied by the older kids and mistreated and underfed and everything.” —Resident of Fort Chipewyan in Taylor, Friedel and Edge 2009, 8

Residential schools caused multiple harms to young people, including mental health issues, loss of language and cultural values and skills, exposure to racism and abuse, and changes in the relations between parents and children. This system scarred a generation and alienated it from its cultural foundations. As reported by focus group participants:

“It all goes right back to residential school in a sense that all that parenting was never there so how can you teach somebody something that they don’t have the knowledge to teach them. — ACFN staff and member, August 27, 2012, explaining a factor in why people lack the capacity to pass on traditional cultural practices

Many community members are still struggling with the psychological effects of residential schools, which saw them uprooted from their families on the land, forbidden to speak their birth language, and discouraged from practicing their traditional way of life in favour of being "assimilated" into Western culture:

”There’s a lot of people that don’t have the ability to learn [the language and cultural traditions]. Maybe their grandparents were in residential school and it’s been beaten out of them and they’ve repressed it.”” — ACFN staff, August 27, 2012

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As noted by ACFN (2003, 61) in its history of the Nation:

“The kids left the mission, not belonging anywhere, with low self-esteem, encountering discrimination and intimidation. This affected their children and their family lives. Some mission survivors to this day will not talk about their experiences, the pain and shame still on their shoulders. Many of the mission children cannot speak their language, which means that they can’t speak to their Elders and grandparents.”

In addition, physical and sexual abuse were common, and left behind a generation of adults who had neither a traditional values base nor a fully Western one with which to raise families. The trauma of residential school is considered a contributing factor to alcohol abuse and other dysfunction in the community: “Once those people came out of the residential [school], then the alcohol abuse was really bad” (ACFN staff member, August 30, 2012).

4.2.2.2 Reduced Practice of Way of Life on the Land: Competition and Centralization

Over the course of the 19th century, Aboriginal people participated in the fur trade, but relied primarily on a mixed economy of hunting and trapping to feed and clothe their families. In the 1920s, and especially after the 1940s, many Aboriginals sought “wage-earning jobs due to reduced fur prices, increased competition for furs from White trappers, and government regulations that restricted access to game animals” (Taylor, Friedel, and Edge 2009, 6). The registered trapline system established in the 1920s caused a redistribution of material wealth away from ACFN members and families toward non-Aboriginal trappers and increased bureaucratization and government control over the primary economic means of the Nation. The 1920s brought “such an invasion of trappers from the south that they killed virtually every living thing” (ACFN staff member, August 28, 2012).

Starting around the 1950s, ACFN members also found themselves increasingly moved off the land and centralized in Fort Chipewyan. ACFN members continued to travel to their homelands, but increasingly spent more and more time in Fort Chipewyan. This alienated them from their traditional homes and their way of life:

“The majority of the people knew only one way of life – trapping and living off the land. Their traditional bushman skills didn’t provide the trappers or their children with the skills they needed for employment. While they were used to cycles of abundance and scarcity on the land, many were experiencing a poverty unlike any they had known before. Most didn’t even have a house of their own, so it was not unusual for as many as 20 people to live under one roof without work or other meaningful activity.” — ACFN (2003, 87) www.thefirelightgroup.com 25 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

Although they were promised housing by government, an ACFN elder (August 30, 2012) indicated that they were forced to build their own houses and were crowded into small and inadequate housing for a long period of time after the move to Fort Chipewyan.

By 1972, the population of Fort Chipewyan had reached some 1500 people, including approximately 235 Chipewyan (Peace Athabasca Delta Project Group 1972).

4.2.3 Decline of the Fur Trade and Fishing Economies – Effects of the WAC Bennett Dam

Until 1968, trapping was relied upon for the maintenance of a healthy economy in the region, but the WAC Bennett Dam and declining fur prices caused a dramatic increase on the reliance of government assistance for basic sustenance:

“For the Athabasca Chipewyan, a living delta with its large population of muskrat was, according to elder Victorine Mercredi, "like having money in the bank." But soon after the Bennett Dam was completed, the bank failed; welfare payments to both the Ingenika and the residents of the Peace- Athabasca Delta increased. In Fort Chipewyan… average yearly per capita incomes declined by a third between 1965 and 1970. In the same period, the amount of federal social assistance rose 80 percent, while that provided by the province increased 300 percent.” (Loo 2007, 905-906)

The WAC Bennett Dam decreased water flow in the Peace River and caused dramatic changes to the wetlands, spawning areas, and muskrat habitats in the Peace Athabasca Delta. Muskrat populations declined precipitously from pre-dam levels almost immediately:

“People were out there trapping, every year—all of a sudden the rats and all the small animals were gone. Then nobody was trapping” — ACFN male elder, August 30, 2012

“1968, it was due to the Bennett Dam primarily, the economic collapse here. And that’s when people realized the scale of these big projects and what they could do to the environment. The trapping collapsed, the fur catch collapsed by over 90 per cent that year.” — ACFN staff member, August 28, 2012

Muskrat, the mainstay of the region’s fur trade, were disproportionately impacted, but also impacted were a wide variety fur-bearing and other mammals, as well as fish, waterfowl and plants upon which ACFN members depended for food, wages,

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clothing and medicines (Adams, Sutart and Associates 1995). Subsistence and commercial fisheries also suffered because of changes in the water levels, which affected spawning areas and fish populations.

The decline of the fur trading economy caused high social and economic damage to Fort Chipewyan area residents in the late 1960s and 1970s. Unemployment was widespread. The Peace Athabasca Delta Project Group (1972) estimated that in 1970:

Only 22 per cent of the male labour force worked at jobs other than trapping, and even if trapping was included, the number grew only to 29 per cent; What work was available was primarily seasonal in nature and left ACFN members economically dormant for long periods of time; and Per capita level of non-social assistance income had dropped from $526 in 1965 to $380, over six times lower than the Alberta average.

The declining fur trade resulted in an increased reliance by ACFN members on government transfer payments and the surrounding wage economy to supplement or replace the livelihood they traditionally earned from hunting and gathering activities. The collapse of the trapping industry around Fort Chipewyan was accompanied by job losses in the forestry sector, and these led to the area’s economic isolation for the better part of a decade.

In the early 1970s, the housing and overall socio-economic situation was dire:

“I got here in ’72 to a scene that was like the worst that we see on the international news, extreme poverty, hardship, no employment, no housing, people were living in anything that had a roof on it and no confidence among the young people.” — ACFN staff member, August 28, 2012

Economic losses were compounded by cultural impacts and losses:

“People here were accustomed to a hard-working, highly active life, they were trappers, they were sawmill workers, transportation workers and all those jobs disappeared, all of them, 100 per cent not just some, hundreds of families were thrown into abject poverty. That was the Bennett Dam coupled with rising oil prices… That made remote places very costly to service all of a sudden and then the National Park closed the sawmills in the National Park and the uranium mines on Lake Athabasca closed and the whole transportation network collapsed so everything collapsed… By ’84, trapping was dead as a way of life and nobody had the equipment. Even though we bought traps and snowmobiles for the older men to teach the young men, there wasn’t the interest to revive it so that way of life is completely dead for

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ever, gone, gone unless fur went up like it used to be.” — ACFN staff member, August 28, 2012

Social implications of these economic and cultural changes were widespread. Adams, Sutart and Associates (1995, 262) cite community members indicating that the inability to make a living caused “sober hard working men” to start drinking out of shame they could no longer provide for their families and had to see social assistance. Drinking contributed to anger, abuse and low-self esteem among ACFN members of all ages.

Some 45 years later ACFN members, especially the elders, retain a strong sense of anger at BC Hydro for the impacts caused on their way of life by the WAC Bennett Dam. This is one of many cumulative effects caused by developments (others include pulp mills on the Peace River, uranium mines on Lake Athabasca, and the oil sands). Many ACFN members reflect that these cumulative effects have not been compensated for or even adequately acknowledged.

4.2.4 Early Oil Sands Development

The early development of the oil sands, starting with the Great Canadian Oil Sands (later Suncor) in the 1960s and accelerating in the 1970s with the construction of Syncrude, had two very different effects on the ACFN. The first relates to adverse environmental effects. Some members report noting increased odours, negatives effects on water and fish, reduced prevalence of wildlife and health effects on animals, starting in the 1970s and accelerating thereafter (ACFN male elders, August 30, 2012).

In contrast, the oil sands also brought important jobs and wages to replace the traditional and mixed economy dominated by trapping which had been significantly damaged by the 1970s. Many male residents of Fort Chipewyan, a community that had been subject to high rates of unemployment and social dysfunction since the fall of the fur economy, were once again able to make a living for their families in a way that was no longer feasible in more traditional sectors (e.g., fishing, trapping, forestry). This occurred primarily with the opening of Syncrude in the 1970s:

“Up until then nobody here looked to Fort McMurray for work, nobody went to work at Suncor, maybe five people, 10 people. But with Syncrude, it became a lucrative way of raising money, working for the oil company” — ACFN staff, August 28, 2012

While the oil sands are identified as bringing economic opportunity to ACFN in the 1970s and 1980s, there was still persistent wage economic poverty in Fort Chipewyan up until at least the late 1970s (ACFN staff member, August 30, 2012).

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The lack of meaningful, gainful employment has been identified as a cause in the increased levels of social dysfunction in the community:

“Low levels of income, lack of activities to keep men busy, and lack of ability to meaningfully support families may in part have contributed to the socio- economic problems that plagued the community, including spousal abuse, alcoholism and addictions and high suicide rates [in the 1970s]." — Slowey (2003, 22)

While there were real economic and social problems in the community, there were attributes of living in Fort Chipewyan that appealed to many people – that made it home and made outsiders feel welcome:

“[in 1979, what was good?] The environment. I liked – I grew up in McMurray for nine years before I moved to Chip. And I liked that we could walk down the street and go jump in our local lake. I liked that it smelt nice. It didn't have that Fort McMurray smell of Syncrude. It didn't have that – the freedom. You can go out camping whenever you want. You didn't have to worry about paying for campground fees. You didn't have to worry about hauling everything, your boat 300 miles away to get the nearest body of water to go boating and things like that. And that was the good part about living here.” — ACFN staff, August 30, 2012

This access to nature and high level of environmental health was to face challenges. In the 1980s, as the environmental effects of the oil sands started being felt along the Athabasca River, ACFN members began to raise questions about the environmental, health and economic costs to the Nation of these activities. ACFN elders reported they stopped fishing on the Athabasca River downstream from the oil sands primary disturbance zone shortly after a Suncor oil spill in 1982 (Twin River Consulting 2010). This oil spill is also blamed by some for expediting the demise of the commercial fishing sector:

“Suncor… spilled enough something into the river that the fish tasted like gasoline. The fishery on Lake Athabasca was closed for two years, all the fishermen went broke... while they sat idle, their equipment all just deteriorated and boy it was hard for them” — ACFN staff member, August 28, 2012

The late 1970s and 1980s brought an higher level of transience among (particularly the male) ACFN population, who were forced into difficult choices – leave their home community and face the risks of living in the booming urban centre of Fort McMurray, or remain in Fort Chipewyan with minimal employment opportunities or career development paths. This phenomenon had implications both for the jobs seekers and the community of Fort Chipewyan:

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“All of the young, capable people were moving because they had no choice, not because they wanted to. And the oil industry emptied our community of a whole generation of capable people, good families, high income families, and left behind the people who couldn’t or wouldn’t in fact transition, either because we like it too much here or because we had some kind of barrier.” — ACFN staff member, August 28, 2012

4.2.5 Creation of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo and Regional Population Growth (1995 to present)

The creation of the RMWB and the massive population boom in the region, associated almost exclusively with the expansion of the oil sands sector, have contributed to cumulative effects on the ACFN and its members.

The exponential growth in oil sands developments and related sectors of the economy has seen an increase in the regional population from approximately 2,600 in the early 1960s to over 36,000 by 1985, and again to over 100,000 by 2010, mostly in the town of Fort McMurray (RMWB: 2010). Populations in smaller, outlying RMWB communities remain small and mostly aboriginal, and they are feeling increasingly marginalized and forgotten in the shadow of the economic and population wave of Fort McMurray:

“Fort McMurray is like a big Cat going to push us over for money. And so at least if the operation is numbers, we’re just a little small handful of people. It doesn’t mean anything to them.” — ACFN member, August 29, 2012

The RMWB was created in 1995. As the administrative body now responsible for Fort Chipewyan, the RMWB oversees municipal services for over 100,000 people (including transient populations from out-of-region), of which Fort Chipewyan residents make up only about 1.2 per cent and ACFN members less than 0.5 per cent. Residents of Fort Chipewyan perceive the RMWB as having shrunk their sense of autonomy (Taylor, Friedel and Edge 2009), a sentiment echoed by ACFN members, who are clearly frustrated at their political marginalization under the RMWB:

“[The RMWB] put this survey out and then a thousand people that are a real community [Fort Chipewyan]… says we want our environment and our healthy lifestyle. Slow down the mining. And then they do a survey and then there are 100,000 in Fort McMurray that say carry on; don’t worry about that thousand people down below. So the government says the majority [wins]. — ACFN member, August 28, 2012.

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4.2.6 Rapid Expansion of the Oil Sands (Late 1990s to date)

A second major oil sands boom occurred from the late 1990s to 2008, during which time the RMWB saw many developments in infrastructure and services. Most of the latter were concentrated in Fort McMurray rather than in the other primarily rural Aboriginal communities. Lack of impact equity in the availability of social and physical services, including recreational, health and other opportunities, have become one of the core concerns of ACFN members living in Fort Chipewyan.

Concerns have also increased regarding the retention of ACFN culture in the context of oil sands industry development and the assimilation of First Nations people into the dominant, non- aboriginal society. Central to these concerns is that the ACFN is losing meaningful access to large portions of its traditional territory, something that is essential not only to cultural transmission but also to their overall well-being and quality of life as First Nations people:

“Large parts of our Traditional Lands have already been taken up for development such as oil sands, conventional oil and gas, forestry, pipelines, mining and other activities… Development has taken away lands on which we rely, it has caused the fragmentation of wildlife; it has adversely affected the quality and quantity of wildlife and fish; it has blocked our access to our Traditional Lands; it has depleted water bodies, and it has large destroyed the delta of the Peace and Athabasca Rivers.” — ACFN (2009, 1)

In addition, adverse socio-economic effects have been felt in Fort Chipewyan and Fort McMurray, the two primary communities where ACFN members reside, as a result of the boom.

“Rapid industrial growth has resulted in social, cultural, economic and environmental stressors that affect all people living in Wood Buffalo. There is a shortage of affordable housing, a lack of day care facilities, an increasing rate of homelessness, reduced access to medical care, and an increase in illicit drug use. There is also high employee turnover in the public sector because salaries are not commensurate with the high cost of living. The average rent was double that for the rest of Alberta in 2006, while the median family income was approximately 66% higher. Gender differences in earnings are also more pronounced in Wood Buffalo with women earning about one-third of what men earned in 2005 (compared to 57% in the rest of Alberta).” Taylor, Friedel and Edge (2010, 7)

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4.2.7 Summary of Changes to ACFN Society, Economy and Culture

The ACFN way of life was substantially altered by all of the above-noted changes. For many harvesters, trapping went from a primary economic activity to a supplemental one over a few short years in the 1960s and 1970s. Hunting, fishing and gathering activities on the land have – while remaining socially, economically and culturally important – become “weekend” or even “hobby” activities for many ACFN members and are non-existent among an increasing number (ACFN leadership, September 14, 2012).

ACFN (2003) identified some of the changes to the lives of ACFN members that have occurred over time as they have transitioned from a primarily land-based subsistence and mixed economy to a primarily community-based wage economy.

TABLE 1: SUMMARY OF CHANGE (ACFN: 2003) Old Ways, New Ways Life changed drastically for the ACFN people after they moved off the land into town. These are only some of the ways their current lifestyle differs from their traditional lifestyle on the land.

Traditional Lifestyle Current Lifestyle

Trapping as a livelihood Working for wages or receiving welfare

Country foods from the land Store bought foods and fast foods

Moccasins Store bought shoes

Stories and legends Television and video games

Medicine from the land Medicine from the nursing station

Dog teams Skidoos or quads

Sharing Not sharing

Child rearing by all Child rearing by nuclear family

Traditional language English

Problem-solving by healing circles “I’ll do it on my own” attitude

No diabetes Diabetes common

Living off the land Making short visits to traditional lands

Previously primary residences for ACFN members on the south shore of Lake Athabasca and the Poplar Point area south along the Athabasca River are now primarily seasonal in nature and facing environmental risks from oil sands operations moving North:

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“At one time the ACFN people centred their traditional harvesting around four micro-village areas – Jackfish on the Peace/Athabasca delta, Birch River and what is now Wood Buffalo National Park, Point Brule and Poplar Point on the Athabasca River, and Old Fort Point. Now, three out of four have been impacted by settler society. The park pushed people out of Birch River, the delta was devastated, and oil sands plants are impacting the Athabasca River. The ACFN people were forced, not by choice, to relocate to the north shore of Lake Athabasca.” — ACFN (2003, 101)

Increasing access to goods, services and socio-cultural influences from outside the region became available, altering the goals and aspirations of youth and working age people. And increased engagement in the regional economy led to an increased sense of Fort Chipewyan as a transient community, with many members “floating” between there and Fort McMurray.

The recent boom has seen RMWB communities such as Fort Chipewyan enjoying increased employment opportunities because of oil sands industry expansion. However, the boom has also decreased opportunities to pursue traditional resource use, because of increased land disturbance, increased costs associated with harvesting, more outsider access to and traffic in backcountry areas, and a variety of other factors identified in more detail in Section 6. In addition, harvesting opportunities have been partially reduced by changing socio-economic and cultural conditions among ACFN members, such as increased engagement in the wage economy making less time available for harvesting, which in turn contributes to declining cultural knowledge and skills among youth. These too are linked to oil sands development and these changes are among those examined in further detail in Section 7.

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5 What Matters Most: ACFN Values, Goals and Aspirations

“Generally, the socio-economic analysis in the [Shell JPME] Applications does not provide adequate information on Aboriginal practices, customs and traditions and socio-economic status to determine the effects… on their socio- economic situation” — Twin River Consulting (2010, 7)

Effective socio-economic and cultural impact assessment focuses on the things that matter most in the human environment. Previous JPME studies (Golder Associates 2012; Nichols Applied Management 2012) did not provide information on either the above-noted culture characteristics or ACFN values, goals, and valued components.

This section identifies some of the common values, goals and aspirations expressed by the ACFN and its members based on existing materials gathered from the ACFN, as well as primary data collected through focus groups and interviews.

5.1 ACFN Values

“In a 2000 survey, 281 out of 316 respondents from the Athabasca Tribal Council (88.9%) strongly agreed that “It is important for First Nations people to maintain our traditional beliefs.” — University of Alberta (2001, 78)

Below are some of the values that ACFN members indicated guide their daily lives. NOTE: These values were primarily expressed by ACFN members living in Fort Chipewyan. Further work would is required to better understand the values of ACFN members living in other communities.

5.1.1 Respect

This value was held up as of the highest priority by ACFN members. ACFN members indicated respect is essential in the following ways: respect for the land and nature, for elders (and the way that they share their deep knowledge of the land), for each other (including within and between nations, between and for Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal people), and for the Creator. They also deeply respect people who continue the traditional methods of harvesting as a way of life.

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5.1.2 Sharing

This is a primary ACFN value. Sharing remains an important survival strategy for the families and community of ACFN members, and extends beyond ethnic ties to the Fort Chipewyan community in general. Several participants spoke of the importance of sharing as something that fundamentally separates Fort Chipewyan life from that in places like Fort McMurray, making life in Fort McMurray more alienating for many ACFN members:

“McMurray is not like here. Right here, if we are out of something, you go and knock on somebody else’s door, could you help me with this please, I need this, so can you lend me a loaf of bread. This person will give you a load of bread. But if I have to go to McMurray and knock on somebody else’s door, they will call the cops on me. That’s true” – ACFN female, August 29, 2012

5.1.3 Reciprocity and Fairness

This is a fundamental value closely linked to sharing, that has guided socio-cultural relations for the ACFN over time. If one person has more than they need, they will support others who have less. This value serves to redistribute wealth so that benefits are shared fairly in families and the community. The notion of redistribution of wealth for the greater good has come into question in the relationship between ACFN and industry and government over time.

5.1.4 Strong Extended Family Units

One participant said, “We are all cousins,” which sums up this value. Family is very important, and the linkages to family extend widely into the community.

5.1.5 Retaining and Passing on Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Resources and Practices

Sharing oral history and teaching the Nation’s youth is of vital importance. People know the culture and language depend on sharing knowledge and skills between generations. It is a strongly held value that teaching be between generations, and there is an urgent sense that values, culture and way of life must be passed on. Traditional harvesting practices are central to this passing down of Dene culture. Language is another key cultural resource the older generation wants to pass down. As noted in concerns raised by ACFN IRC (2006, 13), “if we lose our language, we lose our culture.”

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5.1.6 Living in Harmony with the Land

To live up to this value, people follow respectful practices. A hunter does not take more than they need, and they always share among the family and group when there is an animal harvested. Elders are always thought of when an animal is harvested. The practice of sharing and harvesting bring the group together, and strengthens the group and the people.

Out on the land, people are connected to their culture through harvesting or working in places that are known to them. The land itself holds the history, as elders travel the trails and visit the sites where ancestors also travelled. They tell the stories of the land, and pass their culture on through the time that is spent there. Time spent on the land is essential to ensure that ACFN members retain their knowledge of and attachment to the bush economy and their traditional values.

5.2 Previously Identified ACFN Priorities, Goals and Aspirations

“… [o]ur people continue to nurture the seeds of hope for change and a brighter future than can be had for simply the price of oil. Our vision for a better future is one in which our people and communities are healthy, our Cree and Dené cultures are alive and vibrant, and Socio-economic goals for the future of the our needs are met and ACFN include (ACFN 2012): our traditional lands are pristine. In this vision, we 1. People who are self-sufficient and picture our educated grandchildren swimming 2. Taught language in the river without fear 3. We are joyful and happy of contamination and 4. Health, community (food, water) once again drinking 5. We support each other water by merely scooping 6. Stable it up in a cup from the 7. Prosperous lake.” Chief Allan Adam in 8. We have found the delicate Candler et al. 2010, 5) balance between the Environment and Industry Survey research and workshops 9. Culture and Education are equally and interviews in the important community reveal that priorities 10. We have preserved our ways of have remained relatively knowing and living persistent consistent over the 11. We are adaptive to change

years. There have been many

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efforts to capture core priorities, such as Chief and Council Workshops (ACFN 2008b; ACFN 2012) and surveys (Voyageur 2007). This section summarizes some of these key priorities, goals and aspirations.

5.2.1 Meaningful Practice of Treaty 8 Rights

The ACFN has consistently indicated that a primary goal is to ensure that the meaningful practice of Treaty 8 rights can be sustained for future generations (Candler et al. 2010). The ACFN’s vision for future development suggests that ACFN members have a right, now and in the future, to practice their Treaty 8 rights in their preferred manner and locations with confidence, to sustain their health and well-being and that of their families, and to pass on their culture to their children. Their ability to do so requires priority access to a sufficient quality and quantity of the tangible and intangible resources (e.g., water, game, fish, berries, spiritual sites, cultural landscapes and homelands, traditional knowledge, and others) that underlie the meaningful practice of treaty rights.

This desire to ensure the meaningful practice of rights is demonstrated in the priorities that emerge at the community level. In 2001, the ACFN Elders Council promoted the need to bring youth and elders together to promote cultural retention among the youth. There has been significant support for the development of a youth-elders camp permanently located on land with traditional meaning. There are plans for a “backcountry tourist resort” offering ACFN economic development and employment opportunities in the Richardson’s Backcountry. The relocation of the community to Old Fort Point has been a key goal of the ACFN since 2000. It was determined that the development of a community at Old Fort Point would offer the ACFN a range of social, cultural and economic benefits.8

5.2.2 Active Participation, Reciprocity and Sharing in Benefits of Development Plans

The ACFN vision also suggests that development on ACFN traditional lands must proceed in step with the negotiation and implementation of meaningful and reliable consultation and accommodation frameworks. These must include protective measures and benefit-sharing mechanisms between industry and the ACFN,

8 In a 2000 survey, 56.8% of ACFN respondents answered “Yes” to the question “Would you be willing to relocate (move) south of Fort Chipewyan to Old Fort Point?” – (University of Alberta 2001, 93). www.thefirelightgroup.com 37 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

particularly in areas critical for the past, present and future practice of their rights. This includes:

Meaningful participation in decisions regarding development. These decisions should be guided by the principles of shared decision-making and joint stewardship of lands and resources which are of critical importance to the continued practice of rights. Reasonable sharing of wealth generated from traditional lands and associated resources, at least proportional to direct, indirect, or cumulative adverse effects from developments that harm, or take up, air, land and water.

5.2.3 Maintenance of the Environment

The maintenance of the environment is a top priority for ACFN members. The environment must include clean land that sustains life by maintaining the economic opportunities derived from animals, vegetation and other natural resources. ACFN members must retain the ability to use natural resources, maintaining a land base for further generations of aboriginal people and keeping access to this land base free from industrial activities and impact.

Key ACFN environmental priorities include the following:

Healthy, abundant wildlife and vegetation that sustains life and retains culture (Voyageur 2007); The continued ability to hunt and trap animals/fish and that these do not pose a risk to human health (Voyageur 2007); The natural beauty and serenity of the landscape (Voyageur 2007); Education and training, especially as it relates to caring for and restoring the land (ACFN 2012); Health in all its facets, and especially as it is related to the land (ACFN 2012); and Culture, including maintaining culture, language and way of life (ACFN 2012).

5.2.4 Other Priorities

Business development and supporting entrepreneurs are priorities (Voyageur 2007; ACFN 2012) but not at the cost of having people forced to leave their home community. In self-reported survey statistics from 2001, 18.6 per cent of ATC respondents agreed and 60.9 per cent strongly agreed

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that “We need more business to attract people to stay in this community” (University of Alberta, 2001, 80). Address substance abuse (ACFN 2012); Governance (ACFN 2012); and Infrastructure (ACFN 2012).

5.3 Priorities, Goals and Aspirations Identified through Focus Groups and Interviews

In focus groups and interviews conducted for this project, additional core priorities consistent with past themes were identified. These include:

5.3.1 Health

This was typically the first priority mentioned and is the undeniable top-of-mind issue for most Fort Chipewyan residents. There is an emphasis on many aspects of health, such as physical health (being disease-free, having access to health services in Fort Chipewyan, emotional health, mental health, spiritual health (living in harmony with nature, enjoying the land, keeping and celebrating identity) and environmental health (in which there are abundant and healthy animals and fish). Health status was also closely related to being drug and alcohol-free, having access to traditional foods and medicines, and being able to maintain a traditional lifestyle. Mental, spiritual and emotional health is linked to confidence in the environment and country foods, and to a strong sense of spiritual connection to land and traditional practices.9

5.3.2 Education

There is a focus not just on the opportunities available through the oil sands, but on access to any type of profession that citizens wish to be involved in. This means that people will need support to pursue a wide variety of careers. There is also a need for stronger education and training, especially in Fort Chipewyan itself, so that there is access to skills development without the social and economic costs of having to move to Fort McMurray to access them. And a return to strong education on the land of Dene cultural values is an important priority.

9 “Wild foods are part of my culture, and my spirituality. People in the south go to pow wows. They drum and sweat, and that’s spiritual. In my culture, we go hunting. I eat what I kill and live off it, that’s the spirituality” – L’Hommecourt (2009). www.thefirelightgroup.com 39 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

5.3.3 Diversification and flexibility of employment and business opportunities

There is a strong desire to diversify the economy and create new opportunities for ACFN members. Potential opportunities identified in focus groups and interviews included small business development, tourism (although there is a concern for the stigma that is now associated with the area from the operation of the oil sands), the establishment of a granite quarry and a sawmill, development of a new restaurant and hotel, and the provision of better food and price competition (such as milk, vegetables and fruit) through the establishment of a community-run grocery store in Fort Chipewyan.

With respect to the oil sands themselves, the ACFN expressed a desire for a strong and fair relationship, with equitable revenue sharing to offset environmental damage to ACFN lands. There was also a stated desire to transition from primarily labour jobs in the oil sands to more trades and professional jobs, in lands stewardship (e.g., monitoring, reclamation). There is a desire for meaningful employment. There is also a desire for strong jobs for young people in the community so that they can stay at home, and generally a wish for jobs that don’t require people to feel forced to move away from Fort Chipewyan.

5.3.4 Protection of Traditional Lands

People must be able to have confidence in the land by knowing it is healthy. People are happy when they can go out on land as often as possible, with family, friends, youth, and elders. There is excitement for people in gathering what they need from the land, and when they are able to share their culture and stories out on the land.

5.3.5 Maintenance of traditional way of life and cultural identity

People consistently stated that the land must be preserved so that people can spend time out on the land, and thereby maintain culture and way of life. Cultural identity was described as a sense of knowing who you are and where you come from. This involves keeping culture and celebrating the way of life. This was often contrasted to losing your culture and “being lost.” There were many suggestions about how to maintain this identity, such as passing on knowledge and stories through time spent together (in families, in culture camps, and in gatherings), and encouraging strong interaction between elders and youth out on the land and in schools. It is this daily

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reflection and promotion of culture through all institutions that will reinforce and build identity so that ACFN people feel pride in their language, culture and way of life.

5.3.6 Physical infrastructure improvements

People in Fort Chipewyan have discussed many potential facilities that could provide spaces for families to gather, promote the culture, and support the strong economic development of the community. These include a long-term care facility; a hotel; a culture centre; a swimming pool (which was constantly mentioned as a priority, given limited local recreational opportunities for youth); health care centres for elders, and a youth healing centre.

5.3.7 Strong and Self-Governing First Nations

The Nation is seeking long-term financial independence. The Nation has also expressed a desire to have proper and respectful government-to-government relationships with the Alberta and federal governments.

There is a strong desire for unity between the two local First Nations, Metis and non-Aboriginal residents of Fort Chipewyan because people feel that strength derives from unity of voices.

5.3.8 Strong Families and Community Cohesion

There is a strong desire to be connected to extended family and friend groups. There are roles for men, women and youth, with a hope that there will be strong and balanced men and activities for youth that allow them to live according to family values. Notably, the ACFN definition of family is broader than the “modern” nuclear family, encompassing a much larger extended kin group. ACFN members living in Fort Chipewyan expressed a strong desire to stay in the community, all things being equal. This small town is quiet, peaceful and beautiful (with nature at the doorstep). People also seek to avoid social stratification; the creation of “haves and have nots” in the community.

5.3.9 Access to Adequate housing.

The community requires homes where people feel happy and comfortable, and where there is not overcrowding or pressures on .

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5.4 What Matters Most: ACFN Valued Social, Economic and Cultural Components

A valued component is an environmental element that is defined as having some kind of value, be it biophysical, social, cultural, economic, historical or other. An environmental assessment considers the valued components that a project has potential to effect, and examines what that effect might be.

In the context of ACFN society, economy and culture, the identification of valued components provides a way to focus on what is most important when assessing the potential impacts of a particular project. The analysis of data from focus groups and interviews as well as secondary documentation from the Nation indicates that the following valued social, economic and cultural components are central to the well- being and quality of life of the ACFN. These valued components are listed here as goals or aspirations statements rather than benign categories because these types of statements look at the sought end results and are therefore more meaningful for effects assessment purposes.

Valued ACFN social components:

A healthy, active population, free of fear and uncertainty; Individual and communal sense of control over lives and optimism about the future; Local access to education and training that creates lifelong learning with meaningful career opportunities, alongside promoting cultural knowledge and practice; A population that remains meaningfully linked to ACFN traditional territory; A strongly united community that works and celebrates together, and where all generations play vital and culturally appropriate roles; Moving ACFN members to new community on ACFN reserve lands; and Recognition of the ACFN as a government with a meaningful voice in decision-making over its lands and resources.

Valued ACFN Economic Components:

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Communal and individual self-sufficiency; Control over economic future(s) with Nation-based revenue streams to promote self-sufficiency and control; Maximizing jobs and business starts in Fort Chipewyan; A meaningful role into the future for the traditional subsistence and mixed economy; Meaningful jobs and careers that ACFN members enjoy and find satisfying, and which do not conflict with ACFN values (e.g., non- destructive on the land employment); Re-establishment of traditional ACFN stewardship role on traditional lands through sustainable economic activities (e.g., community-based monitoring, reclamation); and Build desired employment and entrepreneurial business opportunities among ACFN membership.

Valued ACFN Cultural Components:

Meaningful access to preferred traditional lands for traditional cultural pursuits; Maintenance of traditional values, skills and language through inter- generational knowledge transfer; Maximizing time on the land for all generations; Access to clean air, water, wildlife and vegetation; Adequate privacy to gain solace from quiet enjoyment of the land; and Respect, sharing/reciprocity, and balance in relations with other culture groups.

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6 Pathways and Impact Outcomes for ACFN From Changes to the Land

“For Indigenous peoples, traditional lands contain traditional knowledge and foods. On these lands spiritual traditions are nourished and the language evolves, develops and is kept alive. With unfettered access to traditional lands of sufficient size and quality, Indigenous peoples are able to harvest wildlife, other foods and medicines. As the source of their spiritual and moral values, Indigenous peoples can use their traditional territories to nurture and strengthen their self-respect and self-identity; to maintain their cultures; to assert their autonomy over their economic, social and political figures; and to address and alleviate ongoing social problems — Bianchi (2009, 9)

6.1 Introduction

Impacts on traditional lands and resources can have significant adverse effects on First Nations peoples.10 Using a review of secondary data, including submissions from the ACFN in relation to the JPME and other oil sands developments, as well as the issues and concerns raised by ACFN members and staff, this section examines how impacts on the land have and may continue to translate into social, economic and cultural change should the JPME proceed.11

The Terms of Reference for the JRP (Environment Canada and ERCB: 2011) require that social, economic and cultural impacts caused by changes on the land must be fully assessed. Those Terms of Reference (at page 2) define “environmental effect” as (emphasis added):

a) any change the project may cause in the environment, including any change that the project may cause to a listed wildlife species, its critical habitat or the residences of individuals of that species as defined in the Species at Risk Act; b) any effect of any change referred to in paragraph (a) on

10 ACFN members did not identify any specific beneficial effects on the land from industry in general and the Project in particular. All effects identified were adverse. On the other hand, Section 7 identifies several potential beneficial effects pathways from the oil sands and the JPME. 11 Note that this is not a Traditional Use and Occupancy Study (TUOS). Project-specific TUOS work was completed with the ACFN and put forward to the JRP (Candler 2011); this work was reviewed and findings incorporated into this report. However, this Report focuses primarily on impact pathways and concerns about changes on the land identified by the ACFN in focus groups, interviews and previous documentation. www.thefirelightgroup.com 44 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

i) health and socio-economic conditions, ii) physical and cultural heritage, iii) the current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes by Aboriginal persons, iv) any structure, site or thing that is of historical, paleontological, or architectural significance; or c) any change to the project that may be caused by the environment whether any such change or effect occurs within or outside Canada.

6.1.1 Importance of the Land to the ACFN Way of Life

The importance of the land to the ACFN and its members cannot be overstated. One essential aspect of the Nation’s relationship to its traditional territory is that it has, for untold generations, provided all of the necessary physical means to support human survival, especially through the provision of adequate and clean water and country food. Another is that connection to land provides a spiritual and cultural wellspring – a sense of identity and solace. To First Nations, land is critical to physical sustenance, for social relationships, to promote values and transmit culture and to live a spiritual life (Gibson, MacDonald and O’Faircheallaigh 2011).

Despite changes caused by a variety of cumulative effects including the rise of the oil sands (as described in Section 4), the ACFN still maintain and express a rich and vital connection to their traditional lands. Previous ACFN submissions to regulators note that the land is critical to their identity and increasingly at risk from a large number of oil sands developments which:

"[H]ave made it increasingly difficult for ACFN members to [. . .] gather and carry out their traditional pursuits in a meaningful fashion within parts of their Traditional Lands (…) Areas such as those in the vicinity of the [JPME and Pierre River Mine] Projects become more important as places where ACFN members can still exercise their rights and pass down their culture. The land sustains, and is at the heart of, ACFN's culture, traditions, identity, spirituality and rights." — ACFN IRC (2009b, 4)

In interviews and focus groups for this and other projects (e.g., Candler 2011; Jacques Whitford 2006; ACFN 2003), ACFN members talked extensively about their way of life, often with a sense of nostalgia and loss that is poignant and clearly heartfelt. Changes to their way of life have been profound and ongoing, and traditional activities, knowledge and beliefs need protection to prevent any further erosion of Dene cultural and spiritual practices. Their words are shared throughout this section.

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6.1.2 JPME in the ACFN’s Traditional Land Use Area

Fort Chipewyan is now the primary home of ACFN members. However, while that community has been the economic and administrative centre for the ACFN for generations, the cultural heartlands of ACFN land use and rights practice lie further south. The ACFN has eight reserve areas in the Athabasca Delta and on the south shore of Lake Athabasca in and around Fort Chipewyan. These reserves represent long-standing ACFN family ties to settlements located south of Fort Chipewyan at Old Fort Point on the south shore of Lake Athabasca, Jackfish in the Peace-Athabasca Delta, and upstream along the Athabasca River at Point Brule, and Poplar Point (approximately 27 km northwest of the JPME). The ACFN is actively pursuing the goal of moving back to its traditional lands, and currently is seeking to set up a new community on the south shore of Lake Athabasca at Old Fort Point. (ACFN 2003; ACFN Leadership Focus Group, September 14, 2012)

As noted in an ACFN Project-specific TUOS (Candler 2011), ACFN members indicate a variety of traditional uses and values within the area likely to be physically impacted by the JPME. In addition, the Athabasca and Muskeg Rivers are key transportation corridors for traditional land use and occupancy in the immediate area around the JPME.

While the treaty rights and interests in traditional lands covered by the area likely to be affected by the JPME are communally held by the ACFN and its members, the example of ACFN registered trapline (RFMA #1714) holder Marvin L’Hommecourt provides a sense of the multiple social, economic and cultural values on the land that woul be affected should the Project proceed.

6.1.2.1 ACFN Social, Economic and Cultural Values on the Land: an Example

The area that would be impacted by the JPME has been identified by ACFN members in Candler (2011) as an important part of ACFN traditional territory. In particular, ACFN members express strong attachment to the Poplar Point Reserve and associated Homeland. Marvin L’Hommecourt for example, identified the area as:

A family home; A gathering place between Fort Chipewyan and Fort McMurray; A place of freedom for his family that they always sought to get back to; A key harvesting site (trapping, hunting, fishing, berry picking); and A key teaching place between generations, including himself and his grandchildren. (L’Hommecourt 2009)

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But according to Mr. L’Hommecourt, accessing these places is getting harder. Water levels are lower, there are non-Aboriginal people out fishing, the fish are inedible, there are fewer moose (and fewer animals of all species), and industry is all around. There are “cut lines and drilling all over. You can’t wing a frozen rabbit without hitting them” (L’Hommecourt 2009, 11). Creeks and ponds in the area have been drained, and “No Hunting” signs are posted. Nonetheless, ACFN members, including Mr. L’Hommecourt and his nephew, still live, travel and gather there as often as possible because of a deep connection to these traditional lands.

Mr. L’Hommecourt’s testimony indicates that the physical changes on the land can have a variety of impact outcomes on ACFN members. These include:

Cultural loss – reduced ability to practice traditional knowledge and skills and pass them on to youth; Harvesting loss – reduced ability to harvest food, furs and other resources, the preferred diet of most ACFN members; Psycho-social effects – loss of solitude, inability to quietly enjoy the land, and lack of choice or control in relation to new developments; Loss of connection to land – a sense of alienation from preferred harvesting locations and a fundamental disconnect as the land changes shape and form; and Spiritual loss – both through destruction of the land, impacts on memories embedded on the land, and the loss of both personal spiritual values, and the very spiritual nature of the land.

The JPME has the potential to cause social, economic and cultural impacts of the type described above, all of which may reduce the well-being and quality of life of Mr. L’Hommecourt and other ACFN members. Candler (2011) identifies that submissions by the Proponent anticipate a total of 60 per cent of Mr. L’Hommecourt’s trapline area will be impacted in the current “Planned Development” scenario.

6.2 Effects on the Land Causing Social, Economic and Cultural Impacts on ACFN

“It destroyed our way of life; let’s put it that way. We are the people that used to hunt and trap. You can’t do that anymore.” ACFN male elder, August 30, 2012, in the effects of the oil sands on ACFN people

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Primary underlying causes of impacts on the social, economic and cultural well- being and quality of life from physical changes on the land specific to the JPME are described below, along with sources identifying these causes:

Reduction of the area available for traditional harvesting due to the large physical footprint (ACFN IRC 2008, 2);

Reduced wildlife numbers and altered wildlife distribution (ACFN 2008a, 13) and reduced wildlife health status due to: o habitat fragmentation and destruction (DS Environmental 2010a, 87), o a variety of sensory disturbance effects causing avoidance, o reduced vegetation abundance, o contaminated air, soil, water and vegetation entering the food chain, o increased mortality due to increased traffic and non-Aboriginal hunting access, and o increased predation due to linear corridors (DS Environmental 2010b, 8);

Bioaccumulation of toxins entering the food chain and affecting the health effects of country food consumption;

Purposeful access restrictions such as fencing, gating and security at oil sands operations limiting ACFN movements on the land;

Other access restrictions such as reduced water levels restricting navigability in the Athabasca River (main transportation artery) and tributaries up to preferred harvesting sites;12 Increased access to outsiders such as oil sands workers, recreational area users and hunters13 due to roads and right-of-ways; Sensory disturbances impacting human receptors, reducing the attractiveness of the place for traditional harvesters. These include:

12 “Without adequate water quality or quantity in the river system, we cannot access our important cultural, spiritual, and subsistence areas and we cannot sustain the health and well-being of our families on the traditional foods that we have always obtained from it.” — ACFN Chief Allan Adam in Candler et al. (2010, 4). 13 “Increased hunting pressures and impacts of off-road recreational vehicles would affect the ACFN’s ability to practice their rights” (DS Environmental 2010a, 36). www.thefirelightgroup.com 48 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

o Noise and vibration, o Odours – especially at Poplar Point and area cabins (DS Environmental 2010b), and o Visual changes to the landscape from the built environment. Increased air emissions and deposition (ACFN 2008a, 1414) and water emissions and contamination contributing to the degradation of local and regional air quality (ACFN IRC 2008a, 2); and Physical destruction of streams and rivers, which has an impact on knowledge on - and navigability of - the cultural landscape.

6.2.1 Inability to Meaningfully Practice ACFN Way of Life

“Somebody is going to have to explain to us where can we get a piece of land to hunt. We were raised in this part of the world. These are our traditional lands. Shell Canada is sitting on ACFN trapline. Now that guy that owns that trapline, he can’t go in there and trap. [Our livelihood] is all gone.” – ACFN male elder, August 30, 2012

The ability to harvest from the land through gathering, hunting, and trapping is integral to the meaningful practice of the ACFN way of life. As noted by the ACFN IRC (2010b), certain socio-cultural and economic conditions must be in place for ACFN members to meaningfully practice their culture on the land. Each of the condition noted in Table 2 have been impacted by oil sands development.

14 ACFN (2008a) indicates that ACFN members actively using the land in the JPME area report “dust” as a concern on berry patches they harvest from. Dust and other deposition (“films”) from increased traffic in development areas was also reported at cabin sites. www.thefirelightgroup.com 49 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

TABLE 2: EFFECTS OF OIL SANDS ON MEANINGFUL ACFN TRADITIONAL RESOURCE USE Socio-cultural/Economic Effect of Oil Sands on these Conditions Conditions Required Remoteness/privacy -Oil sands developments have physically intruded on a large portion of the ACFN’s traditional land base. -Increased access has brought more non-Aboriginal recreational users into these areas. Aesthetics (visual, -Oil sands developments have increased built environment and auditory, olfactory) physical disturbance/clearing that can be seen from long distances, including visible emissions. -ACFN members report strong noise and odour effects in and around oil sands development. Lack of contamination -Observed changes (taint) and scientific evidence have identified the release of contaminants from oil sands into air, water, vegetation, wildlife, soils. Safety and risk -Lower water levels have increased navigability/safety concerns on the Athabasca River and tributaries near JPME and preferred ACFN harvesting locations. -Roads and trails are perceived as higher risk due to increased traffic, non-Aboriginal hunters. -ACFN members question the safety of consuming country food and water (linked to contamination). Access -Three main access issues: 1) Decreased water levels affecting ACFN navigation; 2) Gates and other physical barriers set up by oil sands companies on the land decreasing ACFN access; and 3) Increased access to competitors for resources along increased road system and due to higher populations of workers and recreational users of the land. Economic conditions -Increased engagement in the wage economy reduces time (time available for available for harvesting, but can also increase the means by harvest; costs which to purchase necessary provisions. associated with access – -Members not engaged in wage economy report difficulties going see Section 7) out on the land without access to boats, or money to purchase gas, water and other provisions. Impacts of tenure grants -Oil sands developments have already alienated large portions of – availability of lands ACFN traditional territory south of the Firebag River and and corridors effectively sterilized some less accessible (due to decreased water levels) or increasingly unacceptable (poor hunting conditions, increased risks, higher competition) locations. Multi-generational -Some families have left the area due to perceived health risks or considerations (e.g., is it difficulty/lack of ease of access; less family time out on the land. safe to bring children?) -Young people are no longer being taken out on the land as often to learn traditional hunting, gathering and fishing methods, resulting in a loss of knowledge and culture.

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6.2.1.1 An Example: Effects of Reduced Water Quantity

Often in ACFN territory, water access by boat is critical to accessing land. Candler et al. (2010) studied the effects of reduced water levels in the Athabasca River and its tributaries on ACFN traditional land use and occupancy. It found that

“reduced quantity and quality of water in the Athabasca is having adverse effects on the ability of ACFN and MCFN members to access territories, and to practice their aboriginal and Treaty rights, including hunting, trapping, fishing and related activities.” - Candler et al. (2010, 8)

Reduced water levels have a variety of effect outcomes, including:

Reduced access to preferred harvesting places along the Athabasca River and its tributaries – “There’s so many places that we can’t go to any more because there’s no water” (ACFN female, August 29, 2012);

Reduced travel along the Athabasca River in general, a major transportation route;

Reduced public safety, with the potential for boat travelers to get stuck on sandbars; and

Reduced water levels impacting on the health of fish and abundance of furbearers (ACFN 2008a, 11).

Cumulatively, these impact causing agents from oil sands development have already substantially impacted on the meaningful practice of treaty rights by ACFN members across a large portion of their traditional territory. Primary effects outcomes on ACFN members from physical changes on the land by oil sands development are broken down into social, economic and cultural categories below.

6.3 Social Impacts of Physical Changes on the Land

6.3.1 Human Health Effects

Concerns about impacts from oil sands development upon individual and community health were the most prevalent of all social issues, and often were extended to include related health impacts on wildlife. Respondents identified health impacts that are already being felt as a result of the existing developments in the region, as well as concerns for similar, cumulative future impacts caused by or contributed to by the JPME.

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6.3.1.1 Air Quality Effects

There are two primary concerns related to air quality: particulate matter in the air (including dust) and noxious gases (and their odours).

ACFN members report dust and airborne particles are common along oil sands roads, covering harvesting areas and affecting both the quality of the berries and the quality of the air for harvesters. Increased deposition is anticipated if additional roads are built and land cleared.

Foul odours and air quality deterioration were identified both as existing and anticipated cumulatively-worsening effects. The inescapability of air pollution was noted as a reason for particular concern, especially as it affects children. Perceived risks associated with the inhalation of polluted air have a significant impact on the stress and anxiety levels of people travelling through the affected areas, most notably in expressed concerns that air quality degradation may be related to cancer risks and to the potential degradation of the health and safety of fish, berry, and wild animal populations traditionally used as country foods.

Physical symptoms from air quality effects on ACFN members include difficulty breathing, headaches, nausea and choking. One respondent summarized many of the air-quality related concerns:

“One day when I came out here a few years ago that wind was coming from Suncor, Syncrude was coming into Fort McMurray and when you went outside you actually choked. People are breathing this in, and so can imagine all that landing on top the...all the vegetation, the berries, the trees, the fruit, all those vegetation that the animals eat…and all of a sudden you’re noticing in the moose they’re starting to do all these studies on moose and there’s all this stuff in the moose now.” (Participant A08 ACFN IRC 2009b, 88)

Some ACFN members have also reported an aversion to using areas near Fort MacKay because of the foul odors there.15

6.3.1.2 Water Quality Effects

As early as 1999, the ACFN was drawing regulators’ attention to “unnatural foaming of the river water, discoloured river ice, and deformed and tainted fish” in the Athabasca River (AEUB 1999, 33). Both groundwater and surface water

15 “Just me and my boy went there (Fort MacKay) a couple of times there, and he got sick from that smell, that...smell, that cat [urine] smell and he was fine until he went there that day” (Participant A02 in ACFN 2008a, 14). Indeed, many ACFN members state an aversion to Fort MacKay’s environmental conditions (for example, one ACFN female elder (August 29, 2012) indicated she won’t even stop to visit her brother in Fort MacKay due to environmental conditions there) and concern that the type of adverse health effects and environment there may be in Fort Chipewyan’s future. www.thefirelightgroup.com 52 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

contamination remain of high concern today, due to their impact on drinking water quality and on the health of fish and game that the ACFN rely on for a significant portion of their traditional diet.

Many respondents noted that they can neither drink from nor bathe in traditionally used sources because the water makes them sick, and that they therefore have to purchase and carry bottled water with them on the land. This differs vastly from the time before the oil sands, as ACFN members reminisced:

“In the lake…it wouldn’t smell like oil or gas, it would smell like water and it would be clear and you could see the bottom, and you could see fish swimming, you know, and was just nice to have sun tan and go in a nice clean lake that you could even drink the water from the lake when you went for a walk in the bush, you could just bring a cup with you and just drink from the river, the lake, anywhere, now you have to bring your own water into the bush. — Participant A01 2007 in ACFN 2008a, 11)

“I swam every day. It was a good thing that our past time was swimming. Then you get a little bigger and you start canoeing and then you start boating. Then you start going out hunting. Now we can’t swim, the fish are dying. Birds are dying.” — ACFN male, August 28, 2012

As with air pollution, water pollution is seen as inescapable at the present time, and its perceived risks are associated with elevated concern about cancer. There are few if any ACFN members who still drink water from the Athabasca River or “dip a cup” in Lake Athabasca. Focus group attendees were also highly concerned about the loss of freedom and mobility, and economic cost, of having to bring large bottles of water on the land:

“Every time you go across the lake now, you have to haul your own water. I don’t even trust any of the creeks; don’t know whether you can drink from there or not. You never appreciate the value of water until you have to start hauling it everywhere.” — ACFN elder, August 30, 2012

ACFN members recommend that industry provide them with bottled drinking water, similar to the arrangement existing for the residents of Fort MacKay.

Water quality degradation also contributes to concerns about country food safety, particularly because of cysts and deformities seen in fish and reports of high mercury levels in their flesh. Tailings ponds are seen as one of the primary sources of contamination.

Water quality effects are a good example of a single impact pathway that has many and varied effects outcomes, as shown in Figure 3.

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FIGURE 3: Impact Pathways and Outcomes Associated with Reduced Water Quality

These impact outcomes are often mutually supporting and heavily inter-related. For example, in this case, the mixture of lack of faith in country food due to harvested species drinking contaminated water, the increased cost and effort of travelling with large amounts of water, and the pervasive sense that “something is wrong out there” all contribute to a loss of access and enjoyment of traditional activities on the land. This can lead in turn to reduced time spent on the land and reduced consumption of country food, with attendant negative outcomes for human health, well-being and cultural transmission.

6.3.1.3 Contamination of Country Foods and Other Resources

The combined effects of water and air pollution have had perceived and observed negative impacts on the health status of medicinal and food plants, fish, waterfowl, and wild game. Perceived contamination of these food sources and loss of access to harvesting areas adversely affect ACFN members’ desire and/or ability to depend upon country foods for their subsistence.

In focus groups and interviews, several ACFN members indicated concerns about observed changes in country food species’ individual and population health, including:

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1. Contaminated waterfowl;16 2. Tumours and cysts in moose; 3. Reduced size of berries; 4. Cysts and other deformities in fish in the Athabasca River, its tributaries, and Lake Athabasca; and 5. Reduced potency of traditional medicinal plants.

These examples of “tainting” have the potential for substantial impacts on levels and enjoyment of traditional country food harvesting. In addition to direct observations, health warnings related to fish consumption, and perceived risk associated with increased cases of cancer and other illnesses in Fort Chipewyan have contributed to declining country food consumption in Fort Chipewyan:

“I do not eat wildlife whatsoever. And this is – my mom had died back in ’92, she had colon cancer. And […] I vowed never, ever to eat anything from this area, and I haven’t to this day. I won’t… [later in same discussion] I wouldn’t mind eating some moose meat or you know, something like that, but most people, they kill from around here. I will not touch it, like I don’t care, because the moose are drinking that water, the moose are eating the vegetation, and that’s always a fear in me and I’ll always have that, I think.” — ACFN female, August 29, 2012

The currently available evidence indicates that the majority of ACFN members still consume country foods,17 but that those patterns are changing. While the information collected for this study was based on only a limited number of respondents, focus group and interview participants appeared to echo what traditional use study respondents (e.g., in Candler 2011) have been stating in terms of impacts associated with contaminants:

People don’t harvest from certain previously preferred locations anymore, due in part to contamination concerns.

16 We move [where we harvest] because our ducks are covered with oil. We can’t eat ducks with oil. We have fish with sores on them. And that’s our healthy food … Healthy way of life and live a long time because you lived in the bush. Longer life. Now you go back to the bush, you can’t even eat fish once a week, with ducks covered in oil.” – ACFN male member, August 28, 2012. 17 However, that evidence appears to be limited and is not being collected in a dedicated and ongoing way. One ACFN leader referred to a recent report indicating more than three-quarters of Fort Chipewyan residents still consume country foods, but the report could not be obtained at the time of this report. Section 9 identifies recommended monitoring systems improvements so that in the future this important subject has more accurate and up-to-date information to inform decision- making. www.thefirelightgroup.com 55 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

Certain animal species (and animal parts) are subject to reduced consumption, in large part due to contamination concerns, diminished abundance and reduced health in harvested samples. These species include: o Fish, especially from portions of Lake Athabasca and the lower Athabasca River, but also from portions of smaller tributaries to the Athabasca River; o Birds, especially migratory waterfowl, which were previously an important element of the ACFN diet during certain seasons, and which are now both less prevalent (because migratory pathways have changed) and of perceived lower quality/higher health risk due to potential interactions with tailings ponds; and o Large ungulates, specifically their internal organs, which were previously an important nutritional component of the ACFN diet (Wein et al. 1991) and considered cultural delicacies, but which now are viewed as containing highly concentrated levels of contaminants.

There is a reported overall reduced (but still high) reliance on country food production, sharing and consumption. Such activity is critical to future retention of the social, economic and cultural way of life of ACFN members. Country food harvesting is a practice that people report:

Brings together multiple generations and promotes respectful and appropriate relationship building;

Promotes activity on the land, which is good for mental and spiritual health, as the land is recognized as a source of solace for ACFN members;

Allows for the passing on of traditional teachings about the skills and knowledge needed to survive on the land;

Promotes use of the Chipewyan language;

Promotes physical health through higher activity levels;

Contributes to a diet that is typically healthier than store-bought foods;

Creates a sense of pride and self-sufficiency among harvesters; and

Promotes values retention and community relations through sharing of foods in the community after a successful hunt.

However, when the end purpose of the harvesting trip comes into question, and when the country food sources are on balance perceived to be less healthy than other sources, harvesters may choose to stay home and purchase potentially more expensive and less healthy store-bought foods. All of the above-noted spin-off benefits can be lost. For example, as a result of decreased access to country foods there has been an increase in the consumption of high-cost, store-bought foods, including processed meats and other products with less than ideal nutritional value.

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Increases in obesity rates, high blood pressure and diabetes have been linked to this shift in diet in Canadian Aboriginal peoples (Dialogos 2006).

Thus, the original impact pathways – perceived and observed taint of country food sources and associated perceived health risks – can have multiple adverse outcomes for harvesters and families facing tough choices in a time of uncertainty.

6.3.1.4 Perceived Risk

“We’re not saying that this water here is unsafe… but we’re still going to have that doubt. It’s still going to be there, it’s still underlying and you know, we worry” — ACFN female, August 29, 2012

These types of worries and perceptions of uncertainty regarding the natural environment around Fort Chipewyan and on ACFN traditional territory were pervasive among members in focus groups and interviews. They also contribute to changes in lifestyle, diet, socio-cultural wellness, and psycho-social anxiety, based on reports from community members.

Nonetheless, this study identified no previous research work that has been conducted on the role of risk perception in decisions related to healthy living and land use in Fort Chipewyan. Dedicated research on perceived risk and the outcomes associated with perceived ill health and country food, land and water contamination concerns, and how these factors contribute to negative health outcomes is essential. Recent community-drive risk assessment work by the Gitga’at First Nation in British Columbia in relation to the proposed Northern Gateway Project (e.g., Gill and Ritchie 2011) is an example of the type of risk perception study that would help ACFN members, Shell, government and regulators understand better the relationship between perceived contamination risk and changes in the way people live, travel and practice their culture on the land. In addition, more effective and culturally appropriate risk communication has been shown to be essential in facilitating healthy decisions by First Nations members on whether and where to harvest country foods in times of uncertainty (Gibson and Froese 2004).

6.3.1.5 Psycho-social Effects of Changes on the Land

“I left here in the ’70s, but it was rare, you know, to hear of anybody dying of cancer – very rare. They died of old age and they were like 80, 90 years old, you know, and they were healthy… living off the land and they were healthy…. [S]tarting, I think in the 1990s, people started dying, with cancers and lupus and things that we never had before. We never even heard of these things [before].” — ACFN female, August 29, 2012

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The high levels of concern about environmental contamination are also causing psycho-social anxiety and stress-related health problems among ACFN members. In particular, residents indicate frustration and a strong desire for more information about the causes, risks, and rate of cancers and other adverse health effects being encountered by Fort Chipewyan residents. However, at the same time as making these demands, they express increasing resignation that they are not being listened to and won’t get the answers they seek.18 Urquhart (2010, 10) raised concerns about the psycho-social impact outcomes of

“…the lack of listening by the regulators and responsible government authorities to the continued pleas for help in the form of a baseline health study by Fort Chip, since 2006. Such continued blatant ignoring of concerns creates psycho-social impacts of frustration, fear, isolation, and lack of control of one's own future and the future of one’s children.”

Population health concerns are a consistent source of distress for the people of Fort Chipewyan, who express strong and consistent overriding concerns that the oil sands have adversely impacted their health in a variety of ways. Real or perceived increases in the rates of cancer, lupus, auto-immune disorders and other inexplicable ailments, combined with a variety of evidence associated with the contamination of country foods, water, air, vegetation and the land, have created high anxiety about the effects on the people of Fort Chipewyan of current and proposed future oil sands developments. This is especially true for projects, like the JPME, that are closer to Fort Chipewyan.

This high social anxiety manifests itself in many ways. Residents experience increased personal and societal stress associated with uncertainty about their health and the health of their family and loved ones and the future in Fort Chipewyan,19 and concern about the way people collect and consume country foods, including where they go and what they harvest.

In addition to physical health outcomes associated with the reduced consumption of country foods, increased consumption of store bought foods, and exposure to unknown amounts of country food-related airborne and waterborne contaminants, ACFN members have expressed strong concerns about mental, spiritual and emotional health outcomes associated with changes to the land and water from oil sands development. Factors influencing negative health beyond the biophysical –

18 For example: “No matter what anybody says, they are going to go ahead and do it anyway. So what the hell is the point of saying anything” (ACFN male elder, August 30, 2012); “We keep repeating ourselves like a million times over and there’s no result in anything” (ACFN female, August 29, 2012). 19 “I would move, move the community away from here. If I had billions of dollars, if they would give me that, you know I would move, move away, to where we can do a lot of things that we’ve lost, because we’ll never get it again in Fort Chip… We’re just going to live here and complain and talk and whatever, and we’re still going to breathe the air, we’re still going to drink the water, we’re still going to eat the animals, nothing is going to change” (ACFN female, August 29, 2012). www.thefirelightgroup.com 58 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

but also influencing biophysical health outcomes (Health Canada 2005) – include the aforementioned increased anxiety and uncertainty associated with not knowing where adverse health impacts are coming from. There is also an increased sense of loss of a way of life, especially among, but not limited to, elders:

“I think the most heartbreaking thing is when you talk to one of our elders that have been there, they’ve seen the changes within our community and how sunken their heart is when they’re telling you stories of yeah, we used to do this, we used to go out there, the water used to be this high, we would get all these muskrats, whatever, and now… Like the feeling of despair, depression.” — ACFN staff, August 27, 2012

Additional studies into the effects of this sense of loss,20 isolation, fear, and uncertainty are necessary to understand the full state of health and well-being of ACFN members across a broad spectrum of social determinants of health.

6.3.2 Public Safety

ACFN members noted that traffic increases on the winter road and highway due to oil sands traffic are reducing public safety. In addition, some members have raised concerns about hazardous hunting activities by non-Aboriginal recreational hunters. And some ACFN members report that the low water levels are making beaching and collisions more common in the important waterways of the Athabasca River Basin – the arteries into ACFN traditional lands. In addition, changes in the physical landscape (e.g., completely clearing out trees, removing physical landmarks) and lower water levels both create navigational safety risks for ACFN harvesters and travelers by replacing traditional knowledge of where and how to travel with increased uncertainty.

6.3.3 Reduced Recreational Opportunities

Changes in water levels, along with a decline in trust in water quality, have disrupted and/or changed recreational activities:

“The beaches down there have gotten really bad. The water has dropped so bad in the lake that places where I used to swim, places where there was a dock and I'd dive off that dock, you could stand there and you wouldn't even get your toes wet. …And like where we used to swim is just a mud hole now. It's all mud. There's no water really for the kids to swim in.” — ACFN staff and member, August 30, 2012

20 This type of psycho-social impact – labeled “solastalgia” by Albrecht (2005) – describes the pain or sickness caused by the loss of, or inability to derive, solace connected to the present state of one’s home environment. www.thefirelightgroup.com 59 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

Contamination was seen as limiting recreation options for ACFN youth as well. Young people reported no longer feeling safe to swim in Lake Athabasca (Youth focus group, September 14, 2012).

6.3.4 Community Cohesion

Effects on the land have contributed to a reduced sense of community cohesion in Fort Chipewyan, according to some ACFN members. People remember the communal excitement that has always been associated with news that harvesters were coming back to town with a successful kill or trap haul (ACFN female elder, August 29, 2012). The social aspects of harvesting are fondly remembered by many ACFN members, as noted in ACFN (2003, 82):

“‘We would do things together during gathering times like when we picked berries or when someone got a moose. Everyone would help in the preparation of the moose meat and dry meat,” said one ACFN elder. The work and the meat were shared and the elders fondly remember the social aspects of these harvesting days.”

The reduction in daily events associated with harvesting may be impacting on the social fabric of the community. The author notes that this impact pathway of reduced community cohesion is linked to more than merely a reduction in the intensity of harvesting from the land. In addition, ACFN members indicated that families are becoming more “nuclear” rather than extended, as they engage in the wage economy. This issue is discussed more in Section 7 on non-land based changes.

Another specific issue raised by several participants was a decrease in the communal nature of harvesting. Up until the 1980s, many entire families spent the bulk of their time in the summer out on the land at their traditional camps at places like Poplar Point. In recent years, there has been a decline in the length of harvesting trips (for time availability and cost reasons, as well as contamination concerns) and in the people who typically go. In particular, there is a reported reduction in family harvesting trips, linked by some respondents to increased health and safety risks and also to issues related to cost and inconvenience:

“We carry our water with us. And that adds tremendously to the cost and inconvenience of travel, meaning that women and kids travel much less with their husbands than they used to because the old lifestyle was based on just taking what’s there around you and now there’s these concerns that it’s not safe.” — ACFN staff member, August 28, 2012

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6.4 Economic Impacts of Changes on the Land

6.4.1 Increased Costs for Food Procurement

Subsistence harvesting is as much a valued economic activity as an important part of the socio-cultural fabric of the ACFN, particularly so given their remote location and the high costs of freight.

For many ACFN members, their preferred food sources are still traditional ones. The taste of country food is preferred,21 the act of harvesting remains on the whole an enjoyable one critical to living life as a Dene, and with high store-bought food costs in Fort Chipewyan, country food has until recently been cheaper to procure and consume.22

Now, however, some community members rely almost completely on purchasing food from the Northern Store in Fort Chipewyan or flying it in. This creates economic hardship for some, as community members generally consider "Northern’s” costs too high. This is primarily but not exclusively due to fly-in freight costs. Jacques Whitford (2006) found that for a typical basket of goods between Fort McMurray and Fort Chipewyan in May 2006, Fort Chipewyan was 121 per cent more expensive.23 And many ACFN members not happywith the quality and variety of store bought food in Fort Chipewyan.

However, the cost-benefit analysis of country food harvesting, even in an environment with unattractive store bought alternatives, is changing over time. Noise, traffic, and loss of access have made trapping and hunting difficult, and community members have found that the means by which they gathered and hunted in the past have become financially unsustainable. There are ever-increasing costs, including:

High fuel costs for boats and skidoos as harvesters have to travel further afield, and due to inflation linked to rapid wage economic growth in the RMWB; Increased travel time as hunters are alienated from preferred hunting grounds24 ; and

21 Both research findings (Wein et al. 1991; Adams, Sutart and Associates 1995) and discussion with community members, however, indicate that youth have a lower preference for country foods than previous generations. 22 “ACFN members that live in Fort Chipewyan, they have to go out moose hunting and fishing because groceries are so expensive there” — L’Hommecourt (2009). 23 More recent work by ACFN indicates the gap may be even larger; see Section 7.3.3. 24 According to ACFN IRC (2009b, 5) ACFN members "have to go further and further" to exercise their rights: "This causes hardship in terms of the associated increast in time and cost to exercise their rights. As more development comes in, they are essentially told to go 'elsewhere.' There is never any assessment of www.thefirelightgroup.com 61 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

The need to carry water and more supplies to travel further afield to find suitable harvesting grounds.

Changes to water flows also produce increased costs because of damage to boats from rocks and other hazards usually under deeper water, and increased travel time due to reduced speed and need for increased care in navigation.

The decreasing availability of – and/or decreasing faith in – country food, higher costs to travel further afield to harvest animals and fish, increasing reliance on high cost store-bought foods, among other factors, are leading to increased costs of procuring foods for one’s family, and difficult choices between health and cost of living:

“You want to eat wild meat because, you know, it’s safer and healthier, doesn’t have all the chemicals and everything in it. So you want to get some moose. Sometimes you have to go like four or five times. You’re spending, what? Eight hundred dollars or so trying to get that moose. It becomes very expensive moose meat where it would have been cheaper to buy a cow.” — ACFN male, August 28, 2012

6.4.2 Decreased Food Security

Food insecurity25 is another consequence linked to the loss of faith in traditional resources, and may be linked to detrimental health effects. One of the more attractive aspects of living in Fort Chipewyan has long been that no-one goes hungry:

“In Fort Chip, if someone kills a moose down the road, this person will come along and feed you. Whereas in Fort McMurray, you will be lucky if you can get a piece of meat from someone. Fort Chip, we always share with one another. If we see someone hungry in the street we will bring them home and feed them. That is the kind of person we are. That is how we were raised.” – ACFN male elder, August 30, 2012

The land, even during times when the wage economy fails the ACFN, could always be counted on to feed the people. This was evidenced in a 2000 study that found that Fort Chipewyan respondents reported no adult food insecurity, and that:

what this means to them in terms of hardship and in terms of the impediments to exercising their rights 'elsewhere." 25 In 1998 the Canadian government accepted the following definition of food security: "“Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life" – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (1998). www.thefirelightgroup.com 62 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

"Fort Chipewyan food costs were lowest among seven First Nations communities interviewed, by a significant margin. This seems to be an indication of a remaining heavy reliance on country food, but may also be linked to accessibility issues... The average amount spent per week on food ranged from $86.49 in Fort Chipewyan to $185.65 in Sucker Creek… Overall average: $125.46.” — as reported in Dialogos (2006, 30)

Results from focus groups indicate that in recent years community members are becoming more and more concerned about food availability, quality and cost, and the potential shift toward more store-bought, processed foods.

In interviews and focus groups, ACFN members indicated that food security, while still strong in Fort Chipewyan and a major factor in well-being and quality of life in the area, is declining due to:

Reduced abundance and health status of harvested species; Reduced faith in country food; Reduced amount of time on the land, harvesting less country food; Increased costs and effort required to harvest country food; Greater competition for country food sources; Loss of key harvesting areas due to direct disturbance on wildlife; Lack of access to key harvesting areas due to low water levels and other mobility restrictions; Lack of interest, resources and/or knowledge among many ACFN members to go out on the land and harvest country food; and Government regulations related to firearms, among others restrictions.

In addition, there are psycho-social aspects of food security that have as yet not been examined closely by government or industry in the oil sands sector. ACFN members express concern about use of country food at the same time they strongly desire to harvest and eat these foods. This internal conflict is creating anxiety around the very act that sustains ACFN culture as much as any other: harvesting country food. In addition, there are strong concerns that the future is only going to get worse, with reported abundance and safety concerns related to fish, birds (many waterfowl are noticeably avoiding their traditional migration routes through the Peace Athabasca Delta, according to ACFN members), berries, vegetation, and even large game such as moose. Against this backdrop, the remoteness, small population, and monopoly-style store-bought food system in Fort Chipewyan is decried for the lack of healthy food choices as well as cost issues. Thus, food security will likely remain a palpable and ongoing concern for the ACFN into the future and a major issue for well-being and quality of life.

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6.4.3 Loss of Self-Sufficiency

While listed here as an economic impact, the loss of ACFN self-sufficiency due to physical changes to the land resulting from oil sands development, and its effects upon the land-based economy, also has social and cultural implications, which merit consideration. The JPME has the potential to contribute to the already high levels of land alienation that ACFN members report are part of the reason that fewer young and working-age people are getting out on the land and learning the skills and knowledge it takes “to survive out there.” This increases ACFN members’ reliance on store-bought foods and the wage economy.

There was a degree of urgency noted by elders and working-age ACFN members when talking about the need for youth to learn how to live with a foot in both worlds of the wage and land-based economies:

“I want my kids and my grandchildren to understand the values of our traditional ways, how to survive out there regardless of what is happening. [This requires a]ccess to our traditional territories without interference of industry. I want to see them put themselves in a position where they can survive out there in the wilderness. That is my job. That is my job. Older people need to pass that on.” — ACFN male elder, August 30, 2012

An inability to be self-sufficient on the land may yet prove problematic for future generations of ACFN members. Most people agree that, while the oil sands remain the industry of tomorrow in the region, there will come a point in time where the oil sands sector will no longer exist. ACFN members are concerned about what type of self-sufficiency skills individuals will need in the post-oil sands economy.

“I taught my kids how to survive, so that if they want to go back into the woods, they would know how to live. Those kills, that knowledge, the ability to survive is our culture itself. That instinct to survive is our culture, and we’re losing it. It is part of what it means to be an ACFN person. That’s why it is important that they go to Poplar Point to learn and practice those things.” — L’Hommecourt (2009)

6.4.4 Decreased Role of Trapping as an Economic Activity

While trapping initially declined as an economic activity due to factors prior to the oil sands, trapping remained an important contributor to the local mixed economy through the 1970s.26

26 The Peace Athabasca Delta Project Group (1972) noted that in 1970 about 60% of Fort Chipewyan’s male labour force still trapped at least in a casual fashion to supplement other incomes. www.thefirelightgroup.com 64 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

For those ACFN members who still enjoy the trapping lifestyle (albeit with less intensity and economic reliance than in past times), the physical and biophysical impacts of oil sands development have substantial impacts. The ACFN IRC (2009b, 4) has reported that individual trap lines are being disrupted by development projects as well as by poaching enabled by increased access to the area through road development. While some trap lines become too accessible, ACFN access to others is impeded by construction and other activities. Meanwhile, habitat fragmentation and changes in water levels are affecting traditionally trapped animals, ultimately having an adverse effect on the quantity and quality of trap line returns. In addition, there are reports that outsiders coming into the region have done costly damage to ACFN trap lines and cabins. All these impacts have negative financial implications for community members who still practice trapping as an economic, social and cultural activity.

Specifically, the JPME would directly and significantly impact upon RFA #1714 (L’Hommecourt 2009; Candler 2011). The JPME will also likely contribute to ongoing cumulative effects that are leading to the decline of trapping as an economic pursuit. One member of the ACFN leadership (September 14, 2012) went so far as to state that, 10 to 20 years from now, trapping is more likely to be a hobby than an occupation.

6.4.5 Loss of Alternative Economic Development Opportunities

The oil sands has contributed to the decline of an alternative renewable resource development sector based out of Fort Chipewyan. The physical damage caused to the land and waters by the oil sands has already contributed to the decline of trapping and commercial fishing27 by ACFN members. The commercial fishery remains closed now in part due to the fact asserted by several respondents that "nobody will eat fish from Lake Athabasca now".

The oil sands sector is also implicated in the decline or inability to build the following alternative economic sectors based out of Fort Chipewyan:

Tourism, especially eco-tourism – it is difficult to market due to the reputation of the area for environmental contamination and the declined ecosystem health status of the Peace Athabasca Delta, especially reports of changes in fish quality (the fly-in, fly-out fishing tourism market is one of the more lucrative northern Canadian tourism markets; and

27 ACFN (2008a, 20), notes that contamination and perceived contamination of water, fish and fish habitat were contributors to the decline and eventual failure of the Fort Chipewyan commercial fishery in 2007. www.thefirelightgroup.com 65 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

Guiding/outfitting – due to declines in the abundance of fur bearers and big game, and reputation and sensory aspects of the area not conducive to tourist-based hunting.28

6.5 Cultural Impacts of Changes on the Land

6.5.1 Sense of Alienation from Traditional Land

“Where are you going to practice that [your culture], when industry takes all the land away from you?” ACFN male elder, August 30, 2012

Cumulatively, oil sands projects have limited the amount, quality, and distribution of land available for the meaningful practice of Treaty 8 rights and therefore, a negative influence on maintenance of ACFN culture.

Oil sands developments are impacting on ACFN members’ ability to get to their preferred harvesting areas, and they are increasingly leading to a sense by members of alienation from their traditional lands. ACFN members note that gates, fences, new roads, and other obstacles encountered on the land lead to feelings of being locked out of their own territory:

“[I]n order to get to these places, a lot of times you got to travel through these oil leases, right, and the only way to get through these oil leases is you got to get permission to go through there. There’s a gate there, you know, CNRL, I used to drive over there to get into the mountains, now I got to report in and give them a trap line. I don’t have a trap line; I’m a traditional land user of Treaty 8. I want to get to these places, but they’re setting restrictions on who should use it.” — ACFN member, in ACFN IRC 2009b, 84.

Alienation is felt keenly by those whose cabins are close to the road; traffic and dust have made some cabins unusable. Alienation has also been expressed as a loss of privacy, security and safety, particularly on the roads because of unsafe drivers, on their traplines because of “partiers” (ACFN IRC 2009c, 76), and in their homes and cabins because of trespassers: “There’s people going to the trap line when we’re not there and they’re just partying and drinking there.” — ACFN member, in ACFN (2008a, 23)

In addition, visual changes to the land can impact on both the knowledge of and appreciation for the cultural landscape that has long been part of the ACFN way of life. As noted in Loo (2007, 907), “As new physical features appeared in the

28 Section 7.3.2 also identifies effects of the oil sands economy on development of small entrepreneurial business sectors, especially in a small community like Fort Chipewyan, due to wage inflationary pressures making employee recruitment and retention difficult. www.thefirelightgroup.com 66 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

[Athabasca] river and along its banks, old familiar ones disappeared. Islands became hills. Lakes vanished under willow and sedge.” These changes can be striking and cause significant anxiety:

“One of the things even for me is the roads and all the clear cuts. I couldn’t believe you go down a road, and there’s trees on both sides of the road all the way to Fort Chip and now … it just seems like it’s all of a sudden – but it’s a process, I guess, and you look at it and you think, oh my God, the trees are gone. They’re taking away all the trees, whoever ‘they’ is.” — ACFN staff and member, August 27, 2012

Noise pollution and other sensory disturbances impact ACFN members’ sense of tranquility and quiet enjoyment of the land. Sources include road traffic, construction, and operations of oil and gas developments:

“The amount of noise has really picked up. […] In the winter time you hear them doing their pounding, it seems to echo more in the winter time… Now you hear the roar of the, even the guns and the cannons they use, more of it now. The equipment they use around that area, you know, it’s, you hear it every day. Everyday it’s louder.” — ACFN member, in ACFN IRC 2009b, 86

ACFN members have also expressed alienation due to increased competition from non-Aboriginal recreational users and hunters, decreasing their sense of solitude, safety and solace on the land.

ACFN members indicated that these visible and other sensory changes have altered their understanding of, appreciation of, concerns for, and relationship to, their traditional lands. The importance of “quiet enjoyment of the land” is a common value raised by ACFN members:

“You are seeing all the cultural aspects of being out on the land and the peace of being one with nature. Your grandfathers used to go out and be on the land and just sit there nice and quiet. It’s the calming feeling when you’re out with nature.” — ACFN female, August 28, 2012

This ability to enjoy the land has declined with all of the above-noted changes on the land associated with oil sands development. It has contributed to the sense of alienation and cultural loss associated with a disconnection from ancestral lands. Such disconnection from traditional lands has been connected to adverse health outcomes among Aboriginal peoples, and is “an important influence on the social determinants of indigenous health” (Ganesharajah 2009, 2).

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6.5.2 Reduced Cultural Practices and Loss of Cultural Skills and Knowledge

“In 1950, I started trapping with my dad, I didn’t know much about trapping and hunting, my dad used to tell me to watch him and not ask questions, because if you are asking questions, you are not trying to learn on your own. If you are not sure how to hunt those moose and caribous, think for yourself. I had to learn things the hard way, on the hard land. Traditional knowledge is something that no school in any part of the world will ever teach you in class, you learn it by being on the land. …You get to love the land, the way you are doing whatever you have to do for yourself.” — ACFN elder, February 14, 2012 in ACFN IRC (2012b, 23)

One ACFN elder (August 30, 2012) estimated that 80 per cent of people living in Fort Chipewyan don’t get out on the land, due in large part to cost reasons. With reduced numbers of youth spending time on the land, intergenerational knowledge, values and skills transfer cannot happen. Several elders and working age people made it clear that Dene skills need to be learned on the land – they are not “theoretical” but “practical.” Youth must observe an elder setting up camp, setting up a fire, dressing a moose, before they can attempt it successfully themselves.

Because of pressures from recreational hunting, loss of access, reported reduced wildlife health and abundance status, and other restrictions that limit the viability of the traditional way of life, there is difficulty in continuing traditional pursuits and of teaching the skills required for passing the traditional Dene way of life – “how to survive on the land” – to the younger generations. Participants cited a loss of the sense of purpose elders get from passing on cultural knowledge to youth and the sense of identity, confidence, and practical survival skills youth get in return. The impediments to this sort of knowledge transfer include the physical loss or desecration of teaching and learning sites, the loss of access to such sites through water level changes or other physical barriers, and the changes in distribution, quality, and quantity of traditionally-harvested resources.

Aside from concerns about the direct physical loss of teaching places in which traditional knowledge can be transferred, community members and formal regulatory submissions have noted that industrial damage to the land is limiting elders’ ability to teach skills to the next generation that would allow them to live on the land as their predecessors did (DS Environmental 2010a, 87). This, in turn, affects youths’ willingness to adopt a traditional way of life, and reduces the transfer of traditional knowledge from one generation to the next. Elders have concerns that the younger generation is growing up without any understanding of the health and sustenance the landscape provided safely in the past, and therefore with little willingness or ability to conceptualize the traditional economy of resource

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harvesting and sustenance through hunting, gathering, and trapping.29 As ACFN elder Alec Bruno noted (in ACFN 2003, 89): ‘Today a lot of the kids don’t have the slightest idea of what living out on the land is all about. You want your children to know about their culture and traditional way of life.’”

This loss of traditional knowledge is occurring at the same time and is directly related to a loss in the number of ACFN members who can speak the Chipewyan language. As of 2006 (Statistics Canada 2006), only 5.2 per cent of Fort Chipewyan’s Aboriginal Identity Population spoke an Aboriginal language most often at home, and in 2001 no families reported Chipewyan was the language used most often at home (Statistics Canada 2001 census data reported in Human Environment Group 2006, 38).

6.5.3 Marginalization of Elders

Associated with the reduced transmission of culture between generations is the socio-cultural marginalization of ACFN elders. Male elders in particular noted this as a major concern – that the skills they have to offer, the knowledge of the way of life, they are not able to pass on (ACFN male elders focus group, August 30, 2012) And with this comes a reduced sense of the purpose and meaning of elders’ role in the community:

“The pride that these elders who are all dying of cancer and whatever else …They get depressed because they have nothing to offer to the future generation.…you can’t live in the bush anymore; … can’t make a living” — ACFN male, August 28, 2012

More discussion on the changing role of elders is provided in Section 8.2.

6.5.4 Erosion of Traditional Values

“Over time, we as parents have lost all our teachings, you know, with respect and on and on and one – we’ve lost it all.” ACFN female, August 28, 2012

“Our values are all damaged already. Our values have been damaged for 40 years since industry started.” ACFN male, August 28, 2012

Reduced time on the land, which is one of the key aspects associated with land alienation and contamination concerns (as well as reduced time available to practice the traditional economy), has contributed to the erosion of traditional values. The land was the key place where youth and elders typically interacted, with youth not

29 ACFN elders also noted that youth have so many other non-physical distractions available now, such as computer games, they are often initially reluctant to go out on the land. This reluctance, however, is often replaced by enjoyment once out on the land, a sentiment shared by many youth (Youth focus group, September 14, 2012). www.thefirelightgroup.com 69 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

only learning skills and gaining knowledge, but also learning about respectful relations with elders.

Reduced country food harvesting associated with less time on the land and contamination concerns also can lead to reduced sharing. In addition, as the land- based economy becomes less and less attractive, the values associated with being on the land may change as well. When the land was the primary form of sustenance for the ACFN, as it was for thousands of years, its protection and stewardship was an eminent factor in cultural survival. The erosion of the ACFN’s self-governance and land stewardship under Canadian and Alberta laws and regulations may contribute to the loss of this value as well, an issue discussed further in Section 7.2.8.

6.5.5 Damage to Spiritually/Culturally Important Places

The practice of spiritual and ceremonial activities is also being affected through the destruction of sites and loss of access to particular areas and the loss of a sense of rejuvenation and reconnection that had previously been common for those travelling on the land. Previous ACFN regulatory submissions on the JPME have also noted that the sacred aspect of the land is destroyed when the land is disturbed; that the more spiritual sites are destroyed, “the more a part of their culture dies” (ACFN IRC 2009b, 5).

ACFN submissions on the JPME indicate there are important ACFN spiritual sites near the Project, including:

“A contemporary ceremonial site on RFMA 1714, in close proximity to the JME Project; Kearl Lake, which is an ancestral gathering place and sacred area, is within 30 km of the JME Project and potentially affected by disruptions to the Muskeg River watershed; a sacred valley is located on RFMA 1714 in close proximity to the JME Project.” — ACFN IRC (2009b, 16)

Gravesites and sacred areas are being threatened by developments in the vicinity of the JPME,30 and medicinal plant collection areas are also being negatively affected.

30 As noted in ACFN (2008a, p. 27) “Some graves are believed to be lost forever and ACFN members feel others may be destroyed in the future. They are fully aware of the reality that once a place of sacred value is destroyed, it cannot be replaced; the spirit is gone “once you move them or take them out you can’t replace them, you know. It’s like digging out the side of something sacred” (Participant A06 2007). One participant recalled feeling the ancient spirits of the Denesuline ancestors “past Kearl Lake … there’s a valley there, and if you go and look at where, into that valley, you can actually feel echoes from ancient times and you can actually feel something very powerful there, and I hope they don’t destroy that place” (Participant A01 2007).” www.thefirelightgroup.com 70 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

6.5.4 Psycho-social Impacts of Cultural Loss

“We're talking about the survival of the Athabasca River, but more than that this is about the survival of our people.” — Pat Marcel, ACFN elder, in Pembina Institute (2007, 1)

ACFN members exhibit the following adverse psycho-social effects related to changes on the land having an impact on their ability to maintain and promote their culture into the future: An overarching sense of loss and sadness, especially among elders. A sense of fear and anxiety for their cultural future, with cultural attributes being lost more and more as time goes by. An increasing resignation to the fact that the culture is on the decline, and that instead of fighting the oil sands, economic benefits must be sought to offset or somehow otherwise compensate for these losses. This resignation comes with a sense of guilt at trading off cultural stewardship values, especially among those who choose to work at the mines:

“People are kind of apologetic. They say, well, I have to do it. They don’t like the fact they’re digging there, but they have to do it to support their families.” — ACFN staff, August 27, 2012 A sense of unfairness and associated anger and frustration that they have lost so much for little gain.

Against this backdrop of cultural anxiety is a continued desire to properly balance change so that the land and culture are not lost forever:

“We should still lobby to protect the land for our kids; we can’t just live on money, we need our home, we don’t want to move away; it impacts our land, our water, our animals.” — ACFN female, February 14, 2012 (ACFN IRC 2012b, 21)

“Five or six years ago I was visiting Fort McMurray. I met with some friends that needed [a] ride here and we drove through the development area. The young friends said that the land is destroyed and it’s so sad. Those words impacted me. The creator gave us this land to look after. He gave us everything – the water, birds, caribou, all the species and plants. When we use all this it makes us feel alive; we know who we are because of our Traditional lands. We used the traditional land for thousands of years… Then came the wage economy. Today our Dene people are huge employers, we have many people working for us now. Are we going in the wrong direction with all these impacts or are we going in the right direction. The land is being destroyed the air is destroyed; the impacts are cumulative, year after year. — ACFN elder, February 14, 2012 (ACFN IRC 2012b, 24) www.thefirelightgroup.com 71 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

As Vanclay (2002, 199) notes:

“Cultures have well developed systems that allow them to cope with a degree of change, provide survival mechanisms, and provide for the effective functioning of those societies. When change is too rapid, or when there are exogenous shocks with which the system cannot cope, there may be disregard for traditional cultural practices by members of society…” (emphasis added).

The question remains to what degree ACFN way of life on the land will survive the changes caused by physical changes on the land and other “shocks.” This question of cultural survival is certainly an open question within the community itself. Thus, the psycho-social impacts of cultural loss merit further attention, because they can have wide ranging health and well-being implications. ACFN members have seen high dysfunction come with a changing way of life with the death of the fur trade as a viable way to make a living in the late 1960s.31 Dysfunction remains an issue for ACFN members living throughout the RMWB. For example, an ACFN social services staff member indicated that far too many ACFN members report having suicidal thoughts (ACFN staff and member, August 20, 2012). Drug and alcohol abuse issues also remain a problem for ACFN members.

Despite these risk factors, potential linkages between the loss of connection to traditional lands, the disintegration of cultural practices and values, and cultural and social harms were not examined in any detail by the Proponent in its impact assessment. The link between cultural loss and social dysfunction has long been known (e.g., Brody 1981) and its adverse outcomes researched both qualitatively (e.g., Alfred 2009) and quantitatively (e.g., Chandler and Lalonde 2007). They merit serious and full attention because they are a part of growing psycho-social anxiety among some ACFN members as oil sands operations come closer and closer to Fort Chipewyan, and as their cumulative effects load rises.

31 Adams, Sutart and Associates (1995, 262) quote an ACFN member from that time stating that, in response to the impacts of the WAC Bennett Dam and other forces impacting trapping and access to country food, “sober hard working men had started drinking out of shame that they could no longer support their families and that they had to ask for social assistance.” The study noted further noted (p. 259) that “[t]here can be no doubt that all of the changes discussed above, and many others, have caused stresses and strains in individuals and within families and the community, and that these stresses and strains have manifested themselves in an array of health and social problems.”

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6.6 Summary of Impacts of Changes on the Land on ACFN Society, Economy and Culture

ACFN members reported the following concerns about social, economic and cultural effect of changes on the land caused by oil sands developments.

TABLE 3: CAUSES AND EFFECTS ON ACFN SOCIETY, ECONOMY AND CULTURE FROM OIL SANDS DEVELOPMENT Causes Effect Pathways Effect Outcomes Pollution from oil -Emissions entering air, -Poorer health among ACFN members, especially sands (air, water) water, vegetation, in Fort Chipewyan, including heightened wildlife, and humans morbidity via cancer and other diseases -Heightened perceived -Lower water and air quality increasing perceived risk of health impacts risk of contamination being caused by oil sands -Reduced numbers of members harvesting development through -Lack of drinkable water sources on the land visible observations, requiring carrying bottled water health warnings, -Reduced willingness to travel long distances for scientific study results, long time periods on the land media and word of -Lower air quality affecting enjoyment of the land mouth -Decreased food security -Sensory disturbance -Decreased willingness to take youth and family (sights, smells, tastes, on the land for extended periods feel, noise) -Reduced consumption of country food -Greater food expenses from reliance on store bought foods -Poorer diet from store bought foods -Reduced harvesting effort and time spent on the land -Increased psycho-social impacts and potential social dysfunction in response to changes -Reduced enjoyment of the land Physical -Physical changes to the -Loss of connection/knowledge of cultural disturbance on the way the land looks – loss landscape and how to navigate it land of landmarks Physical barriers -Habitat fragmentation -Reduced connection to traditional lands (gates, fences) -Sensory disturbance -Reduced wildlife distribution and health status, (sights, smells, tastes, in general and in preferred harvesting sites feel, noise) -Reduced ability to practice treaty rights -Reduced access to land (harvest) and harvesting areas -Sterilization of traplines -Reduced country food -Reduced income for trappers and trapping activities -Reduced harvest success and reduced incentive -Reduced habitat for to trap and hunt in preferred areas preferred species -Reduced harvesting effort and time spent on the -Increasing number of land invasive species (wildlife, -Avoidance of spiritually/culturally important plants, fish, aquatic locations on the land plants) -Increased psycho-social impacts and potential social dysfunction in response to changes -Reduced enjoyment of the land

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Causes Effect Pathways Effect Outcomes Increased numbers -More competition for -Increased public safety risks, including lower of people working resources physical safety on the land and roads and living near -Increased vehicle traffic -Loss of quiet enjoyment of the land/sense of traditional lands and outsider presence on solitude/privacy (e.g., oil sands the land workers and recreational users of new roads and right of ways Water withdrawals -Lower water levels -Reduced access to preferred harvesting areas from Athabasca and downstream of oil sands -Reduced transportation down Athabasca River other area rivers -Reduced habitat for (vital transportation link) furbearers in Peace -Reduced number of ACFN people with Athabasca Delta knowledge of river navigation -Increased public safety issues (e.g., grounding on sandbars) -Reduced time spent on the land practicing cultural traditions -Reduced cultural transmission between generations

Breaking these effects down into social, economic and cultural categories and assessing their significance separately is somewhat illusory. ACFN members, like many Aboriginal people, see change and assess significance in a holistic fashion. (Winds and Voices Environmental Services Inc. 2000) They recognize that many of the causal agents described above lead to multiple effects pathways and outcomes that reach across many aspects of people’s lives. They also act in combination with effects from the oil sands unrelated to physical effects on the land, such as increased engagement in the wage economy which may reduce time available for harvesting or increase disposable income to support it, or a complex mixture of both. These additional change agents and their effects are discussed in Section 7 and the overall question of significance is revisited in Section 9 in a more holistic fashion.

ACFN members have long been concerned that the direct impacts of land degradation, water, air and wildlife contamination, the associated erosion of the ability to meaningfully practice Aboriginal and treaty rights, reduction in cultural cohesion and retention, add up to cause significant spin off effects on life in the communities. Social, economic and cultural effects linked to changes to the land that reduce the ability of ACFN members to make a meaningful connection to their traditional land base can cause significant social dysfunction, decreasing economic self-sufficiency, and contribute to potentially irrevocable cultural loss.

For the ACFN, effects on the land of the oil sands are a question of cultural survival, social stability and satisfaction, and economic self-sufficiency. As noted by ACFN Chief Allan Adam in the ACFN’s submission to the House of Commons Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development (ACFN 2009):

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“As more of our lands are taken up for development, there are fewer and fewer places where we can take our children and grand-children to teach them our culture and way of life. Without a sufficient land base to exercise our rights and pass down our culture, we slowly lose our ability to be ACFN people. While this may be hard for non-Aboriginal people to understand, for us these issues are critical to our survival.”

In its Application and supplemental materials, the Proponent has provided no meaningful examination of the issues of Aboriginal mental health, the psycho-social impacts of land alienation, or loss of culture and the cumulative “weight of recent history” on socio-cultural and economic vulnerability and resiliency among ACFN members. Psycho-social impacts (e.g., high stress, loss of connections to traditional lands, a sense of helplessness and loss of control, a sense of failure to be stewards of the land for future generations) and their negative outcomes – anger, distrust, loss of sense of purpose, social and self destructive activities – are real. Buell (2006) notes that Health Canada has reported that social change associated with industrial development can create psycho-social impact outcomes such as uncertainty, loss of control and deterioration of quality of life and population health in small Aboriginal communities. All of these outcomes are readily recognizable among ACFN members today. Where they are prevalent, their damage can be significant and may last multiple generations. These psycho-social effects have been recognized by the Government of Canada, which has provided advice to the managers of contaminated sites on the variety of impact outcomes they must be prepared to deal with from local people whose lands, rights and interests have been subject to real or perceived contamination (Health Canada, 2005).32

In the end, for ACFN members, the primacy of land and the need to protect it is perhaps the most important issue of all:

“The environment cannot be rebuilt once it’s gone. All the money in the world cannot account for it. It must be preserved for our future generations. It’s all we’ve got left.” — ACFN member, in Voyageur (2007, 13).

32 Among the psycho-social outcomes Health Canada (2005) recognized: fear, feelings of vulnerability and powerlessness, anger, distrust, grief, guilt, a sense of depersonalization and loss of connection to the land, frustration, isolation and depression. www.thefirelightgroup.com 75 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

7 Community-Level Effects of Oil Sands on ACFN Society, Economy and Culture

7.1 Introduction

Oil sands development has brought both beneficial and adverse economic effects to ACFN members. There have been regional and local benefits in the form of physical infrastructure, jobs, business development, and training opportunities that have emerged. Adverse effects include increased out-migration from Fort Chipewyan, risk of social dysfunction, and exposure to new values which have eroded Dene culture.

This section examines effects of existing oil sands development and the likely effects of the JPME on ACFN members at the community (Fort Chipewyan) and regional level (primarily ACFN members working, living or temporarily inhabiting Fort McMurray). A complex picture of the costs and benefits of oil sands economic growth emerges. The ACFN33 have identified a core concerns related to social, economic and cultural issues, such as:

The type and number of jobs available and accessible to ACFN members from the oil sands, and whether they are commensurate with the damages the industry is causing to their traditional lands.

The effects of having people work away from their home communities and families for extended periods of time with rotational work.

The beneficial and adverse impacts of the work environment at oil sands on ACFN members.

Social and cultural impacts that are occurring as more ACFN members work in the oil sands sector specifically and the wage economy in general, i.e. How is society and culture changing and are these changes for the better?

What type of impacts are being experienced by people who don’t get the jobs at oil sands, such as elders, youth, women and single parent families, and whether the oil sands is contributing to the creation of “haves” and “have- nots.”

33 In ACFN and MCFN (2012). www.thefirelightgroup.com 76 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

7.2 Social Effects of Oil Sands in Communities

The following social issues were considered in this assessment:

Population mobility (Section 7.2.1); Education (Section 7.2.2); Housing (Section 7.2.3); Social function and dysfunction (Section 7.2.4); Access to health and social services (Section 7.2.5); Community and family cohesion (Section 7.2.6); Social effects of working in oil sands (Section 7.2.7); and Psycho-social issues (Section 7.2.8).

7.2.1 Demographic and Mobility Patterns: Fort Chipewyan and Fort McMurray

ACFN's total membership population was estimated to be 924 in 2010 and 984 as of February 2012. The number of ACFN members living in Fort Chipewyan (reserve and Crown Land) is 230 or approximately 25 per cent of the total ACFN membership. The percentage of ACFN members living in Fort Chipewyan has decreased by 4.2 per cent since 2005 (Government of Alberta 2012).

The highest number of ACFN members live in Fort Chipewyan, but there remain a relatively large number of members who live in Fort McMurray, Edmonton, and other communities. For 2010 the primary place of residence for ACFN members of working age (between 18 and 55) was:

135 in Fort Chipewyan; 99 in Fort McMurray, and 57 in Edmonton (Flett 2011).

7.2.1.1 Migration Between Fort Chipewyan and For McMurray

Fort Chipewyan has for some time had a “floating” population base that is hard to accurately depict. It has been estimated at anywhere from 755 (Statistics Canada 2006 Census data) to 1,260 residents. One of the primary factors influencing this floating number is the high degree of transience that has become part of Fort Chipewyan’s demographic signature during the oil sands era. As noted by ACFN members and staff, many people, especially young people, have felt the need to migrate out of the community for education and wage employment opportunities. The oil sands sector has been a strong draw for ACFN members: “The oil companies www.thefirelightgroup.com 77 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

wouldn’t accept Fort Chip as a fly-in community. If you wanted, they recruited here constantly and if you wanted to go to work, you had to relocate to the city.” (ACFN staff, August 28, 2012)

There is also a commonly reported pattern of Fort Chipewyan members returning to their home community after a period of time away in which they sought work or education in Fort McMurray.

Moving to Fort McMurray is seen by some ACFN members as a reluctant necessity; something that needs to be done to access adequate high school education, suitable training, and gain access to jobs in the oil sands sector. Reluctance was expressed because moving to Fort McMurray can come with a considerable downside. ACFN members noted a higher cost of living (especially rent), increasing exposure to negative social impacts such as crime, drugs, alcohol, sexual assault, racism, traffic and an overall fast pace of life. Many Fort Chipewyan residents who move to the community, whether during school or after for work, end up coming home at some point.

There are strongly held views among members about the comparative quality of life available in the primary places of residence for ACFN members, Fort Chipewyan and Fort McMurray. There are costs and benefits to residing in each community. In focus groups and interviews, ACFN members indicated the following:34

34 NOTE: These perspectives were primarily provided by current Fort Chipewyan resident ACFN members. Additional work would be required to identify the perspectives of Fort McMurray ACFN members. www.thefirelightgroup.com 78 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

TABLE 4: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF FORT CHIPEWYAN VS. FORT MCMURRAY IDENTIFIED BY ACFN MEMBERS Fort Chipewyan Advantages Fort McMurray Advantages Plenty of country food available; food Relatively low food costs; very low from regional security declining, but is still relatively high perspective

Strongly perceived of as “home” Access to quality educational opportunities

Social support network Access to recreational opportunities

Kids are safe More diversity and number of jobs available

Near nature; link to traditional lands Higher income prospects

Low housing rental costs to offset high food Upstream of the oil sands – potentially lower and other costs pollution

Peace and quiet; nice pace of life Greater access to training and career development opportunities

Traditional ceremonies and gatherings Higher access to goods and services

Social assistance relatively low Higher access to health care Fort Chipewyan Disadvantages Fort McMurray Disadvantages High costs of store bought food Extremely high, and often prohibitive, rental costs create major cost of living issues Local health and environmental Racism contamination concerns Weak access to education and training Exposure to external “outsider” values Housing crowding Fast pace of life –noise and emissions Isolation and lack of access to services, Lack of access to traditional lands, preferred and including social services and health care known harvesting areas, and thereby country foods Lack of choice in commercial sector Reduced access to and enjoyment of “land” in general Lack of employment, business and career Traffic and reduced public safety development opportunities Lower income Higher risk of social dysfunction (drugs, crime, alcohol and homelessness) Lack of recreational programs and facilities – It is “not home” for many ACFN members “need a swimming pool” Increased transportation needs on a day-to-day basis (long commutes) Lack of a social support system/network Increased competition in education system can promote ACFN members to drop out Safety - “Can’t leave your kids outside”

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Living in Fort McMurray has exposed ACFN members to “boom town” effects including:

“…major negative effects on community health due to several simultaneous pressures on individuals, families, and infrastructure. These include general price inflation, extreme housing shortages, labour shortages in most sectors, family stress, drug and alcohol abuse, increased crime, and other social negative impacts related to inadequate public health and municipal services. Community health status in the oil sands region is lower than the provincial average, which is dominated by Calgary and Edmonton data, but also poorer than that in the more comparable Peace Country region.” (Royal Society of Canada 2010, 288)

7.2.1.2 Oil Sands Impacts on Demographics and Migration

Oil sands impacts on demographics in Fort McMurray and Fort Chipewyan in a number of different ways:

Causing people to leave Fort Chipewyan to access education, training and jobs; Exposing people who out-migrate to a higher cost of living than in Fort Chipewyan; Decreasing community cohesion through a heightened sense of a transient population in Fort Chipewyan, with people moving out for jobs and back for quality of life reasons; and Exposing ACFN families and individuals to the boom town effects of Fort McMurray and thereby decreasing their quality of life, increasing their exposure to social dysfunction risks, and reducing their connection to culture, extended family and core values.

7.2.1.3 Fly-In/Fly-out and Retention of ACFN Members in Fort Chipewyan

The potential for an increased draw of ACFN members back into the community due to Fort Chipewyan being a point of hire and fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) location for the JPME was identified as a benefit by a large majority of participants and has the potential to slightly reduce out-migration and transience effects on the community. FIFO is not new in Fort Chipewyan, but until relatively recently has been rare:

“If we can convince the oil companies to increase the fly-in, fly-out capacity, our community can grow then, people can stay here instead of leaving, they can make that choice. They’ve not had that choice except about 10 Syncrude employees have been working since about 1979, they fly-in and fly-out and it’s been very successful.” — ACFN staff, August 28, 2012

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Many community members felt this draw was strong – “people are happy to come home” (ACFN female, August 29, 2012). Potential benefits of FIFO include: Stronger connections to home for ACFN members; Increasing opportunities for Fort Chipewyan youth and working age people to remain in Fort Chipewyan rather than feel forced to move south (primarily to Fort McMurray) to access work opportunities (and thereby face social and economic risks that many have in the past proven to be unprepared for); A reduced “brain drain” effect on the small community35; and Increased income and vibrancy in the small community, with a larger population spending more of their disposable in Fort Chipewyan, potentially increasing consumer demand, business starts, and introducing price competition.

ACFN members and leadership identified support for the concept of FIFO programs:

“On the whole, I highly endorse the fly-in programs because it allows the rest of the family to stay here in the community while the individual goes out and works for a short period of time. Industry's now starting to get a clue and have changed some of their rotation schedules to make it a little bit more flexible to those individuals that want to work. But there's still some areas where they need a lot of work.” — ACFN staff, August 30, 2012

“The fly in and the fly out program, I think that’s awesome, because this way here, you know they go in, they go into camps, they stay there all week, they do their job and they’re flown home. I think that benefits them and their families, because they’re not out to Fort McMurray and then going and whatever, because once they get into camp, they have to stay in camp, and there’s no alcohol, there’s no nothing permitted, and I think that makes a difference. So that they do come home.” — ACFN female, August 29, 2012

Nonetheless, potential adverse effects of FIFO were also identified by ACFN members. The first is that increased return of ACFN members (already reported to be happening in small numbers), will cause further housing crowding pressures in the community.36 Secondly, there are concerns that ACFN members returning from Fort McMurray may bring with them both different values and vices from that bigger community and the oil sands workplace. Concerns about a loss of respect, increased insularity of nuclear families, less sharing, the creation of disparity in the

35 Brain drain is a phenomenon where the best and brightest in a community are drawn away to higher paying jobs and education in urban centres and may be less likely to come back and contribute to the running of the community. 36 Research from Australia indicates that return of former community members to their indigenous community to access new employment and business opportunities can result in increasing demand for health care, social services, etc., putting pressure on already stretched social resources (Supervising Scientist 1997). www.thefirelightgroup.com 81 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

community, as well as increasing drug access in the community, were noted. In addition, the effects of long-distance commuting on families are also a potential concern, brought into greater relief in Section 7.2.6. But overall, there was an expressed willingness from ACFN members to make FIFO work for the community.

7.2.2 Education

Education in the community and the start that it provides for children is a key focus for ACFN members.

7.2.2.1 Educational Attainment

Concerns about educational attainment were raised by many people in interviews and focus groups. There is strong evidence to support these concerns. Aboriginal students often lack access to adequate education, a systemic hurdle to economic and social well-being.

Across Canada there is a differential in education outcomes for aboriginal students. Findings of a 2004 report of the Auditor General suggest that “a significant education gap exists between First Nations people living on reserves and the Canadian population as a whole,” estimating that at current levels this gap could take as much as 28 years to close (Auditor General of Canada 2004). Studies suggest that First Nation, Metis and Inuit youth are likely to leave the education system with much lower levels of educational attainment than non-Aboriginal youth (Taylor, Friedel and Edge 2010).

According to a 2001 self-reported survey by the Athabasca Tribal Council (ATC) more than 75 per cent of area First Nations people had not graduated high school. According to the same study, only 13.7 per cent indicated completing a college, trades institute or university diploma, certificate or degree (University of Alberta 2001, 64). More recent data in an ATC 2006 labour pool analysis does not show much improvement: 63 per cent of respondents have less than a general equivalency diploma – 48 per cent of this group were unemployed; and 74.2 per cent left school during elementary/high school with the highest number leaving school in Grade 10 (ATC 2007).

Data available at the school level for Fort Chipewyan’s Athabasca Delta Community School is consistent with these trends. A 2010 provincial survey found that 47.6 per cent of students at the school earned a high school diploma, compared with a provincial average of 84 per cent. Worse yet, only 30 per cent reach an acceptable level of achievement compared to 80 per cent across the province (Stokell 2010).

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7.2.2.2 Quality of Education

Interviews and focus groups consistently surfaced the issue of the poor quality of the education in Fort Chipewyan. Concerns were repeatedly raised about the role of The Northland School Division No. 61. ACFN members interviewed said they felt they were getting the lowest quality education within this notoriously poor division.

The Northland School Division has been embroiled in controversy regarding performance. On January 21, 2010, Alberta Minister of Education Dave Hancock fired all trustees of the Northland School Division because of its poor performance. He appointed an official trustee in their place to work with an inquiry team to create recommendations for improving circumstances in the school division. The report of the enquiry team makes a broad range of recommendations for improvement in the school division (Alberta Education 2010), but it is unclear as yet whether these recommendations will make a difference for ACFN students.

Many people in Fort Chipewyan expressed strong concerns about the capacity of the local school to graduate college, trade school or other higher educational institution- ready students. A common refrain was that students in Fort Chipewyan are three years behind those in Fort McMurray, and the common expectation is that students have to face the hard choice of moving to Fort McMurray, away from their families, to finish high school in a meaningful way, or wait until they graduate from Fort Chipewyan and then do upgrading at the local chapter of Keyano College.

“Our children are three years behind in the school system. Many who go to Fort McMurray – they are three years behind and it’s such a challenge for them to get into the system.” — ACFN, female, August 28, 2012

Factors seen as contributing to the poor quality of education for ACFN members in Fort Chipewyan include (drawing from Taylor, Friedel and Edge: 2009, and interviews and focus groups for this study): Low expectations of teachers, lack of discipline/structure in the school; Inability to attract and retain quality educators, with factors including the remote and isolated nature of the community and the high cost of living. Insufficient preparation of primarily young and inexperienced staff to teach in the province’s small, northern schools; Low levels of parental involvement both at home or in the school; Influences on parental involvement include the legacy of residential schooling and work demands on parents employed by industry; Addiction issues in northern communities, which have an adverse effect on education for First Nation youth; Inadequate educational facilities/resources in Fort Chipewyan;

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Too few Aboriginal teachers; “Social pass” – promoting children to the next grade before they are academically ready; and Streaming of Aboriginal high school students into non-post-secondary courses (Taylor, Friedel and Edge 2009, vii).

Additionally, the courses offered in Fort Chipewyan are perceived as very limited. The programming seems to be aimed at oil sands employment. Concerns about industrial control or influence over the educational agenda for Fort Chipewyan have been raised by academic researchers (Taylor, Friedel and Edge: 2009).

7.2.2.3 Transferring to Fort McMurray

The conditions of the education at the school in Fort Chipewyan, including the limited course offering, result in many students transferring to Fort McMurray to get an adequate high school education. Such a transfer does not guarantee their success. In interviews for this study, ACFN members including youth, service providers, and leadership, noted that the transition from small rural communities and schools to Fort McMurray can be difficult. Taylor, Friedel and Edge (2009 and 2010) had similar findings. Hurdles can include: The young age of students when they leave their families and communities to attend high school; The lack of resources (financial and other) to fully support youth who are staying in boarding homes; Aboriginal youth’s experiences of racism; The transition from a small school to a large school; Starting out behind in your school training (often by about two to three grade levels); Streaming into non-college oriented courses; Going from an Aboriginal majority to minority in school; Having to live in a new and much larger community; Exposure to new influences and pressures; and Being far away from family and friends.

Once in Fort McMurray, ACFN students face social, economic and academic challenges beyond those of local high school students, with far less support. Taylor, Friedel and Edge (2010) found that a large proportion of these First Nations students drop out without completing high school. In a youth focus group, it emerged that a substantial number of the students who go to Fort McMurray for high school do not graduate. Many end up returning to the community where a www.thefirelightgroup.com 84 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

portion of them were following up with upgrading37. ACFN staff (August 30, 2012) noted that many members from Fort Chipewyan going to Fort McMurray seeking higher education or training get "caught up" and overwhelmed by negative social environments for ACFN members and are at risk of falling into social dysfunction in Fort McMurray.

Aboriginal youth are already at a disadvantage – navigating the challenges to adulthood is complicated by their socio-economic context. According to one study:

“The current context requires higher levels of human capital for youth to navigate the pathways to adulthood, a transition that already comes with varying degrees of uncertainty and risk. While this is true for all youth, the poor socio-economic conditions in which many First Nations, Inuit, and Metis youth live create substantial additional challenges.” (Townsend and Wernick 2008, 4)

Moving to Fort McMurray may provide ACFN youth with less, not more, human capital.

7.2.2.4 Streaming

Previous research and interview data from this study indicates concern about the “streaming” of aboriginal youth into narrow and unfulfilling courses. Enrolments by course stream in Fort McMurray schools indicate that First Nations high school students are significantly overrepresented in tracks that do not lead to post- secondary education. As one educator noted, “They’re in this program [a trades track program] that has a huge stigma attached to it. It diminishes their self-esteem.” (in Taylor, Friedel and Edge 2010, 24)

7.2.2.5 Inadequate Cultural Curriculum in School

Concerns were raised by ACFN elders, leadership and youth that the education system, as run by the Northland School Division does not allow for adequate opportunity to get out on the land with the elders and for cultural transmission. A significant part of the First Nation’s values is based on practical, hands-on learning. The education system is not currently structured to adequately support that approach to learning. In 2001, 75 per cent of ATC respondents indicated they had received little or no cultural training in school (University of Alberta 2001).

37 A high school diploma or equivalent is the minimum employment entry requirement for the oil sands sector, as well as a requirement for most technical and trades programs. Thus, Keyano College staff indicated that providing upgrading for students to complete their high school diploma or equivalent or to gain prerequisites for further education has therefore become an important activity of the college. Of the 1,324 Aboriginal students enrolled at Keyano College between 2005 and 2008, 40 per cent were enrolled in upgrading programs. This emphasis on curricula for upgrading in turn can lead to very limited access to college programs in communities aside from short-term upgrading (Taylor, Friedel and Edge 2010). www.thefirelightgroup.com 85 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

Notably, both youth and elders indicated a strong desire for more land-based culture programs to augment cultural transmission.

7.2.2.6 Oil Sands Impacts on Education

Oil sands impacts on education in both Fort McMurray and Fort Chipewyan in a number of different ways. Impacts on education include: Poor quality of education perpetuates the disadvantage that ACFN members are in, where they are unable to access jobs because of their literacy and numeracy challenges; Cost of living increases make it more difficult to access education in Fort McMurray and upgrading in both Fort McMurray and Fort Chipewyan; Single mothers are adversely impacted because of lack of access to adequate childcare, which, combined with increased cost of living issues, make education and training opportunities, typically only readily available in Fort McMurray, prohibitive; Continual streaming of Aboriginal people into low-skilled oil sands related careers; and Less parent involvement in the education of their children where the parents are away working at an oil sands operation (see Section 7.2.6). High wages on offer from oil sands attract high school graduates away from furthering their education

7.2.3 Housing

Housing has been an issue for community members since the town was settled, both in terms of availability and the conditions of the housing. This is exacerbated by challenges of land access; even if people could build, there’s no land available for them to build. ACFN is running into that problem; according to staff, “we’ve got six homes that we’re building and then after that we don’t have any land to build any more houses” (ACFN staff, August 27, 2012).

ACFN has always built social housing. There is a long waiting list for housing. Delays were reported in both housing construction and needed renovations. This is reportedly caused by multiple factors, including increased cost of materials, lack of access to building materials, and lack of skilled workers. Members are concerned that despite efforts being made to build housing, it is not and will not keep up with the combination of returning members (related to FIFO programs – see Section 7.2.1.3 above) and natural population growth in the ACFN.

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“We just could not get housing. It was only in the last eight years that we actually finally got a new house and been able to get a house of our own and whatnot. But it was hard. Because it's multiple families living in multiple housing and your tensions run high and whatnot. And then if you've got even one or two people in that household that's dealing with addictions of some kind, it just turns the whole household upside down. And unfortunately that's the life right now” – ACFN staff, August 30, 2012

Lack of adequate housing stock has meant there are issues of over-crowding in Fort Chipewyan. Members repeatedly raised this issue in interviews and focus groups. The Social Plan for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo also identified “overcrowding as a result of housing shortage” as a key gap in Fort Chipewyan (SPARC BC et al.. 2010, 73).

Concerns were raised by several members that housing crowding exacerbates a number of social pressures in the community and could be deterring some members from returning home. With housing shortages, multiple generations are living together, which puts members in a vulnerable situation if there are addictions problems and no housing alternatives. “If you've got even one or two people in that household that's dealing with addictions of some kind, it just turns the whole household upside down” (ACFN staff, August 30, 2012).

Crowding is tightly linked to the spread of respiratory disease, in particular tuberculosis. There are many cases of tuberculosis in Aboriginal communities, as well as MSRA. Crowding is also much more likely to happen in low income families, many of whom are in situations of despair or powerlessness. Finally, crowding leaves young families in the position of having to live with extended family. Many young families are unable to build a strong family unit, have to assume responsibilities for many other mixed generations, and expose their own children to situations that put them at risk. In other words, they are caught in a poverty trap.

These conditions are not conducive to getting and keeping a job in the oil sands. If there are not strong and healthy supports in the community, then a worker may choose to stay at home to care for their children, rather than leave them exposed to harm. There is a strong history of social and public housing in the community. As incomes change, higher income families are beginning to build their own homes. This is causing increasingly visible disparity within the community between “haves” and “have nots.”

The condition of housing has improved in recent years in Fort Chipewyan but a number of seniors report difficulties getting repairs done and that materials are prohibitively expensive. The Social Plan for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo also identified “Deteriorating housing in need of repair/renovation/replacement” as a key gap in Fort Chipewyan (SPARC BC et al. 2010, 73). This specifically applied to older homes and seniors housing. It was noted www.thefirelightgroup.com 87 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

that “Some elders are paying $4,000 per year for natural gas, but cannot afford the cost of insulating these homes, which can be as high as $60,000” (SPARC BC et al 2010).

7.2.3.1 Oil Sands Impacts on Housing

Oil sands development is impacting on housing in the region through a number of different pathways: Out-migration and in-migration is unpredictable, leaving community planners in the difficult position of anticipating need without viable data; Cost of land is prohibitive in Fort McMurray, so that accessing land for building is not feasible; Availability of land is increasingly limited for development; Cost and availability of materials high and thereby decreases options for housing; Cost of labour is high; and Availability of labour for building is low.

All of these have been raised as concerns by ACFN members.

Decreased availability of housing stock is a priority issue in both Fort McMurray and Fort Chipewyan. For Fort Chipewyan, the major pressure on housing appears to be the desire of some people to move back to take advantage of FIFO opportunities or because of the high cost of living and low quality of life (from the Dene perspective) in Fort McMurray.

The increased housing pressures from members returning from Fort McMurray because of cost pressures exacerbate crowding issues. This increases tensions within households and families, increasing pressure on those family and community systems which are already stressed, and placing families at higher health risk for respiratory illnesses.

Improvements in housing could bring the following benefits:

Adequate housing could allow the community of Fort Chipewyan and industry to expand FIFO programs and increase the proportion of Fort Chipewyan members that can take advantage of employment opportunities; and

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Support for the move of ACFN members to a new community at Old Fort Point to access reserve lands would likely lead to improved well-being, quality of life and connection to land for ACFN members.

7.2.4 Social Function and Dysfunction

First Nations members face higher addiction rates due to a variety of factors including the colonial history, displacement from the land, lack of cultural continuity, racism and residential schools. This has effects on addictions levels and social challenges. Research indicates that when Aboriginal youth experience social exclusion, alcohol and drug use increases (Reading and Wien 2009, 28).

In a 2001 survey of Athabasca Tribal Council members (University of Alberta, 2001, 52-54),38 58.6 per cent of respondents indicated that alcohol abuse is a major factor in their community. Over 62 per cent indicated illegal drug abuse is a major problem in their community and 43.5 per cent for prescription drug abuse.

7.2.4.1 Addiction Issues

In focus groups, some members, especially youth, identified alcohol abuse as a significant problem across the age groups. However, others expressed positive changes in alcoholism reduction and associated this with strong leadership and a good alcohol addictions program (Helping Hands) at the community level.

Members indicated concern that there is a shift away from recreational drug use such as marijuana into the harder drugs. A number of members associated this shift with drug testing and the fact that it takes longer for marijuana to get out of a system, whereas crack, cocaine, all of those hard drugs, are out of the system within days. This shift to harder drugs was associated by some to increased access, exposure and availability of harder drugs in the community.

Prescription drug addiction rates are perceived as having become an increasing problem. Whereas addiction problems in the Nation previously focused mostly around alcohol, there was a sense of increasing access to and inappropriate use of prescription drugs.

ACFN members and staff identified challenges associated with alcohol and drug issues in Fort McMurray due to both the nature of the work environment in the oil sands and the boom town culture and “high risk lifestyle” in Fort McMurray. (ACFN

38 Firelight notes that the lack of consistent, up to date, information collection on many of these issues in the oil sands region suggests the need for a more comprehensive human environmental monitoring system. www.thefirelightgroup.com 89 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

staff, August 30, 2012) This impacts on ACFN member addictions rates as well as quality of life and training and education experience and success rates. A culture of excessive drinking for participants in oil sands training programs was raised as a problem and a barrier for students to completing the program. A youth member made the association between oils sands work and addictions in the community, stating that members go to work for industry, get hooked on hard drugs, return to the community and bring these hard drugs back (youth focus group, 2012).

7.2.4.2 Oil Sands Impacts on Social Function and Dysfunction

There was a notable lack of data found on oil sands workforce mental health issues. Based on issues raised in focus groups by ACFN about poor social conditions at the oil sands for First Nations people, more dedicated research on this topic is recommended (see Section 8.2.7xx).

Oil sands development increases the dissociation from traditional values, such as time spent with family, time in the community, and many of the well-being factors identified in Section 5. Loss of traditional livelihoods and lack of jobs in the community has left many members feeling they have no options and that their only option is to work with the industry.

The impacts of oil sands development in the region exacerbate these challenges by:

Increasing alienation from the land; Limiting the ability to practice and transmit culture and traditions, loss of cultural continuity; Deepening feelings of lack of control or self-determination, lack of ability to affect decisions impacting them; Deepening feelings of racism, exclusion and low self-esteem through lack of control; Placing increased pressure on social services; In-migration of large numbers of people from outside cultures; Exposure to drugs and alcohol through time spent in Fort McMurray, with these habits then being brought back home to Fort Chipewyan; and Challenging work conditions in oil sands, which lead to mental stress and pressure, in a context where there is weak social networks support.

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7.2.5 Access to Health and Social Services

The community [of Fort Chipewyan] itself has improved as far as because at the time there was only the northern post office, a restaurant, and one gas station and that was it. That pretty much summed up the community. Now we've got this building here [the Multiplex], we have Keyano College… We have the Nunee buildings. Medicare has improved, healthcare has improved a lot. We have running water and sewer now. So that has improved. – ACFN staff, August 30, 2012

Many who are stricken with illness and disease find that home-care and other health support programs are not readily available, either in the community or in Fort McMurray.

Existing educational, housing, and social services programs are seen as ineffective to support the needs of the community. Healing programs that address social, cultural, economic and environmental issues are desired, as are accessible daycare and home-care programs. Where needs are great and no programs are available, health care and social services responsibilities are often taken up by family members, increasing their daily workloads and stress levels.

ACFN members reported that there have been positive changes in Fort Chipewyan, with the Keyano College, Archie Simpson Arena, ball diamonds, youth centre, Health Authority building, and Helping Hands addiction program, among others. However, as with other small remote communities, even where physical infrastructure is in place, actual service provision is often limited. Residents of smaller communities need to travel to receive social services, many of which are available only in Fort McMurray (SPARC BC 2010, 73). Population changes and cost escalation are exacerbating those challenges, making it more difficult to provide access to quality services. Also, changes on the land and in the community are increasing the demand for and use of those services.

A 2001 survey of ATC members asked the question, “What makes it difficult for you to get the services you need when you need them?” The top five access issues by priority were:

No resident doctor/dentist/health service in this community; Can’t get service when it is needed/not available certain times or days; Lack of transportation/communication/phone; Long waits/overbooked; and

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Distance to travel for service/too far/travel conditions/service out of community (University of Alberta 2001, 46).

For those who have to travel for health and other social services, the high costs in Fort McMurray and lack of availability of services there due to population pressures were raised as was difficulty getting transportation in and out of Fort Chipewyan.

“They don’t have a dentist here, they don’t have an eye doctor. They can’t even get an x-ray here. And to get these patients out is like very hard. You have to book like two weeks in advance.” — ACFN member, August 28, 2012

According to SPARC BC (2010), there are no emergency shelters, housing or transitional housing. Some younger people in the community become homeless due to family conflict and there are no safe houses available for them. There is concern about how they will survive the winter. Availability of services was also an issue in Fort McMurray:

“If there was any abuse in the home, if there was any violence or post traumatic stress disorder, there's nothing in place in Fort McMurray to help them.” — ACFN staff, August 30, 2012

Pressures on social services in Fort McMurray both from population growth and competition with high salaries in the oil sands were repeatedly raised. This was noted as contributing to reduced availability of social services and social service providers at the local level. According to the RMWB, Ayabaskaw Home Lodge for elders was closed because there was not sufficient qualified staff to provide the level of care required (SPARC BC 2010, 75).

7.2.5.1 Oil sands Impacts on Health and Social Services

Oil sands development impacts the availability of services and puts pressure on those services, both through increased demand and through reduced availability of service providers. The development also impacts on access through higher cost and limited access to transportation and accommodation for those services not available in the community. Work rotation conditions in Fort McMurray oil sands create mental health and dysfunction issues that increase demand; Increased population in both communities and lack of services creates long social and health care service wait times, although the length of time is longer in Fort Chipewyan; Requirement for travel out of Fort Chipewyan increases the cost for services to the individual citizen;

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Increased pressure on families will cause vulnerable populations (e.g., youth) to leave their homes, and with no services in the community, they will be homeless, or have to make unsafe choices about where to stay; and Even where institutions exist, the lack of labour availability limits their capacity to be run effectively.

7.2.6 Community and Family Cohesion

ACFN members tend to speak of Fort Chipewyan as their home and they enjoy generally good relations with their Cree, Metis and non-Aboriginal neighbours. As discussed in Section 5xx, family is a core value for ACFN members. However, families within the communities have been fractured by the loss of access to land, health concerns, and the perception of traditional life as no longer possible. Such issues have led some people to relocate to cities and towns where they have more ready access to necessary services. But relocating to new communities brings a sense of isolation and separation of people from their region and their families. Those families that become mine employment dependent seem also to become more nuclear in their focus, and there is a rising perspective that these families share less. With more families expected to come home for FIFO jobs, this shift in family values is expected to continue.

Fort McMurray’s large, out of region, transient population leads to less cohesion in the community. This increases the number of policing issues, crime rates, traffic accidents, assaults and drug issues.

Although not raised as a primary issue by ACFN members or staff in focus groups and interviews, a common issue not examined by the Proponent in its impact assessment for the JPME is increased impact inequities and conflict between those who have jobs in the oil sands sector and those who don’t. This is an issue that has been raised in previous empirical studies of the effects of extractive industries on Aboriginal Canadians (e.g., Innu Nation/MiningWatch Canada 1999).

7.2.6.1 Effects of Long Distance Commuting – Rotation Schedules

Many ACFN members currently living in Fort Chipewyan would seriously consider working for the oil sands sector, but are unwilling to relocate to Fort McMurray to do so. To many ACFN members, Fort McMurray, with its high cost of living, often marginalized Aboriginal population and “wild west” atmosphere, is not the sort of community that ACFN members elect to live in or raise their children in. Fly-in, fly- out work rotations appear to be a means of encouraging ACFN members to pursue employment in the oil sands while maintaining residence in Fort Chipewyan. Certain companies, such as Syncrude and Shell, currently offer rotational work options with a Fort Chipewyan “point of hire.”

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The length of rotations can be a major challenge for those with families and young children. For example, some of the companies providing catering services at oil sands campsites require their employees to be away for 21 days and home for one week. Such a shift is generally incompatible with family and community life, and is effectively impossible for single parents. Prior attempts for ACFN members to adhere to such long rotation shifts have generally not been successful, with most leaving the positions in short order. There are, however, more successful models for rotational shift work. For example, some ACFN members employed by Syncrude are engaged in a six day on, six day off rotation.

Proper shift rotations are important. Recent evidence indicates that rotation schedules have become less attractive over time to Tlicho workers in the NWT (NWT Bureau of Statistics 2009), which raises questions about what factors contribute to individual and familial success in long-distance commuting occupations. Evidence from Australia and the NWT indicates that long-distance commuting and camp life can have social costs for workers and their families as well (e.g, Beach et al. 2003; Gibson and Klink 2005; O’Faircheallaigh 1995; Shrimpton and Storey 2001). Impacts can include:

Worker fatigue both at home and at the work site; Increased social dysfunction of workers both at home and at the work site due to separation issues and exposure to a different culture; Heightened stress and disruption for stay at home partners and children, as well as support systems (familial and social services); and Increased labour requirements between child rearing and work for stay at home partner (primarily women).39

Support systems need to be in place to ensure both that workers who are spending a large portion of their time in camp environments have supports to maximize jobs and off-time satisfaction and that their families have proper support systems in place during their shift rotations (e.g., child care, counseling services).

A rotation schedule that works for families is essential, with a one week on, one week off schedule identified by some ACFN members as a reasonable rotation for families (ACFN Women’s Focus Group, August 29, 2012).40 Roughly equal rotations have often been identified as workable, with equal time at home as away. ACFN members expressed strong concern at any rotation schedule that sees more time at

39 For a more detailed summary of the literature on long-distance commuting and rotational work impacts, see Larcombe (2010). 40 It is unclear at this time what shift rotation is planned for the JPME for Fort Chipewyan residents. More information should be provided and discussions between the Proponent and ACFN about the most beneficial shift rotation. In addition, it is strongly recommended that workers and families involved in FIFO operations are included in a comprehensive human environmental monitoring program for the JPME. www.thefirelightgroup.com 94 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

work than in the home community (a 21 days on, seven days off schedule was noted as a particular example of an unbalanced system):

“they didn't stick around very long because the rotation was you go out for 21 days, three weeks, come back for one week. And that is an awful long time to be away from your family, three weeks away. Especially if you've got young kids. Kind of things like that, it's an awful long time. When you are a single parent, it's an impossible time.” — ACFN staff, August 30, 2012

Some also identified risks associated with (especially young) families, when the spouse41 who is on a rotation schedule does not get deeply involved in the upbringing of the kids. ACFN members also stated that the education of students can be disrupted by the shift schedule. There are some observations of increased family dysfunction from families involved in FIFO rotation schedules:

“It’s very hard on the children. We’ve noticed that, too, when the parents are gone. And somebody’s keeping them and their parents are back and then when they – when they’re celebrating or something when they’re back and it’s just awful cycle of... Hard to keep a family together that way.” — ACFN female, August 29, 2012

More focused assessment of the pros and cons of long-distance commuting and proper monitoring, reporting and adaptive management systems to support workers and families may be necessary to improve the quality of life for oil sands workers and their families. Potential mechanisms are discussed in Section 9.3.

7.2.6.2 Oil Sands Impacts on Community and Family Cohesion

ACFN staff, August 27, 2012 – “the adults are too busy doing their own thing” and they are not invested enough in their children’s own future. Previous effects have included people moving away, especially young, more skilled people – a so-called “brain drain”; Increasing reliance on nuclear families, and change of values away from sharing and socialization in large extended family groups; and Increasing social burden on the families left in Fort Chipewyan who assume the care and work associate with extended family, without a proper social and health care services support network.

41 The vast majority of oil sands workers are male. www.thefirelightgroup.com 95 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

7.2.7 Social Effects of Working in the Oil Sands Sector

7.2.7.1 Mental Health of Oil Sands Workers

Some of the primary effects of the oil sands on the ACFN have come through exposure to work in the oil sands sector – which has implications for workers, families and community. There are indications that issues of mental health are also a rising concern for oil sands workers (e.g., CBC 2005), and ACFN members raised a series of concerns about the nature of the work and the work environment.

ACFN members often reflect that the type of work can conflict with their values and way of life:

“men... who have spent their lives hunting and fishing and working as guides to provide for their families, don’t want to end their traditional hunter- gatherer lifestyle. The money is definitely alluring. But [name removed] wonders if spending your day cooped up in a truck or in a security guard station, as many Native people now do, is worth the price. Unfortunately, the way things are going, he may have no choice.” (Marsden 2007, 196)

ACFN members and staff expressed real concern about the quality of life available to ACFN members in working at camp environments. While the wages are good, the work and living conditions at camp are not well liked:

“They’re coming here to work and participate in the economy, but because I work in industry I know that sadness that you get because you’re working there [at the oil sands] so if they need someone to come and talk to, instead of going to the bar and drinking their sorrows away, they come and just have some tea.” — ACFN staff, August 27, 2012

“No, there’s nothing they can do to make camp comfortable. It is disgusting. It’s prison. You know another thing I’ve heard about complaints about camps is that it’s like they’re homeless …every time they leave they have to take everything that they own and they have to take it out of the camp and they say it’s just like they’re homeless. And also you have to be back in by 11 at night and there’s all kinds of rules to it as well. It’s very boring, a horrible feeling.” — ACFN staff, August 27, 2012

“Fort McMurray Prison they call the camps there because of the boredom I know.” — ACFN member, August 28, 2012

The kind of work offered by the oil sands sector does not always best match the interests, values and aspirations of many within the community. While the money and benefits offered by oil sands work can be attractive (ACFN leadership, September 14, 2012), ACFN wants to ensure that its membership can have a range

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of occupations to pursue, which includes both opportunities in the oil sands as well as land-based livelihoods.

Remote camps suffer from racism and on the job itself there are reports of preferential treatment for non-Aboriginal employees, and of lack of accommodation of Aboriginal values at the site:

“they’re not building their policies to accommodate our way, so if, for example, you take three weeks off to go hunting to provide food for your family for the year, you’re looked at like immediately the Indian that can’t go to work. It happens all the time.” — ACFN member, August 28, 2012

There are perceptions that the jobs available for Aboriginal people are only entry level unskilled positions, and that these are primarily for men. There was also a perception from youth that the oil sands jobs were not for the women and that options were not provided for women to pursue other avenues in terms of education and training. For those who do choose to work in the oil sands, another issue is the perception that the First Nations are streamed into lower level jobs such as drivers. A female ACFN member (August 28, 2012) said:

“I find that they want the young people for truck drivers. They aren’t even giving them an opportunity to get trades.”

7.2.7.2 Social Effects of Oil Sands on Workers

Educational opportunities are focused on the oil sands, and not diversified as people would wish, effectively funneling people into oil sands work; Poor quality of life at work camps contributes to psycho-social impacts and reduced mental well-being of workforce and families, and creates family dysfunction; Increased marginalization of certain demographic sub-groups, especially elders; Emerging FIFO options reinforce family and community values; People choose to work in the oil sands to provide for their families, but feel conflict between the nature of the work and their worldview and values; Remote worksites, with small Aboriginal workforces, do not reflect or reinforce values, worldviews, and needs of Aboriginal population; and The Aboriginal workforce is kept at the margins, giving unskilled work to men and not providing advancement opportunities (or additional training).

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7.2.8 Psycho-Social Issues Related to Growth in the Oil Sands Region

The psycho-social effects of rapid and uncontrolled change on First Nations communities can be very important. This is especially the case in a community like Fort Chipewyan where the legacy of colonialism, residential schools, and poverty has already heavily impacted on members. Lack of control is a key part of this puzzle. According to the 2009 study Health Inequalities and Social Determinants of Aboriginal Peoples’ Health, “Self-determination has been cited as the most important determinant of health among Aboriginal peoples” (Reading and Wien 2009, 23). According to that study, self-determination is described as Aboriginal peoples participating equally in political decision-making, as well as possessing control over their lands, economies, education systems, and social and health services.

Feelings of inevitability, lack of respect for ACFN members’ input, lack of respect for the ACFN government, lack of ability to affect the decision making processes, lack of input at the provincial and federal government level, power imbalances and powerlessness were issues consistently raised across the broad range of interviews and focus groups conducted for this study. The health implications of these feelings of lack of control are quite clear in the literature and can be catastrophic for individual health outcomes (Chandler and Lalonde 2007).

7.2.8.1 Being Ignored, Disrespected and Marginalized by Industry and Government

“There is a lot of questions that need to be answered here. This needs to be done with trust, understanding and mutual respect. “We” means you and us, its plural. You must work with us. We must create an atmosphere of trust and understanding so that benefits from the project will be felt on both sides.” – ACFN member speaking to an industry representative (ACFN IRC 2012b, 17)

Community members have often noted their lack of trust in project proponents, and many perceive that their values, concerns, and input into consultation processes are treated frivolously. Feelings of being shuffled out of the way of development projects are common. As one ACFN members stated: “They don’t respect us… we’re just a little small handful of people… it doesn’t mean anything to them” (August 28, 2012).

Another common theme was that the ACFN is not recognized or respected as a government by the industry: “… [w]e’re governments, we’re not companies and the companies don’t see the First Nation as a government so there’s no respect there” (ACFN staff member, August 27, 2012).

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7.2.8.2 Sense of Inevitability, Resignation, and Lack of Control

A common theme from across the interviews and focus groups was a strong sense that industry and government will proceed with development regardless of First Nations’ input:

“…they signed it off; the water permits and everything like that because they’re the government. Industry is the government.” — ACFN male elder, August 30, 2012

“No matter what anybody says, they are going to go ahead and do it anyway. So what the hell is the point of saying anything.” — ACFN male elder, August 30, 2012

A substantial number of participants expressed frustration at repeating themselves and attending meetings over and over to no effect. There was a strong sense that over a decade of raising concerns in meeting after meeting has had no effect.

7.2.8.3 Implications of Psychosocial Effects for Health and Well-being

Oil sands impacts on psycho-social health, exacerbating the challenges left by the legacy of cumulative change described in Section 4, include:

Oil sands contribute to feelings of increased powerlessness; Oil sands reinforces the sense that outsiders do not respect ACFN values; Oil sands undermine a sense of self-determination; Lack of meaningful input into decisions impacting on the community undermines self-esteem; and For members working in the oil sands, stress and dysfunction are increased by the conflict between their work and their core values.

All of these impact pathways contribute to the rising communal and individual anxiety evident among ACFN members and may be causing adverse mental and physical health outcomes.

The sense of a lack of respect or value for the ACFN input, a lack of control over outcomes, and sense of inevitability of future oil sands development are all negative impacts on self-determination, a key determinant of Aboriginal health. Among interview and focus group attendees, sadness, defeat and surrender were prevalent across demographics. Not only would these indicate an increased risk of addictions and social dysfunction, but this could also contribute to higher self-harm. Chandler and Lalonde (2007) found consistent evidence of an inverse relationship between self-determination and suicide among First Nations in British Columbia.

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Despite evidence – verbal from ACFN and MCFN members, and technical from previous studies (e.g., Voisey’s Bay Mine and Mill Environmental Assessment Panel 1999) – that Aboriginal engagement in the wage economy of resource extraction may have a social toll in terms of increased family and individual stress, substance abuse, mental health issues, the Proponent does not examine this as a possible additional weight on local community health and social services. Given the high number of different factors contributing to psycho-social stress in Fort Chipewyan, the impacts on health and social services of these negative health outcomes need to be considered moving forward.

7.3 Economic Effects of Oil Sands in Communities

There are questions about impact equity, the ability of ACFN members to take advantage of oil sands development, and economic marginalization of those members of society who cannot take advantage of employment in the oil sands. For example, is enough being done to maximize the ability of the primarily affected First Nations to take economic advantage?

The following sections summarize some of the key economic effects of the oil sands, presented in terms of employment and training, business development, cost of living.

7.3.1 ACFN Employment and Training in the Oil Sands

7.3.1.1 ACFN Employment and Training

The Government of Alberta reported that in 2009, about 1,600 Aboriginal people were employed in permanent oil sands operations jobs, representing an increase of over 60 per cent since 1998 (Government of Alberta 2011a). Similarly, industry reported that in 2010 over 1,700 Aboriginal people were employed by the oil sands industry in permanent operations jobs in the Wood Buffalo region (Oil Sands Developer Group 2011). Neither figure includes construction-related or long-term contract employment. The Government of Alberta estimates that about 10 per cent of the oil sands workforce is Aboriginal42 (Government of Alberta 2011a). However, none of the information sources available to ACFN confirm what proportion of the Aboriginal oils sands workforce is indigenous to the communities of Northern Alberta, let alone ACFN members.

In light of numbers from some of the major oil sands developers, Alberta’s 10 per cent estimate appears to be optimistic. Shell reported that at its oil sands operations

42 The reference does not clarify whether this is solely operation jobs, or a combination of production, construction and support workforce. www.thefirelightgroup.com 100 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

Aboriginal employees comprised 4 per cent of its employee workforce in 2011, or approximately 150 people43 (Shell Canada 2011). Shell’s 2010 employee self‐identification survey showed that 111 Shell Albian Sands employees are of Aboriginal descendent, which represents 6.8 per cent of the workforce (Nichols Applied Management 2012). In comparison, Syncrude (2011) reported that 484, or 8.4 per cent, of its workforce were Aboriginal. Suncor’s (2012) Aboriginal employment rates work out to be approximately 2.9 per cent or about 370 out of Suncor’s 12,750 full-time, part-time and contract workforce.

The wide variation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal employment rates in Alberta are well known. For those aged 25 to 54 in 2006, the unemployment rate was 2.5 per cent for non-Aboriginal individuals compared with 7.8 per cent for Aboriginal individuals (Friedel and Taylor 2011).

Broadly speaking, data also show that women are not accessing employment easily in the oil sands and that Aboriginal people are the first to suffer layoffs during economic downturn. Aboriginal people (aged 25 to 64) living in Alberta saw a considerable decline in their employment rate during the recent global economic downturn: 5.6 percentage points lower in 2009 than in 2008 (69.5 per cent versus 75.1 per cent). Employment rate declines in Alberta were more than twice as large for Aboriginal people as they were for non-Aboriginal people over this period (Zietsma 2010, 13).

Through impact benefit agreements, as well as part of their respective corporate social responsibility strategies, companies operating in the oil sands have supported training initiatives for ACFN members, as well as other residents of Fort Chipewyan, to help make them more employable in the oil sands sector. For example, Shell has sponsored delivery of the Building Environmental Aboriginal Human Resources (BEAHR) program, as well as delivering drilling rig and driver training in Fort Chipewyan (Shell Canada 2011), amongst others. And in 2010, Shell announced a $2 million investment to Keyano College, to be spent over three years, to fund a new Fort Chipewyan campus where specific Aboriginal, environmental and technical training programs would be offered.

Training is also offered through the ACFN Business Group, which supports continuing education and development by offering educational leave for its employees, as well as providing training funding in certain cases. The ACFN Business Group offers apprenticeship positions in the skilled trades and plans to continue to grow into more skilled areas (ACFN staff, September 12, 2012).

43 The author was not able to locate any information regarding number of Aboriginal contractors engaged in Shell’s operations. However, Shell is reported to be one of the larger clients of the ACFN Business Group (ACFN staff member, September 12, 2012). www.thefirelightgroup.com 101 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

7.3.1.2 Hurdles to ACFN Employment and Training in the Oil Sands

AFCN members still face several considerable barriers to gaining meaningful and long-lasting employment in oil sands operations.

Lack of Education and Training

Many employment opportunities in the oil sands sector, particularly the most lucrative in the management, trades and technical sectors, require advanced training and education. Given ACFN members’ lower level of education attainment than the regional and provincial average, such positions are generally less accessible to them. Many ACFN members applying for skilled positions learn to their disappointment that they do not have the skills to perform the function required. ACFN’s Business Group attempts to hire ACFN members who fall into the low- education/skill category, but those positions available at this level of education are limited and fill up quickly (ACFN staff, September 12, 2012).

ACFN leadership (September 14, 2012) identified lack of education as a key barrier to their members taking advantage of employment and business opportunities in the oil sands in ways that are meaningful and fulfilling.

Many of the training programs preparing young ACFN members for oil sands work requires that trainees go to Fort McMurray or the surrounding work camps for extended periods. For ACFN members as young as 18, the experience can be isolating and intimidating, particularly when these young people come into contact with the temptations of the hard-drinking, party culture that is prevalent in the oil sands operation (ACFN staff, August 30, 2012).

ACFN members raised the lack of options available to them in training. They were concerned that the focus is on training workers for jobs in the oil sands, not in giving them broader options. One male opinion leader said: “You have a welder or truck driver, but you don’t give opportunity for a young person to become a nurse or doctor so you can go and help other people” (ACFN member, August 28, 2012). Some ACFN members see training opportunities primarily as a funnel into oil sands employment.

Some members mentioned that there has been some flexibility around the Graduation Equivalency Diploma requirement and that this was positive. Others said the system does not recognize the hands-on practical experience and skills of members gained from traditional learning and practices outside of the formal education system and job markets.

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Lack of a Driver’s License

An ACFN Business Group participant identified the lack of driver training and testing in Fort Chipewyan as a serious impediment to increasing First Nations employment (September 12, 2012). In a 2007 survey done by the Athabasca Tribal Council, 47 per cent of respondents did not have a driver’s license (ATC 2007). Driver training was previously offered in Fort Chipewyan, but this changed and now members must go to Fort McMurray for the certification. The costs of going to Fort McMurray to do driver certification can be prohibitive. Members also raised concerns with the challenges around success with the driver training for residents of Fort Chipewyan being tested in Fort McMurray.

Lack of Local (Fort Chipewyan-based) Training Opportunities

The ACFN understands that for many of its members, their quality of life is directly correlated with their skill and educational level. Having a suite of skills and training relevant to available economic opportunities is a key way to help mitigate the extremely high cost of living in the RMWB. Lower skilled, less educated members can find employment, but particularly for those living in Fort McMurray the income generated from such jobs may not even cover the cost of living – at the end of the day, many report they move home to Fort Chipewyan.

It is recognized that training helps to increase opportunities for members, but a big issue for ACFN members is the limited options available in Fort Chipewyan. This creates barriers and risks for members trying to access training opportunities because of issues of:

The high cost of living in Fort McMurray ; Social dysfunction in Fort McMurray; and Difficult working conditions in oil sands workplaces.

Inability to Pass Drug and Alcohol Testing

Drug and alcohol abuse is a serious social issue throughout the RMWB. Like many communities facing rapid change, ACFN is grappling with the issue of drug and alcohol abuse amongst its membership. In addition to the personal toll that such abuse take on individuals and their families, it also creates significant issues for their employability. Alcohol and drug testing is mandatory for many oils sands employers, including companies of the ACFN Business Group. ACFN leadership, staff, members and research all indicate inability to pass drug tests as a deterrent to employment.

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Lack of Opportunity for Advancement

ACFN members and leadership stress that they don't want to merely be "pushing brooms" for Shell and other mines in the future, as this is not a path to a sustainable future for its people.

At oil sands operations, Aboriginal people are overrepresented in occupations requiring a high school diploma or less and underrepresented in occupations requiring a university degree. This speaks to a need to focus on upgrading educational opportunities for ACFN members. Further, there is little incentive for young people to take the extra time and effort to get a university, college or trades degree when relatively high-paying, low-skilled oil sands jobs are available. In addition, these local and high paying jobs tend to be the ones marketed to young people as the path to the future, constraining their perceived choices.

7.3.1.3 Oil Sands Impacts on ACFN Employment and Training

Economic effects of oil sands development on ACFN members include:

Increase in jobs available for employable ACFN members; Poor advancement rates in oil sands jobs for First Nations people; Higher income and associated quality of life for some ACFN members, but also increased income inequity in Fort Chipewyan; Decreased reliance on social assistance; Pressure on young and job-seeking ACFN members to out-migrate for education and training, with associated social and economic costs; Systemic barriers against women excludes these populations from the oil sands demographic and further marginalizes them economically; Experiences of racism and sexism at oil sands, and Money management issues lowering quality of life for some members.

7.3.2 ACFN Business Development

RMWB-based Aboriginal companies performed over $1.3 billion in contract work with oil sands developer group member companies in 2010 (Oil sands Developer Group 2011). In 2011, Shell Canada spent about $925 million with companies in the RMWB, and $159 million (17 per cent) on business with Aboriginal suppliers (Shell Canada 2011).

ACFN, through the ACFN Business Group, has been successful to date in supporting business development, including in securing contracts within the oils sands sector. The Business Group, which started in 1995, now consists of six wholly-owned

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companies and seven joint ventures/partnerships that are ACFN-majority owned. Other than Chip Manufacturing, all these companies require workers to live in Fort McMurray (ACFN staff, September 12, 2012). Chip Manufacturing is based out of Fort Chipewyan and employs approximately 13 employees, making it one of the most important employers in the community.

The ACFN Business Group’s current estimated workforce is 1,250. A few years ago it reached 1,400, but was subsequently reduced due to the recession and slowdown in oil sands development. Company revenues were approximately $225 million in 2011-2012 and it is on track to capture approximately $250 million in business in 2012-2013. (ACFN staff, September 12, 2012; Flett 2011)

7.3.2.1 Business Development Gaps and Hurdles

ACFN’s experience has been that the oil sands industry is a difficult market to penetrate. The extent to which the ACFN Business Group has gained market share in the energy sector is due in part to prioritization of this group in impact and benefit agreement clauses.

Some challenges in diversification and expansion include competition with oil sands companies for skilled workers, when the larger companies can afford to pay better and offer better benefits packages, loss of staff to the larger companies, and difficulty recruiting due to the labour shortage. Others include lack of capital versus much larger multinational corporations, difficulty keeping workers (who often move into the direct mine workforce (ACFN staff, September 12, 2012)), and the lack of preferential treatment by oil sands companies for First Nations businesses.

The oil sands economy to date has not had a marked effect on development of small entrepreneurial businesses in Fort Chipewyan. Indeed, the oil sands sector has made it difficult for small businesses to compete for labour due to wage inflationary pressures making employee recruitment and retention difficult.

7.3.2.2 Oil Sands Impacts on ACFN Business Development

Increased business development activity for ACFN-based businesses; Causing labour shortages; Attracting staff away from the ACFN Business Group, creating staffing issues; Lack of business development opportunities in Fort Chipewyan; and Inflating wages and costs in regional economy, making it more expensive to do business.

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7.3.3 Cost of Living

There is a high cost to living in both Fort Chipewyan and Fort McMurray. This has been acknowledged in the RMWB Social Plan, which referenced an ACFN food basket comparison with Fort McMurray that found the price of a food basket to be about four times higher in Fort Chipewyan (SPARC BC 2010, 80-81). For Fort Chipewyan, high food prices reflect the high costs to fly food in. Fresh and healthy food is particularly expensive and of limited availability (see Section 6.4.2 on food security issues).

The high cost of living is particularly challenging for elders and others on fixed incomes. Common concerns raised by ACFN members about cost of living (e.g., Jacques Whitford 2006) include:

Rising fuel costs; High cost of food impacts seniors; and High costs of building and repairing homes.

ACFN members identified the high cost of living as impacting on: education and training with particular difficulties for those who go the Fort McMurray to study; health, with a high cost for those needed to travel to Fort McMurray for health care; and difficulty making ends meet in Fort McMurray for those working outside the oil sands.

Housing costs in Fort McMurray particular are unmanageable for many ACFN members not directly participating in the high wage oil sands sector. As Flett (2011) notes ”For a family of four, with two adults and two children, the cost of living in Fort McMurray is $3000 a month with housing and child care” alone.

7.3.3.1 Oil Sands Impacts on Cost of Living

As recognized by the Royal Society of Canada (2010), oil sands development has created a boom-town effect in Fort McMurray; one that radiates throughout the region. A combination of oil sands driven population growth and labour and material shortages is increasing costs across a range of services, including housing, building materials and food. This has had a spillover effect on Fort Chipewyan. The following impacts were identified by ACFN members:

The rising costs of food and fuel disproportionately affect seniors and single parent families; Higher costs of materials used to access the land (boats, motors, ATVs, gas, water) limit many members from practicing their traditional livelihood;

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Regional population pressures increase costs for housing, health care and other essential services; and High costs of living in Fort McMurray limit accessibility of educational and training opportunities for ACFN members.

7.4 Cultural Effects of Oil Sands in Communities

“I want my kids and grandsons to be in a situation where they compete equally with anyone, anywhere in terms of education, employment opportunities, knowledge. Not just for jobs that are available at the oil sands plants… At the same time I want my kids and my grandchildren to understand the values of our traditional ways, how to survive out there regardless of what is happening.” — ACFN male elder, August 30, 2012

The above-noted desire for future generations to be “strong like two people”44 was widely expressed by ACFN members.

There was a sense among interviewees that to move to Fort McMurray was to forsake your culture and take on an economic identity. In contrast, to stay in Fort Chipewyan is to maintain culture, but also to limit your economic potential. In both communities, there is a sense that there are very few services and programs that reinforce or maintain culture. With Northland School Division controlling content, rather than the Nation, there are insufficient culture programs. There is strong desire in both communities to strengthen culture based programming and content.

Culture programs are relatively scarce in the schools in Fort Chipewyan, and are perceived to be non-existent in Fort McMurray. Given the distance from Fort McMurray to ACFN traditional territory, the perceived poor environmental status of land, and high recreational pressures around Fort McMurray due to the high population, there is little knowledge, opportunity or desire by ACFN members who are living in Fort McMurray to get out on the land around this area.

ACFN members also expressed concern that exposure to other cultural values in Fort McMurray and the oil sands work environments is changing the adherence to ACFN values. There is some research support for these concerns. In the NWT diamond mines, in responses to surveys about whether the wage economy can change values, 56 per cent of mine workers reported feeling that mine work would affect values, and 72 per cent reported they spent less time on the land (Gibson et al. 2005).

44 Borrowing a phrase first used by Dene Chief Jimmy Bruneau of the Tlicho Dene people of the NWT. www.thefirelightgroup.com 107 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

7.4.1.1 Oil Sands Impacts on Culture

The oil sands development has:

No identified beneficial effects of oil sands on ACFN culture; Increased out-migration to Fort McMurray, which reduces exposure to land- based culture, cultural programming and little in the way of services; Increased on-the-land impacts in the Fort McMurray region, causing avoidance of ACFN members of the land, and thereby reducing access to cultural benefits (i.e., sense of well-being from being out on the land); and Reduced adherence to Dene cultural values due to increased reliance on wage economy and exposure to “Western industrial” value set.

7.5 Summary of Community Level Effects of Oil Sands on the ACFN

There are many beneficial and adverse impacts of the oil sands that impact on ACFN socio-economic and cultural realities as individuals, families and as a Nation.

TABLE 5: EFFECTS OF OIL SANDS ON ACFN SOCIETY, ECONOMY AND CULTURE AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL

Causes Effect Pathways Effect Outcomes

Industry -Keyano College -Improved local upgrading options investment in new -Archie Simpson Area -Improved recreational opportunities infrastructure -Ball diamonds -Improved social services -Youth centre -[ACFN concerns that the investments are -Health Authority inequitable in Fort Chipewyan versus places like Building Fort McMurray and Fort MacKay] -Increased -Outmigration from Ft -Disruptions in family and community dynamics in education and Chipewyan to Ft Fort Chipewyan training options in McMurray -Elevated costs for housing Ft McMurray -Adoption of learning -Isolation from social support network -Increased models common in Ft -Exposure to social dysfunction risks (particularly educational McMurray (focus on oil- racism and drug use) requirements to sands-related skills; no -Reduced connection to culture, extended family work in oil sands emphasis on practical, and core values traditional learning) -Lower-than-average educational outcomes for -Increased competition Fort Chipewyan students for Fort Chipewyan to -High educational staff turnover in Fort Chipewyan retain educational staff -Lower competitiveness in job markets for Fort Increased commuting for Chipewyan youth work -Difficulties in adapting to larger school environments for Fort Chipewyan youth Streaming into non-college oriented courses; increased reliance on limited educational options

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-Reduced human capital in Fort Chipewyan Increased -Out-migration from -Decreased reliance on social assistance employment Fort Chipewyan -Higher incomes demand in the oil -Population boom in -Increased income inequity sands sector Fort McMurray -Higher spending and debt levels; money -Fly-in / fly-out management issues; commercialization of values programs in Fort -Elevated costs for housing Chipewyan -Isolation from social support network -Increased pressure on -Exposure and access to elevated rates of alcohol housing in Fort and drug use McMurray -Reduced connection to culture, extended family -Increased competition and core values for skilled workers in all -Disruptions in family and community dynamics sectors because of long shift rotations -Poor quality of life at -Return of many community members to Fort work camps Chipewyan with development of FIFO programs -Increased access to high -Less time spent on land income levels -Difficulties in obtaining and retaining staff for -Systemic barriers educational, medical, and social services in Fort against women Chipewyan, including docrs -Increased long-distance -Feelings of depression / lowered self esteem from commuting taking on menial work and/or work that conflicts -Increased exposure of with cultural values ACFN members to high- -Low levels of women in workforce risk lifestyles -Reduced adherence to Dene cultural values due to - Work rotation increased reliance on wage economy and exposure conditions in Fort to “Western industrial” value set McMurray oil sands create mental health issues that increase demand -Population boom -Increased demand for -High cost of living in Fort McMurray in Fort McMurray housing -High-risk lifestyle in Fort McMurray -Increased -Increased disposable -Limited housing and even homelessness in Fort pressure on income McMurray housing -Increased attraction of -Perpetual crowding in housing and housing -FIFO in Fort “outsiders’ shortages Chipewyan -Unpredictable out- -High cost for available housing in Fort McMurray migration and In- and Fort Chipewyan (particularly as ACFN migration creates members return to the community to take difficulties in planning advantage of FIFO programs) housing -Cost of labour is high, and availability of labour for -High demand for building is low housing in Fort -Cost and availability of land for building is high McMurray for oil sands and thereby decreases options for housing. employees -Increased tension and stresses in over-crowded -Increased pressures on households in Fort Chipewyan services, especially in -Increased social differentiation; creation of haves Fort McMurray and have nots -Oil sands sector salaries -Longer service waiting times out-do most other sectors -Availability of land is increasingly limited for development; www.thefirelightgroup.com 109 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

Increased -High rates of alcohol -High prevalence of alcohol and drug use absences from and drug use in Fort -Disruptions in family and community dynamics home community McMurray -High suicide rates for employment -High rates of alcohol -Decreased ability to practice and transmit culture purposes and drug use in work and traditions, loss of cultural continuity camps -Deepening feelings of lack of control or self- -Increased absences determination from family and -Mental stress and pressure in a context where community support there are few social support networks networks -Increasing reliance on nuclear families for support -Increased alienation and care of remaining relatives in communities from traditional way of -Change of values away from sharing and life and cultural values - socialization in large extended family groups Decreased sense of connection to culture and cultural identity -Challenging work conditions in oil sands Perceived lack of -Rapid development of -Feelings of inevitability, of being ignored, of being consultation oil sands projects disrespected; lack of ability to affect the decision and/or -ACFN opinions not making processes, lack of input at the provincial communication being adequately and federal government level with ACFN addressed in -Power imbalances and political marginalization members prior to development process -[Sense of] Powerlessness proceeding with developments on ACFN territory Rapid economic -Labour shortages for -Staff attracted away from ACFN businesses in growth in Fort ACFN businesses favour of higher-paying jobs in the oil sands sector McMurray -Inflated wages and -Higher business expenses costs in regional -Higher concentration of health and social services economy in Fort McMurray disproportionately affects lower -Increased business income families and elders in Fort Chipewyan development activity -Lower goods and services variability available in Fort Chipewyan -Regional inflation increases costs to Fort Chipewyan (e.g., freight; groceries)

ACFN members’ and the author’s recommendations for proactive mitigation and monitoring of potential effects of the JPME on life in the communities are identified in Section 9.

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8 Promoting Well-Being for ACFN Youth and Elders

This section examines specific priorities and concerns from continued oil sands development for ACFN youth and elders. It was universally acknowledged by ACFN members that these two groups hold the key to the future of the ACFN. Elders hold the knowledge of the land, values and culture that community members want to see passed down to future generations. Youth are those future generations, and need to be healthy (mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually) in order to learn the lessons the elders have to share. Also, given higher than average birth rates and a generally young Aboriginal population in the RMWB (Statistics Canada 2006) there will be a relatively large number of ACFN youth entering the workforce in coming years. An ACFN staff member estimated that 95 ACFN youth (about 10 per cent of the total population) will turn 18 over the next five years (August 27, 2012). Their ability to maximize benefits from and reduce risks from oil sands development holds the key to whether developments like the JPME constitute net gains and acceptable risks for the ACFN.

8.1 Concerns and Priorities for ACFN Youth

Youth in a focus group identified positive impacts of the oil sands as including jobs (for example, FIFO was generally perceived as a good thing), income, and investment in community infrastructure by the oil sands companies.

Concerns raised by youth in relation to oil sands development included:

The lack of training and education opportunities for non-oil sands work, especially in Fort Chipewyan. “Streaming” of young First Nations people into lower skills development curricula that leads primarily to entry level positions and lack of career development opportunities. Water quantity and quality, impacting on access to ACFN cabins and the land in general, and on fish in the Athabasca River and Lake Athabasca . Loss of culture and language. When asked why language is important, one ACFN youth answered:” For keeping your culture alive.” (September 14, 2012)

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Limited opportunities to get out on the land.45 Loss of wildlife. Health: “People are getting sick” (ACFN youth, September 14, 2012). Addictions issues: Including and observed shift toward harder drugs and increasing access to drugs in Fort Chipewyan.

Youth also raised issues with limited access to recreational facilities and programs, high unemployment, and the poor quality of the education in Fort Chipewyan. As discussed in Section 7, these factors effectively mean that for most youth in Fort Chipewyan to start down a path to success, they face a hard choice to leave their home community and go to a larger centre – typically Fort McMurray – to access education, training and job opportunities. As noted in Taylor, Friedel and Edge (2010, 17):

“…one either leaves one’s home community to pursue what are perceived as better opportunities for further education and work, or one stays and tries to make a living, a choice that is increasingly difficult with industrialization and credentialization.”

This difficult choice has led for many youth to a cycle of out-migration, exposure to new and unhealthy values, racism, and increased social dysfunction risks in places like Fort McMurray and the oil sands work camps, ultimate failure or unwillingness to go on, and return to Fort Chipewyan without demonstrable success, personal growth or career development as a reward. An ACFN staff member (August 30, 2012) shared the experience of an ACFN youth from Fort Chipewyan who went to Fort McMurray to learn a skilled trade as part of an oil sands-sponsored training program:

“There's always booze there. He said, "That's all they did the whole time. And it's really hard, not to have to be the one that's not drinking”. He said, "You end up drinking." And he said, "I didn't like it. I didn't like that lifestyle." He said, "I didn't like the way it was living." So he came back and he dropped out of the program. And he never went back.”

In part due to this cycle and in part due to the inherent vulnerabilities of youth, social dysfunction and addictions have the potential to disproportionately impact on youth with potentially significant to catastrophic consequences in the forms of increased drug and alcohol use and tendency toward self-harm. As one ACFN social service provider (August 30, 2012) stated:

45 Youth also identified a continuing preference for country food, although evidence has for some time suggested that younger ACFN members are consuming less country food and more store bought food than older generations (Wein, Sabry, and Evers 1991). www.thefirelightgroup.com 112 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

“…[P]ills have played a really big part on the suicide rate in the last – this spring I had dealt with I think was one, two, three, four, five people that were suicidal in the month of – within a one month period, suicidal tendencies. And what floors me is normally these people were very happy-go-lucky people. They weren't showing any signs of depression.”

Youth at Risk: Suicide and Aboriginal Youth

Suicide is a pressing concern for many First Nations communities, especially those that are isolated or in the North. Among certain of Canada's First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities, youth suicide rates have reached calamitous proportions – rates as high as those of any culturally identifiable group in the world (Kirmayer 1994; Chandler and Lalonde 2008).

Suicide is a problem that not only affects youth, but impacts the whole community. The ripple effect of trauma is powerful in small, close-knit Aboriginal communities, possibly accounting for suicide clusters.

Data on the communities in the Athabasca region indicate that suicide rates are a valid social and health concern. A survey of Athabasca Tribal Council youth aged 15 to 18 revealed that in 2000/2001, 72.2 per cent knew someone who had committed suicide (University of Alberta 2001, 56).

The level of connection to cultural identity and practices has been linked to suicide rates among Aboriginal youth, as has a “…sense of responsible ownership of a personal and collective past, and some commitment to one's own future prospects” (Chandler and Lalonde 2008, 3-4). Recent research draws a correlation between youth suicide and the degree to which particular Indigenous communities find themselves bereft of meaningful connections to their traditional past, and otherwise cut off from local control of their own future prospects (Chandler and Lalonde 2008, 4; Leckning 2011, 1). Evidence of both factors was identified among ACFN members in this study. With the extremely high magnitude of any impact linked to self-harm, more effective monitoring of risk factors for Aboriginal youth in the oil sands is merited.

Fort Chipewyan youth raised the following priorities for helping manage impacts related to oil sands development:

Support for programs that get youth out on the land, especially with elders; An improved education system in Fort Chipewyan to avoid the need to move away for school; Increased mobile training opportunities, with training and certifications available in Fort Chipewyan, including driver’s licenses and more trades training programs; and Increased recreational opportunities for youth in Fort Chipewyan.

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8.2 Concerns and Priorities for ACFN Elders

Oil sands impacts exacerbate the unique challenges faced by ACFN elders in Fort Chipewyan.

8.2.1 Land Contamination and Alienation and Health Effects

Health was one of the biggest priority issues for ACFN elders, particularly contamination and cancer risks/rates related to changes on the land from oil sands development. Oil sands-related concerns of elders focused around changes on the land including health and cancer risk from contamination, water quality, water quantity, and the loss of livelihood from trapping. Air contamination was also raised, along with concerns about its impacts on plants and animals. There were also numerous comments about the loss of abundance of berries, animals, birds, waterfowl, wild vegetables and fruit. The following quote is illustrative of the concerns raised, and notable in that the issues raised remain, and indeed are estimated by elders to be higher and still growing in magnitude, six years after the comment was made:

“Water is source of all life; and is polluted by industry. Industry uses over half of the water. All industry in Fort McMurray has affected Fort Chip. No good water, scared to have a bath with all the talk about bad water. Polluted air, and water. Animals used to be the richest/best in the delta, in the world, but animals have left us, moved because the air and water is no good.” (ACFN elder in Jacques Whitford 2006, A-4)

8.2.2 Inadequate Health Care Services

ACFN elders expressed concerns about lack of adequate health care services and supports in the community of Fort Chipewyan, especially long term care and home care.

8.2.3 Social and Economic Marginalization of Elders

A previous study concluded that elders in rural communities in the RMWB feel that development does not benefit them – that younger generations can adapt better and take advantage of opportunities (Taylor, Friedel and Edge 2009, 6-7). The findings of this study concur.

Both the secondary data on ACFN elders and the interviews for this study reveal that elders have lost much of their livelihood and are facing reduced economic status. Elders are and for some time have been concerned that their largely fixed and limited income is inadequate to cover high and rising food and fuel costs, and

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that in many cases “[w]e owe all of our cheques for next month, before we get the cheques” (ACFN elder in Jacques Whitford 2006, A-1).

Additionally, elders report not receiving as much country food from younger family and community members as in the past (this is partially attributed to less harvesting, and partially to changing perspectives on the value of sharing in an increasingly commodified culture, as noted in Section 7). Some ACFN elders have indicated this lack of a good source of traditional meat to supplement their diet means food costs are becoming unsustainably high, putting significant constraints on their monthly budgets (Jacques Whitford 2006).

8.2.4 Erosion of Dene Values and Declining Role for Elders in Education

Elders expressed strong concern that ACFN values of sharing and respect, which in the past were strongest in relation to the way people treated elders, have eroded. Part of this is due to reduction in the traditional forms of educating youth into the ways of the world. Youth are not as respectful. Elders also do not feel as involved in governance, and there is less sharing of resources. Erosion of Dene values is largely attributed to the mixed effects of spending less time on the land, where the values and knowledge comes from, damage from colonization (e.g., residential school), industrial effects on the land and way of life, and increasing intrusion of Western, commercialized culture through the wage economy.

Elders and other members of the ACFN expressed strong opinions that more land- based culture and language programs need to be re-integrated into a more First Nations-centred education system. Cultural knowledge, it was agreed by most members, needs to be primarily learned on the land, not in the classroom.

8.2.5 Income is Not High Enough to Practice Traditional Livelihoods

An ACFN-sponsored study from 2006 fund that ACFN elders are unable to meet their basic costs for fuel, food, water, electricity, other bills and personal needs. Elders were estimated to run an average net annual deficit of $4,101, and this does not include traditional hunting or recreational costs. As one ACFN elder said in that study, “I live on my pension and can't buy anything. I no longer can afford my boat, motors, and skidoo because they cost a fortune. So I can't get traditional meat”(Jacques Whitford 2006, A-1).

8.2.6 Lack of Jobs, Lack of Options for Self-sufficiency

In addition, the loss of access to the land and traditional livelihoods for elders, job opportunities for elders are limited. Unlike youth, elders lack the willingness and

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capacity to leave Fort Chipewyan to learn new skills and try new careers. One elder summarized this by saying: “Living with my son on $160 a week, can't stay here since there are no jobs available, but have nowhere to go” (Jacques Whitford 2006, A-1). There is a sense that while some younger people have seen benefits from the oil sands, elders have largely been left behind.

8.2.7 Housing Conditions, Lack of Repairs to Homes

Elders repeatedly raised concerns that the inadequate fixed incomes and higher cost of living makes repairing aging homes prohibitive. Elders also raised concerns about lack of new housing stock, and issue with heightened urgency given recent increased in-migration of former community members and the potential for more ACFN members moving back to the community to take advantage of FIFO work options.

8.2.8 Lack of Meaningful Input/Respect

A strong theme among ACFN elders for some time now is that they do not get listened to, have meaningful impact on decisions that affect them: “Industry does not listen or respect us. Meetings, meetings, but nothing changes and We Remain Poor!” (Jacques Whitford 2006, 7, capital in original). The implications of this are discussed in the psycho-social effects section of this Report but are especially relevant for elders. In Dene culture, all members of the community, including leadership, take direction from and listen closely to elders. Traditional knowledge and respect for elders are central values.46

Some ACFN elders have also expressed opinions that the financial benefits offered by companies with developments in the area are not a fair exchange for the damage done. In addition, honorariums offered to elders for their participation in traditional use studies and other consultation efforts are seen as a pay-off for silence rather than for their legitimate participation in the process (Jacques Whitford 2006).

Altogether, these changes have created substantial adverse impacts on ACFN elders’ well-being and quality of life. Their resilience already impacted by “the weight of recent history” – the series of externally imposed changes causing cumulative effects on their Dene way of life described in Section 4 – the ACFN elders have been subject to a disproportionately large negative effect load from oil sands development.

Increased cost of living associated with rapid industrial development and expansion of the regional economic impacts disproportionately on elders, again because of their fixed incomes and lack of alternative livelihoods. It reduces the purchasing

46 It is worth noting that youth still identify the number one value in Fort Chipewyan as “respect for elders.” There is hope for the future. www.thefirelightgroup.com 116 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

power of the incomes they have but also increases the cost of accessing country food. The contamination of country food impacts elders disproportionately due to their higher reliance on it. In-migration disproportionately impacts seniors because it puts pressure on infrastructure and services, and increases pressure on already inadequate housing and health services.

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9 Analysis and Recommendations

9.1 Social, Economic and Cultural Impact Considerations

“Will there be anybody left in 75 years to wonder what happened to us? It’s sad to say, its just the way things are happening. I’m just so concerned for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren, I don’t know what kind of life they will have unless things change for the better. So, the company produces oil and makes lots of money. This is our traditional land… A big jug of milk is $12. If you have babies and no money how do you buy milk? All these things are happening and we bring it up time and time again, but nothing changes. I’m concerned. When you do a presentation like that and you tell us that there will be no problem in the future, it’s not so. We will be more content and have a better relationship in the long term if you tell us straight that there will be a problem, because we know it will... I don’t know what will come out of it, nothing good has ever come out from industry on our behalf. Sure, some people have jobs, but not as good as the jobs as those people that come in from the south. Our people get the lowest rate that is offered and are the first ones that are laid off. This is our land, this is our traditional land, we were here before any white man came into this area and when you guys are all done and gone, we will still be here if there is anybody left, we should be getting something for the resource that you are after.” — ACFN male elder, in ACFN IRC (2012, 12-13)

In his statement, this elder touches on several important considerations for any assessment of the costs and benefits of the oil sands on the ACFN’s human environment:

An uncertain timeframe for how long impacts will be felt by ACFN members; Fundamental questions about long-term sustainability of life in the community of Fort Chipewyan; Impact inequity and the strong perception among ACFN members that they have been forced to suffer significant adverse social, cultural and environmental impacts while other people preferentially receive the economic rewards; Psycho-social impacts associated with and a fear for the future and life for future generations, associated with continued land and cultural degradation associated with oil sands development on the ACFN’s traditional lands;

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Spin-off (or induced) adverse effects associated with rapid, uncontrolled regional economic growth, on things like the costs of goods and services in a small community like Fort Chipewyan, a community that in the past even through hard times had a high degree of food security; A lack of respect by industry for the ACFN, a lack of reciprocity and fairness in the relationship between industry and the Nation, and a lack of faith in the accuracy of Proponents’ effects assessments; and A fundamental sense that oil sands developments have not created net gains for the ACFN and its members.

These questions of effects on the human environment of cumulative change being accelerated by each new oil sands development are fundamental, increasingly at the front of mind for ACFN members facing rapid change, and have not been meaningfully addressed in environmental impact assessment processes to date. Some are discussed in further depth below.

9.1.1 Impact Equity

Impact equity is the concept that those people who are the most adversely impacted by projects should also receive preferential access to project benefits as well. Substantial benefits in the form of economic opportunities to affected Aboriginal communities are typically central to an analysis of impact equity. Economic benefits are weighed as offsets to likely adverse impacts on society, culture, land and traditional economy.

No examination of impact equity is offered by the Proponent in its Application or supplemental materials.

In the case of the JPME, potential beneficial effects include increasing employment, income, and business opportunities for ACFN members and ACFN-owned companies. Should the FIFO option proceed, there is also potential for an increasing number of ACFN mineworkers to choose to live in Fort Chipewyan, which would help to reestablish these families in the community. There are also likely to be benefits in the form of business opportunities for the ACFN Business Group.

Against these potential benefits47 must be balanced the effects of the JPME on the land, on individual and population health, on ACFN’s ability to maintain its traditional culture, on the already burdened social and health care system in the

47 There is very little concrete commitments or plans, policies and programs identified by the Proponent in its Application or supplemental materials related to benefit maximization targets or strategies for First Nations. This reduces the confidence the author puts in the likelihood and magnitude of expected benefits (see Section 9.1.2 and MacDonald and D. Gibson 2012). www.thefirelightgroup.com 119 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

RMWB, and in expanding the already large psycho-social effects of existing oil sands development on ACFN people.

On balance, ACFN members have expressed concerns that they have not received enough in the way of benefits to overcome the adverse effects of oil sands development, and that they are therefore suffering a fundamental impact inequity. This is causing the Nation to look closer at the long-term socio-economic and cultural risks versuse the short term economic benefits of the oil sands sector:

“Our elders are still living fairly modest lives, not really benefiting, now the people in my age group and younger are saying it’s not worth it, we’d rather have the land here to practice our rights so that we can teach our kids” — ACFN staff and member, August 27, 2012

One key element that can assist in balancing impact equity is the identification and proactive removal of systemic hurdles and barriers to First Nations’ meaningful engagement in the oil sands sector. The ACFN has expressed as a strong goal the creation of an education, training and employment sector for its members that prioritizes access to opportunities at all levels in –and beyond - the oil sands sector, with diversified career paths.

Currently, there are structural hurdles to engagement in the oil sands economy, and structural hurdles to reaching beyond the oil sands economy, for ACFN’s youth and working age people. Educational gaps put ACFN youth, especially those born and raised in Fort Chipewyan, in a fundamentally disadvantaged starting point. The system in place generally has relegated ACFN members to entry level jobs with minimal potential for advancement. With the need to leave Fort Chipewyan for education, training and employment, there is high transience and high turnover rates among ACFN members. There is also a lack of social support systems for ACFN members in the fast-paced, often alienating and high-risk “boom town” environment of Fort McMurray. These risks and disadvantages and their outcomes in the form of dysfunction (crime, homelessness, additions, to name a few) are raised only briefly in the Proponent’s submissions and no proactive measures to reduce them are committed to.

The ACFN have expressed a strong desire to see members of the oil sands industry (including the Proponent) develop and implement meaningful relationships that allow the Nation to access resources for education, training, promotion of entrepreneurialism in Fort Chipewyan, on their own terms and without the imposition of external values in the design of its programs and services. (ACFN leadership, September 14, 2012) There is no current evidence that the Proponent is committed to such a meaningful relationship, including the provision of “untied” funds through negotiated agreements or revenue sharing (both goals of the Nation).

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9.1.2 Ability to Take Advantage

ACFN’s ability to take advantage of each new oil sands development must also be taken into account. . The question of the degree to which oil sands employment has reached a saturation point for the ACFN needs to be posed. However, given the fact that no dedicated data collection has been conducted by government or industry to identify the percentage of the ACFN workforce engaged in, interested in, and capable of working in the oil sands, this remains a currently unanswerable question that merits further study.

The possibility that projects like the JPME may offer little in the way of new direct employment opportunities must be considered. The Proponent makes no estimate of the likelihood of employment levels from the Project for the ACFN, so this remains an open question. There is no compelling evidence that the Proponent has a plan to maximize ACFN employment – or First Nations employment in general - throughout the employment cycle of recruitment, retention and advancement. There are no programs to remove current hurdles, or plans and policies that allow First Nations to overcome barriers. This prompts little confidence that the ACFN will be able to take advantage in a meaningful way of the Project from an employment perspective. And while the ACFN Business Group has a strong presence in the oil sands sector, its ability to increase its market share and maximize dividends to its owners – ACFN members – is constrained in the ultra-competitive and international competition for oil sands contracts. The Proponent has identified no preferences for First Nations businesses in its Application or supplemental materials (see also Section 9.1.6.3).

In light of concerns raised about the oil sands work environment by some ACFN members, questions about the contribution of taking on oil sands work also need to be posed. Section 9.2.5 takes up this important question for well-being and quality of life of ACFN members and families.

9.1.3 Effects on Vulnerable Sub-Populations

In the Proponent’s response to SIR 30 (Nichols Applied Management 2012, 43), it is estimated that close to 50 per cent of homeless people in the RMWB may be of Aboriginal origin. Both this issue and how it is handled by the Proponent is of concern to ACFN. First of all, after raising the issue, it is never raised again in the effects assessment. This lack of meaningful examination of complex and important social, economic and cultural issues is indicative of fundamental problems with the Proponent’s efforts at socio-economic and cultural impact assessment.

Moreover, the issue of homelessness raises the larger question of what effects the JPME, and the oil sands sector in general, have had on vulnerable sub-populations within the RMWB, and more specifically within the ACFN. These include youth, elders and women. Section 8 examined in some detail the issues affecting ACFN

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youth and elders’ well-being and quality of life. Both groups face elevated risk of adverse effects from oil sands development; youth due in part to a variety of systemic barriers for Aboriginals in education and training, and elders due to fundamental changes in the social, economic and cultural fabric of the ACFN over the past 40 plus years.

There is also evidence, both from the ACFN experience and from research on mining and gender48, that women often shoulder a greater burden of adverse impacts with less in the way of reward. ACFN women have much lower levels of engagement in the oil sands economy than men, significantly lower income levels, have faced sexism in the oil sands workforce, have borne the brunt of reportedly increasing numbers of single-parent families, and generally have lower socio-economic status and higher exposure to poverty than men.

The Proponent’s supplemental filings do not examine with sufficient detail the potential for disproportionate adverse effects of the JPME to be suffered by youth, elders, or women. For example, there is minimal examination of gender-specific impacts such as the social burden of women in the communities as primary care givers, partners, social service providers, and parents. Aboriginal women in general are known to disproportionately suffer from sexual and physical violence, an issue potentially in the home community as well as in boom towns like Fort McMurray where crime rates have soared well above the Alberta and Canadian average (Mokami Status of Women Council & FemNorthNet 2011).

ACFN culture places a strong value on reciprocity and sharing. This cornerstone value cannot be easily reconciled with the disproportionate adverse effect load on these majority sectors of ACFN society. Yet, the Proponent provides little in the way of discussion or strategy to overcome the impact inequities and barriers faced by these vulnerable sub-populations.

9.1.4 Avoidance of Futures Foregone

One of the issues that naturally surfaced through discussions with ACFN members, staff and leadership was what sort of economic developments are acceptable and preferable for the ACFN. From these discussions and an examination of ACFN visioning and planning documents (e.g., ACFN 2012, ACFN 2008; Voyageur 2007), a picture emerged of these preferred characteristics for future ACFN economic development:

48 Examples of gender-specific impacts abound (e.g., Temple Newhook et al. 2011; Tongamiut Inuit Annait Ad Hoc Committee on Aboriginal Women and Mining in Labrador 1997). Much of this research notes that while the vast majority of benefits from industrial development often accrue to working age men, it is women who often feel the brunt of adverse impacts (e.g., Mokami Status of Women Council & FemNorthNet 2011). www.thefirelightgroup.com 122 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

It should be sustainable – preferably non-destructive and renewable resource based, without the creation of “futures foregone”;49 It should preferably be land-based – there is a strong preference for work on the land to promote cultural continuity; It should allow people to live in their preferred home community – for example, among the cohort of people involved in this study, work in the community of Fort Chipewyan was preferred; It should coincide with underlying ACFN values like sharing and respect (especially for the land); It should foster well-being and quality of life for ACFN members and community, for this and future generations, not merely income; and It should foster education, training and career path development, not merely the provision of unskilled jobs.

One of the fundamental concerns for ACFN members is that the oil sands sector is a destructive, long-term change to the land and waters of their traditional territory, with uncertainty about the time frame until the land is restored to its natural state, if ever. This creates substantial uncertainty both over the potential to return to a meaningful practice of the traditional economy at some time in the future, and about what types of wage economic activity will be sustainable after the oil sands close down – “at the end of the shift”.

Given the priorities of the ACFN to remain close to their Homelands, whether that be living in Fort Chipewyan or in a new community at Old Fort Point, and despite fears they may yet be forced to move, there is a strong desire to promote land-based economic activity in the future. A return to sustainable commercial fishing and forestry, establishment of guiding/outfitting, tourism, and establishment of a new community on the south shore of Lake Athabasca, have all been identified as potential economic developments. All of them could be adversely affected by continued growth in the physical disturbance and impact footprint of oil sands development including the JPME. For example, contamination of fish, game and water would be a serious issue for the establishment of a viable tourism sector. Thus, the oil sands sector creates fundamental questions about what economic futures the ACFN will have to forego should the oil sands sector continue to grow.

9.1.5 Psycho-social Impact Outcomes

The most common emotions raised during discussion with ACFN members were fear, sadness, anger, resignation, and anxiety. These complex and potentially harmful emotional responses are driven by:

49 This concept refers to the analysis of what options would be have to be given up irrevocably as a result of a plan or project (Burdge 1994 - e.g. sport fishing tourism in a case where there is widespread perception of contamination). www.thefirelightgroup.com 123 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

Pervasive fear of health risks of unknown magnitude;

Fear of contamination of food and water sources; Fear for the future of the community of Fort Chipewyan and the ACFN’s Dene culture; Sadness for (and by) the elders and current land users for the way of life that is increasingly being lost, and for the visible changes on the land; Anger at being ignored and patronized50; Resignation at the lack of control over oil sands development and perceived inability to see the sector slowed down, let alone stopped51; and Anxiety about travelling on the land in impacted areas and consuming country food.

Yet another emotion reportedly experienced is shame or remorse, which some oil sands workers express about being involved in a fundamentally destructive industry. Their choice to take advantage of the economic advantages of the oil sands is often a difficult and conflicted one, not without psycho-social costs of its own.

All of these emotions have adverse impacts on the mental, spiritual and emotional well-being of First Nations people, and have been linked to adverse health outcomes associated with stress, socially dysfunctional coping strategies, and self-harm. As noted by the Royal Society of Canada (2010, 288), there is a “strong and recurring perception of potential cumulative, health risks by many community members, which itself can lead to stress-related health issues in the affected communities.”

The effects of psycho-social impacts and the very real outcomes of risk perception are almost completely ignored in the Proponent’s Application and supplemental impact assessment materials. The psycho-social effects of the JPME and oil sands development, especially as the industry matures and effects move closer to Fort Chipewyan, merit further and much closer attention.

50 We’ve been doing this for how many years, talking about it? Ten years at least, I mean for me. Because we keep repeating ourselves like a million times over and there’s no result in anything. We’re just going over and over, no matter what kind of group we are. It could be our elders, it could be us here as women or whatever, but we are still repeating ourselves over and over and over. – ACFN female elder, August 29, 2012 51 “You can’t stop it [the project]. We are too small to stop it. All we can do is slow it down. That is all we are asking. We are not big enough to stop anything”. — ACFN Male Elder, August 30, 2012

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9.1.6 Assessing Net Gains from the ACFN Perspective

“Aboriginal communities, by and large, are not willing to compromise their identity and culture in the pursuit of economic success. To be acceptable, economic opportunities must fit into their cultural framework” – (Senate Canada 2007, 5).

As their traditional territory continues to be industrialized, the ACFN have increasingly asked whether the benefits available from each additional project are commensurate with the negative effects on lands and people. As noted in ACFN IRC (2012a, 15-16), ACFN members are expressing rising concern with each newly proposed oil sands project that:

“No real benefit has accrued to the Nation as a result of oil sands development. Even the jobs that are created are not as good as those provide to people “from the south” as Nation members are lower paid and the first to be laid off or fired. There are a number of socio-economic issues that go unrecognized and need to be dealt with. Elders and other sectors of the community do not benefit from oil sands projects. There is uncertainty about what benefits will be achievable in the future and whether those benefits are worth the risk of ongoing environmental contamination and destruction of traditional lands. Nation members are extremely worried about what life will be like for their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”

As noted by several ACFN members and staff in focus groups and in a variety of ACFN submissions and other documentary evidence summarized in this Report, the ACFN has fundamental concerns that the oil sands sector as a whole, and increasingly with every new project, has not led to a net gain in community well- being and quality of life – “what matters most” to life for ACFN members. Some members and the Nation question the acceptability of tradeoffs that are inexorably causing them to lose part of who and what they are - their traditions, culture, language and way of life – primarily in exchange for short-term economic development for some in the community and for the greater population of the RMWB, Alberta and Canada.

The considerations the ACFN and its members are focusing on can be used by the JRP to inform its decision-making. They include:

9.1.6.1 Balance of Project-specific Benefits Versus Risks

Some ACFN members report a current imbalance between the magnitude of likely benefits (low to medium) versus adverse impacts (high to extreme) from oil sands developments. ACFN members widely suspect that the JPME and any new open pit oil sands operation will increase contamination levels and land alienation, in an area

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within the Poplar Point Homeland, and getting closer and closer to ACFN reserve lands. Protection of these areas along with “all the lands from Firebag [River] north” is of the highest priority to ACFN, as noted in the ACFN Elders Council 2010 Declaration on Rights to Land Use52. The JPME’s potential to continue the acceleration of contamination and health risks is also of high concern to ACFN members.

9.1.6.2 Acceptability of Tradeoffs of High Priority Values for Lower Priority Values

There is a current imbalance in the ACFN values being protected or enhanced versus the values being damaged or destroyed. As Chief Allan Adam (in Bianchi 2009, 27) put the risks versus benefits of continued oil sands expansion:

“On the one hand oil sands are good for the economy, good for jobs… But on the other hand, they bad for our health and bad for our way of living. People are dying.”

In almost all instances, ACFN members state that culture, health, environment and land use are higher values than economic and business development. When people talk of protecting “livelihoods,” they are still typically talking about ACFN way of life on the land and not wage economic activity. ACFN polling (Voyageur 2007) indicates that in 2006, in both Fort Chipewyan and Fort McMurray, infrastructure and business were the lowest ranked of nine different priorities for community members. In contrast, health, education, environment and training all rated as high priorities for ACFN members from Fort Chipewyan, while environment, education and health were most important in Fort McMurray (Voyageur 2007). This raises fundamental questions about the acceptability of de-emphasizing high priority values (e.g., environment and culture) to allow lower priority values (e.g., business development, employment) to proceed.

In February of 2008, the ACFN, along with other Chiefs representing Treaty 6, 7 and 8, passed a resolution supporting a moratorium on oil sands approvals (Keepers of the Athabasca 2008). Such efforts to slow down oil sands expansion illustrate that the Nation has not abandoned its values. However, its values are increasingly being pushed aside, making for difficult choices.

There is a strong sense among ACFN leadership, elders and members that industry and government have chosen to ignore them, marginalize them, and proceed on an inexorable path of industrial development without meaningful inputs from ACFN or the ability to slow down, let alone stop, developments that may impact on them. This is leading two a couple of impact outcomes:

52 Declared July 8, 2010, by the ACFN Elders Council in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, and included as Appendix 1 of Candler (2011). www.thefirelightgroup.com 126 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

1. An increasing psycho-social effect load related to anxiety about the inevitability of what one ACFN staff and member called "industrial annihilation", with Fort Chipewyan residents waiting for the negative effects to fully work their way downstream to them. This is a waiting game that increases individual and communal stress, contributes to concerns/fears for the future, and takes away any sense of agency for ACFN members. By doing so, it promotes an increasing apathy and lack of willingness to engage in review of these developments. 2. There is a sense that the community has to "get on the train, or be on the tracks" in the path of oil sands development, meaning that key socio-cultural values related to balancing environmental and economic issues are sacrificed in order to maximize short-term economic development from these "inevitable" oil sands developments. Not only do these choices create conflicts within and between First Nations and communities as communities compete for a share of the economic benefits, but they also create psycho- social effects from the sacrifice of priority values and the knowledge that the community is effectively acceding to the environmental damage caused by oil sands development. As noted by Friedel, Taylor and Edge 2009, 7:

“The current economic context in Wood Buffalo presents a tension for many F , while dependency and economic underdevelopment are unacceptable, a future characterized by unfettered resource extraction is also unacceptable.”

9.1.6.3 Scale and Certainty of Benefits

There is no question that the oil sands have provided specific employment and business benefits to the ACFN. Less certain is the degree to which the sector as a whole and the JPME in particular will provide adequate or proportionate benefits to the ACFN and its members. Even when measured without assessing the countervailing risks of environmental, food, health, social and cultural impacts on the ACFN, the amount of benefits the ACFN and its members have been able to accrue are uncertain, and arguably disproportionately low.

Considered at the regional level, the Aboriginal population percentage in the RMWB (12.3 per cent in the 2006 census), is not equaled by the rough estimates of Aboriginal people in the workforce from the Government of Alberta (10 per cent) or by oil sands developers like Suncor, Syncrude and Shell (the latter has about 4 per cent Aboriginal employees, a three times lower ratio than the regional population percentage for Aboriginal people).

At the local level, compared to other communities in the region, Fort Chipewyan in 2008 had a relatively low proportion of workers (6 per cent, or 22 workers) employed in the mining, oil and gas extraction sectors. (RMWB 2008, 16) Given that ACFN members represent only about 19 per cent of the population of Fort

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Chipewyan (Flett 2011), this is a strong indication that total ACFN Fort Chipewyan- resident direct employment in the oil sands was very low as recently as a couple of years ago. Neither the total number of ACFN members nor the number of ACFN members per community who are working in the oil sands is known, but it can be inferred from these sources that the numbers are relatively low. These numbers have to be combined with the larger number of workers from the ACFN Business Group that are ACFN members (32 in 2011 – Flett 2011), but even with aggressive efforts by the ACFN Business Group to maximize ACFN employment, there remain substantial systemic hurdles in place to ACFN employment in the oil sands sector that merit further study and more aggressive mitigation. They include low educational completion rates (a 2006 study found that 74% of ACFN members left school in grade 10 or earlier53) and poor educational standards in Fort Chipewyan, lack of driver’s license, lack of employability skills and training (especially in Fort Chipewyan), the need to move to Fort McMurray for work, inability to pass alcohol and drug tests, and housing shortages and costs in Fort McMurray.

Shell does not have policies, policies or plans on preferential training, education, recruitment, retention or advancement policies for Aboriginal people There is thus no evidence that the JPME will substantially increase the number of ACFN workers in the oil sands sector.

9.1.6.4 Tradeoffs in Quality of Life

“When I was young, my grandpa on my mother side, and other elders, they would get together and talk about long ago about life. And one old guy one time said “I see the future. There is going to be lots of money. But we are going to be poor”. That is all he said. He meant we would see a real rough time in the future. I never thought about it, but just what that man said came true. When I look at all the things happening just on account of oil companies, all the prices going up and no water, and we are all poor and there are drugs coming in… the old guy seen that. When I think about it now, he was right.” – ACFN male elder, August 30, 2012

ACFN members interviewed for this study raised issues of poor working conditions, exposure to drugs and alcohol, racism, concerns about time away from family, and the fundamentally damaging nature of oil sands development as creating inherent conflicts for ACFN culture holders. These concerns are echoed by Taylor, Friedel and Edge (2010):

“Our interviews suggest that those who are seen by mainstream society as “successful” in employment may feel tensions around the environmental impact of their work in the oil sands industry and experience other “costs” of employment such as the need to leave their home communities, the effects of long hours/shift work on families, and, for women, gender discrimination.”

53 Reported in Flett 2011. www.thefirelightgroup.com 128 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

As noted by Senate Canada (2007 p.5-6), “[e]conomic development is seen by many Aboriginal people as the means by which they can resolve their own socio-economic problems, and ultimately, have some measure of control over their own futures.” However, where the means to that economic development exacerbates existing socio-economic stresses or replaces them with new ones (e.g., increasing debt, time away from family) and also takes awaythe impression of control over the future of the primary wellspring of wealth for First Nations since time immemorial – their traditional lands – the net benefit of that wage economic development may be called into question.

These are among the emerging questions about whether the primarily economic benefits on offer from oil sands developments, including the JPME, are likely to provide acceptable returns in exchange for the environmental, cultural and social costs.

9.2 Significance Considerations

No formal estimation of significance is made in this Report. Subjective values define what constitutes significance. As such, for significance estimation exercises to be meaningful, particularly when dealing with effects related to the human environment54, they require the formal and dedicated input of affected parties as well as Proponents and decision-makers. Due to time constraints, engagement of the ACFN in a formal significance estimation exercise was not possible prior to the filing of this Report. The author strongly suggests that the ACFN review this document and other submissions and provide their own estimation of significance of effects based on the subjective values of the Nation, and trusts that the JRP will make room in its process for such submissions.

Notwithstanding a formal estimation of significance, the author offers the following observations based on the primary and secondary evidence collected for this study that may contribute to significance estimations for the JPME:

There is a demonstrably high level of existing adverse effects from oil sands development on ACFN traditional lands. These adverse effects have been well

54 MacDonald and G. Gibson (2012, 13) note that the Proponent’s response to SIR 30 (Golder Associates 2012) inappropriately excised the ACFN and other First Nations and Aboriginal groups from its effects assessment. This is not in keeping with good practice of cultural impact assessment in particular, as identified by the Mackenzie Valley Review Board (MVRB 2005): “The [MVRB] relied on the most reliable and accurate experts it could when making its determination about cultural impacts; the aboriginal culture groups themselves. Cultural impacts are best identified and addressed when relayed by the holders of the cultural knowledge; the community members themselves”. The author thus cannot in good conscience make a unilateral estimation of the significance of impacts that are likely to be felt by the Nation and its members; this would be both disingenuous and presumptive. www.thefirelightgroup.com 129 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

documented by, and are the cause of substantial public concern for, the ACFN and its members. The Project as proposed and without additional mitigation and monitoring measures, has a strong likelihood to contribute additional adverse effects to what many ACFN members consider already significant adverse residual effects on ACFN social and cultural conditions from oil sands development. From a traditional use and occupancy perspective, the Project as proposed has already been estimated by Candler (2011, 3), in an ACFN-verified TUOS, to be “likely to have significant adverse residual effects on specific ACFN knowledge and use values” in the vicinity of RFMA #1714 and downstream on the Athabasca River. These previously estimated significant location specific impacts on knowledge and land use may contribute to a larger social, (traditional) economic and cultural loss of substantial magnitude for the ACFN. From an overall cultural effects perspective, the Project as proposed has a high potential to contribute additional incremental adverse effects to Dene way of life, time spent on the land by ACFN members, enjoyment and connection with traditional lands, and cultural transmission between generations, all of which have been noted by ACFN members as threatened by oil sands development in recent years. To illustrate the potential for adverse social and cultural effects, the author reviewed the evidence up against a list of social and cultural effects criteria developed by Vanclay (2002). Vanclay lists a series of “indicative impacts” in the form of adverse outcomes that can occur during periods of social, economic and cultural change. The potential for effects, in this instance on ACFN culture, is identified in Table 5:

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TABLE 6: EFFECTS OF OIL SANDS DEVELOPMENT ON ACFN SOCIETY AND CULTURE Vanclay (2002) “Indicative Impact” ACFN Experience in the Oil Sands Region of Cultural Change Mental health and subjective well- -Strong and consistent evidence of heightened being: feelings of stress, anxiety, individual and community-level psycho-social apathy, depression, nostalgic anxiety, uncertainty, fear, frustration, hopelessness melancholy, changed self image, in the face of change and contamination general self-esteem -The fact that the Nation and its members expressed strong opinions that they are helpless to stop the JPME from proceeding speaks volumes Changed aspirations for the future for -Real concern that the future will not be viable to self and children live in Fort Chipewyan among many members Experience of stigmatization or -Social and political marginalization of residents of deviance labeling – the feeling of Fort Chipewyan is occurring; small rural being “different” or of being excluded community in a rapidly growing region; perceived or socially marginalized. loss of power and voice for the community Perceived quality of surroundings -Substantially reduced, especially over the past especially “on the land” decade, with increased avoidance and loss of use; strong contamination concerns and alienation Changes in aesthetic quality of -Strong expression of distaste and unease, sadness, surroundings with the changes in the sights, smells and noise associated with oil sands development Disruption of traditional economy -Substantial reduction in traditional economy preceded oil sands development, but has incrementally continued to decline during – and due to- oil sands development; increasingly, contamination as well as alienation and wildlife disturbance impacting on country food harvest Change in cultural values; also -ACFN members report changes since the 1970s in Cultural integrity – degree to which fundamental Dene values such as sharing and local culture such as traditions, rites, respect (especially for elders); linked by many to etc. are respected and likely to persist increasing wage economic reliance, less time on land, “Western” commercial values, and increasing nuclear families Cultural affrontage – violation of -Some grave and spiritual sites have been sacred sites, breaking taboos and destroyed by oil sands development; concerns other cultural mores raised about sacred sites related to the JPME Experience of being culturally -Elders in particular have found their cultural role marginalized as educators reduced; sadness and loss of purpose mentioned as outcomes Profanization of culture – commercial -Evident in the commodification of traditional exploitation or commodification of knowledge; traditional knowledge paid for by cultural heritage and associated loss industry in what is widely perceived as a “tick the of meaning box” exercise Loss of language or dialect -Dene language in Fort Chipewyan has been in substantial decline for some time; according to some reports, rarely spoken in the home

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Vanclay (2002) “Indicative Impact” ACFN Experience in the Oil Sands Region of Cultural Change Loss of natural and cultural heritage – -In Dene culture, the land has spiritual value in its damage to or destruction of cultural, natural state; many ACFN members speak of the historical, archaeological or natural loss of spiritual value of the land once it is resources, including burial grounds, damaged; substantial areas of land have been historic sites, and places of religious, completely cleared and industrialized, with long- cultural and aesthetic value term and potentially irrevocable loss of the spiritual state of the land Changes in obligations (or adherence -Elders report less respect from youth and working to) to living elders, youth, and age people ancestors Community and culture group -Still strong attachment to Fort Chipewyan attachment – sense of belonging; expressed by many ACFN members; strong desire sense of place to reclaim traditional Homelands and move to Old Fort Point reserve lands Social differentiation and inequity -Increasing inequity between ACFN: 1) oil sands workers versus other individuals and families 2) working age population and elders 3) Dual partner families and single parent families -Concerns about loss of cohesion between different First Nations and Aboriginal groups due to industry “divide and conquer” tactics

The ACFN and its members exhibit exposure to almost all of the adverse socio-cultural effects Vanclay (2002) describes. The author suggests this is indicative of a culture group and society that is vulnerable to further change in the form of expanded oil sands development, especially ones like the Project that are located in ACFN Homelands and closer to the community of Fort Chipewyan. The Project as proposed has strong potential to contribute to an already existing high level of psycho-social anxiety strongly related to oil sands development, which is already demonstrably impacting on ACFN well-being and quality of life. The significance of this psycho-social anxiety, which is related to a variety of factors including health concerns, lack of agency and sense of increasing socio-political marginalization of ACFN and its members, loss of connection to land and culture, and concerns for the very future of the community of Fort Chipewyan, has never been addressed in any environmental impact assessments and was not examined in any detail in the Proponent’s submissions. The Project as proposed is likely to contribute in an incremental fashion to what many ACFN members already perceive and express as a significant reduction in human and ecological health status in the traditional territory of the ACFN and, increasingly, the community of Fort Chipewyan. This perceived risk, regardless of the accuracy of the factors contributing to it

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(which the author is not qualified to speak to), is evidently contributing adversely to individual and population mental health status among the ACFN. Such perceived risk has also been linked to reduction in well-being and quality of life, and potentially to stress/anxiety related health disorders, as noted by the Royal Society of Canada (2010). The Project as proposed has the potential to beneficially impact on ACFN wage economic conditions, including direct employment (bolstered by plans for an FIFO operation) and business opportunities. However, the Proponent has not provided adequate effects assessment information or commitments to specific targets, plans, policies or programs for economic effects on the ACFN to be estimated with any confidence (MacDonald and D. Gibson 2012, 26-7). Given the fact that there are existing systemic hurdles to First Nation recruitment, retention and advancement in the oil sands sector (including education and training deficits in Fort Chipewyan, among other factors) and the lack of information about current ACFN engagement in oil sands employment provided by the Proponent, evidence of more dedicated and specific interventions to increase access to benefits from the JPME would be required before making any estimation of their likelihood or magnitude. There is increasing evidence that ACFN members may not feel the tradeoffs required to the environment, human health, ACFN way of life, well-being and quality of life, to benefit from an incremental increase in wage economic activity from any new oil sands development, are acceptable and worth the risk to society, culture and human health.

In conclusion, the Project has the potential to create additional risk of harm for already adversely impacted social and cultural valued components of the ACFN. While the Project’s individual contribution to these effects, except in the clearly demonstrated location-specific context of significant adverse impacts described in Candler (2011) may or may not be significant, it is the sum total of cumulative effects that merits the most attention in the final analysis. The author suggests that the Project’s effects should be primarily looked at in the context of these cumulative effects. ACFN members, in general practice, do not separate the effects of any new oil sands project from those of all the other projects that have come before. They use a more holistic perspective when estimating significance and a long-run perspective that carefully considers the residual effects that will be passed down to future generations. The author strongly recommends the JRP adopt a similar perspective in its decision-making.

In addition, given the complex and overlapping effects involved, the author suggests adopting the type of multi-criteria sustainability framework used in previous environmental impact assessments of mining projects in Canada (e.g., Joint Review Panel for the Kemess North Copper-Gold Mine Project 2007). Criteria to consider may include current and future need for the development, the acceptability and manageability of its legacy effects, full-cost accounting, impact equity and

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distribution of benefits, futures foregone should the Project proceed, among other considerations.

One tool that is not available at this time to support decision-making on this Project is any formal thresholds of acceptable change for human environmental conditions in the oil sands region. This gap, along with an overall lack of a human environmental monitoring and adaptive management system, would likely improve both the inputs to and outcomes of future oil sands development proposals. The critical need for such tools is taken up in Section 9.3.

9.3 Mitigation and Monitoring Recommendations

“Cumulative negative effects through cultural and demographic stress for regional First Nations and Metis populations are likely to be more severe if imposed without consultation, reasonable accommodation and creative, meaningful engagement in sharing benefits of developments.” — The Royal Society of Canada (2010, 287)

The author cautions that some of the social and cultural impacts of the Project, in combination with other past, present and reasonably foreseeable future developments, may be inherently un-mitigable. In particular, the contribution of the Project to physical loss of traditional lands from cultural practices, combined with reduced access to and other forms of alienation from preferred harvesting lands (e.g., through perceived risk and heightened competition), have already been identified as of a significant nature (Candler 2011). In addition, the author notes that the pervasive and potentially increasing concerns about contamination, human health effects, and cultural and community sustainability/survival, and their psycho- social implications for mental health and well-being of ACFN members, are not likely to be avoidable through any available mitigation.

The mitigations proposed here by study participants and the author can, at best, lessen the adverse project specific impacts that are anticipated. Further, these mitigations are separate and distinct from any necessary accommodation for impacts that occur as a result of the Project. It is entirely possible there may be no amount of money the ACFN deems an acceptable compensatory measure for the Project.

Nonetheless, given a strong impression from many Nation members that they cannot stop the Project from proceeding, the sharing of even these partial mitigations may have some benefit to minimizing impact outcomes. One primary reason for sharing them here is that the mitigation proposed by the Proponent is fundamentally inadequate to deal with likely adverse impacts of the Project. Nor does the Proponent identify mitigation adequate to overcome existing systemic barriers to maximum engagement of ACFN members in benefits from the Project.

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Please note that ACFN recommendations referred to herein, unless drawn from previous ACFN submissions, were raised by individual ACFN members and staff. They therefore do not represent the ACFN’s official position on adequate mitigation and monitoring required for the Project to proceed (i.e., keep likely adverse impacts below the level of significance). They are presented here without prejudice to final ACFN estimations of the measures necessary to avoid, manage or compensate for Project-specific or cumulative effects, or to final ACFN estimations of the significance of Project-related and cumulative effects on the human environment. The author’s recommendations, clearly separated from those of ACFN members below, have likewise not been vetted or endorsed by the Nation at this time.

Overall, ACFN members involved in the study raised a number of mitigation and monitoring mechanisms they feel may reduce certain adverse effects of the oil sands, help to understand them, or improve beneficial effect outcomes for ACFN members. The key missing ingredients, from the ACFN perspective, appear to be respect, reciprocity, and imagination. Respect for ACFN concerns and the willingness for companies and government to actually sit down with ACFN and develop solutions, rather than merely listening and then walking away without ever implementing proactive change. Reciprocity requires recognition that ACFN expects sharing, one of its primary cultural values, to guide relationships with industry and government as well. There is a strong perception that ACFN members have not shared in many of the benefits of oil sands, and certainly not on a scale commensurate with either:

The benefits that have accrued to industry, government, the RMWB and businesses and workers from outside the region; The distribution of adverse impacts, which traditional land users and people living downstream of the oil sands have borne the brunt of.

Imagination requires thinking outside the narrow confines of attribution of effects and looking for culturally-appropriate, location-specific solutions for some of the systemic hurdles facing the ACFN and its members in taking advantage of beneficial effects of oil sands development, and reducing negative effects.

9.3.1 Mitigating and Monitoring Social, Economic and Cultural Effects on the ACFN of Changes on the Land

Section 6 of this Report identified some of the potential adverse effects of changes on the land from the JPME, alongside other causes of cumulative effects on the land.

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9.3.1.1 ACFN Recommendations

For many ACFN members, the most effective way to avoid additional impacts on the land is to stop additional oil sands development from occurring. As one ACFN elder put it when asked what he would say to the Joint Review Panel for the JPME:

“I would tell them to pack up and get out of there. Pack your gear and get out; the mining company. That is the way I think about it. They have destroyed everything we had. The places we hunted and trapped, it is all gone now. And what they say about how we can go somewhere else to hunt, where are we going to go to hunt?” — ACFN male elders, August 30, 2012

Should the Project proceed, there are limited ways in which the physical impacts on the land could be mitigated, given the invasive nature of the open-pit mining operation55. Many of the “on the land” impacts on culture simply cannot be mitigated. However, ACFN members and staff identified some mitigation and monitoring recommendations that may either partially reduce, offset or more effectively monitor certain effects on ACFN members of the physical changes on the land from the JPME, including:

ACFN Members’ Mitigation Recommendations

Funding for culture programs on the land around Fort Chipewyan (e.g., culture camps) where school age children can learn cultural values, knowledge and survival skills from elders. Funding for lower income families to get out on the land. Expanded teaching of Chipewyan language in the Fort Chipewyan school system, including beyond the current maximum Grade 6 level.

The mitigations noted above are primarily to boost the resilience of the ACFN to partially offset the cultural loss associated with reduced access to their traditional lands – the places where cultural transmission historically occurred. Cultural programming and increased on the land programs may assist in reinforcing core ACFN cultural values.

Funding by which ACFN could subsidize members’ increased costs of going on the land for the purposes of traditional harvesting, in particular fuel costs.

55 One particular recommendation for on-the-land effects reduction was to reduce the width around the Project of fencing and travel restrictions, which one ACFN elder suggested were alienating too much additional land (August 30, 2012). www.thefirelightgroup.com 136 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

Provision of an alternative drinking water supply for ACFN, including provision of the bottled water members are now required to carry with them when harvesting out on the land. Financial support for land-based livelihoods made available for those members who choose to pursue them.

The mitigations noted above are primarily to partially offset the increased costs and effort associated with ACFN members travelling longer distances and with more store bought materials to access harvesting sites and conduct successful hunting, trapping and fishing. Currently, these are identified as major disincentives to many members getting out on the land, including especially lower income people like elders and single parent families.56

In addition, like many First Nations57, ACFN members report preferring non- destructive jobs that are a better fit with their values and worldview. ACFN members identified the following potential business and employment opportunities that the Nation may want to accentuate and the Proponent may want to prioritize engagement of ACFN in, should the Project proceed. In part as a way to reduces health concerns and to re-embrace their stewardship and governance role over area resources, ACFN should have a meaningful role in the monitoring and management of the oil sands, in both Project-specific and community environmental monitoring; and Development of business opportunities and jobs in reclamation for ACFN members. This would place the First Nation and its members in an enhanced stewardship role in line with cultural values, provide continuing economic value into the far future, and avoid the type of destructive activities often required of the oil sands mining workforce.

ACFN Members’ Monitoring Recommendations

More effective and continuous environmental and human health monitoring systems, including:

56 Lawn and Harvey (in Dialogos, 2006, 86) note that “Programs to promote access to traditional food and pass on fishing/hunting skills to the younger generation have been introduced in some isolated Arctic communities through a hunter support program and the provision of community freezers.” 57 For example, see page C10 of The Firelight Group et al. (2011), where Ktunaxa Nation members ranked work in non-renewable resource extraction 12th out of 13 categories in terms of job type preference. www.thefirelightgroup.com 137 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

o Additional training and involvement of ACFN members in an enhanced Project-specific and downstream community-based monitoring system;58 and o Actual conduct of the full baseline community health study ACFN members have been waiting for the Government of Alberta to initiate for several years 59; and o Continual human health monitoring, with substantial ACFN input, after the completion of the initial community baseline health study (which could be incorporated into an ongoing human environmental monitoring program – see Section 9.3.2.3 and Appendix A);

9.3.1.2 Additional Recommendations

In addition, the author suggests the following monitoring and reporting initiatives would boost understanding and management of health and wellness risks facing ACFN members from changes on the land:

A community-based comprehensive baseline country food harvesting and consumption study, including dedicated study of risk perception and its impacts on country food harvesting among ACFN members living in the RMWB; Incorporation of culturally-relevant country food harvesting and consumption monitoring into a comprehensive human environmental monitoring system for the community of Fort Chipewyan, with annual reporting and feedback to community members; and Promotion of effective tools for continued risk assessment and risk communication of the health of country foods in ACFN traditional territory, as well as culturally-appropriate communication of the relative risks and benefits of store-bought vs. country foods.

9.3.2 Recommended Mitigation and Monitoring at the Community and Regional Level

Many of the improvements sought at the community and regional level require ACFN leadership and direction, alongside industry financial support. ACFN staff and

58 An ACFN elder (August 30, 2012) expressed strong concern that current industrial monitoring is largely limited to the immediate environment around the mine sites, rather than downstream in the Athabasca River, Peace Athabasca Delta, ACFN reserve lands, and around Fort Chipewyan itself, places where human receptors are likely to encounter and be affected by oil sands-related health risks. 59 According to the ACFN leadership focus group (September 14, 2012) no meaningful progress toward implementing an effective baseline health study for Fort Chipewyan has occurred to date, another instance where ACFN members express a lack of faith in the willingness of government and industry to listen to and deal with their concerns. www.thefirelightgroup.com 138 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

leadership expressed a strong desire for “untied” revenue streams from oil sands development as a partial compensatory offset for damage to land, Treaty rights, and culture. Such funds would provide revenues streams for the ACFN to promote the well-being and quality of life of its members, without externally imposed restrictions and excessive administrative burden.

9.3.2.1 ACFN Members’ Mitigation Recommendations

Mitigation to Improve Education and Training Outcomes

Support for training and education programs based in Fort Chipewyan; Additional institutional supports for ACFN youth transitioning from Fort Chipewyan to attend school in Fort McMurray; Ensure emphasis not only on training to employment, but also consider the interests of a broader range of learners; More funding available for scholarships, and not explicitly tied to oil sands focused careers; and Funding to increase the engagement of ACFN elders in the Fort Chipewyan “in school” education system, as a way of bolstering cultural transmission.

Mitigation to Combat Social dysfunction

Support for programs that promote youth self-reliance and identity as Dene people; Support for programs for addictions management; Strengthen money management programming in the region; Development of a youth healing centre; and Support for improvement of ACFN social services provision capacity in Fort McMurray.

Mitigation to Maximize Community and Family Cohesion

Support/incentives for local, Fort Chipewyan-based, business development, so that people can live at home (Chip Manufacturing was identified as a good example).

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Mitigation to Enhance ACFN Employment and Business Opportunities

ACFN members identified a desire to expand their economic self-sufficiency at the community level, so as to promote reduced reliance on the oil sands sector and the ability in the future for ACFN members to more readily succeed in career paths that do not require working in the environmentally damaging oil sands sector. Working in the sector has been for many ACFN members causes of psycho-social impacts associated with guilt at the damage they help to cause.

Offer Driver license training in Fort Chipewyan; Offer more training opportunities in Fort Chipewyan as Fort McMurray is prohibitively costly and has other risks that reduce success rates for ACFN members; Maximize ACFN on-the-job training opportunities for higher skilled jobs and career paths, not streaming them into lower skilled work; and Conduct individual job applicant skills/capacity evaluations for experienced workers rather than eliminating people without high school graduation or equivalent. Support the development of a self-sufficient ACFN wage economic and business sector, with the most likely vehicle being an ACFN trust fund; and Building entrepreneurial business opportunities and capacity among ACFN membership, especially among women.

9.3.2.2 ACFN Members’ Monitoring Recommendations

Previous ACFN submissions for the JPME highlighted the need for a socio- economic monitoring program for the community (ACFN IRC 2010a, 24).

9.3.2.3 Additional Recommendations

The author recommends the following additional mitigation and monitoring programs specific to Shell’s JPME be implemented over and above those previously noted by ACFN members.

Mitigation

Support fo workplace literacy and numeracy programs for First Nations workers, such as those called for by the Senate of Canada (2007, 61). Promotion of alternative economic development activities that: o Allow ACFN members to live and be in Fort Chipewyan more often;

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o Create meaningful jobs and full time careers; o Avoid psycho-social impacts of oil sands development and work environment; and o Promote work on the land and in stewardship roles. Increased commitments to fund mobile training programs in the community of Fort Chipewyan. Commitment to promote Aboriginal mentoring and Aboriginal worker- management liaison systems. Increased cultural attenuation/cultural conflict management training in the oil sands workplace (e.g., Gibson et al. 2011; Gibson 2007). Promotion of individualized career path planning and counselling for ACFN members. Development of realistic Aboriginal employee targets based on evaluation of the available Aboriginal labour pool at the local and regional levels. This would likely require the Proponent to undertake an ACFN workforce evaluation study to identify training and education requirements for any available latent untapped workforce, in order to maximize increased ACFN engagement in recruitment into the oil sands sector.

Monitoring

While the Royal Society of Canada (2010) called for monitoring of health impacts of oil sands development, the author suggests that a more comprehensive human environmental monitoring system is required for the oil sands region. Biophysical health studies and examination of key health determinants such as local health and social service provision capacity are important, but not comprehensive, measures of human health and well-being. A more detailed human environmental monitoring system, developed with and for First Nations groups, would provide a more nuanced and accurate reflection of both health and well-being status (including both objective and self-reporting metrics) across the full spectrum of determinants of health (see Figure 2) and causes and potential mitigation and management strategies for ill health and inadequate well-being.

As identified by the ACFN IRC (2008):

“The effectiveness of existing socio-economic programs [related to oil sands development have not been] assessed – [there has been] no analysis of the efficacy of the existing socio-economic initiatives, particularly with respect to how successful they are for the ACFN and the community of Fort Chipewyan.”

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The author joins the ACFN in its concerns about the lack of project-specific and systemic monitoring of key socio-economic attributes of the oil sands sector. There were notable limitations in the availability of secondary data that breaks down social, economic and cultural indicators specific to ACFN members. This is evidence, in the author’s opinion, of unacceptable gaps in the current ability to keep track of changes in the well-being and quality of life of Aboriginal groups in the RMWB. These gaps make it difficult to track change over time in culturally-appropriate priority indicators amongst and between these communities.

Current human environmental monitoring is not occurring in any organized, community-engaged fashion. What engagement is occurring tend to be on more of an ad hoc basis that is:

a) alienating and frustrating ACFN members, who overwhelmingly perceive such studies to be “tick the box” exercises that are subsequently ignored, rather than substantive efforts to understand and manage their concerns60; b) contributing to the lack of social, economic and cultural planning occurring for affected area Aboriginal groups; and c) contributing to the sense by many ACFN members that they are being forgotten/left behind by industry, government and the RMWB in the rapidly expanding oil sands sector.

As noted in Knight et al. (1993), the lack of effective follow up monitoring limits the effectiveness of cumulative impact assessment, and the ability to compare predicted impacts and benefits to actual outcomes. This has certainly been the case in the oil sands region where, despite the ever increasing number of multi-billion dollar developments, no human environmental monitoring program has been effectively implemented. This is especially true and problematic for area First Nations, who often encounter disproportionately large adverse impacts without clear evidence of compensatory benefits. Integrated ongoing human environmental monitoring systems are becoming more common in other Canadian middle and far north jurisdictions such as the NWT (Gibson et al. 2005; Parlee and LKDFN: 1998).

The author notes that smaller mining sectors such as NWT diamond mining have seen at least some dedicated surveying of mining employees, for example (NWT Bureau of Statistics 2009). In contrast, the Proponent in this case has identified no specific plans, policies or programs for human environmental monitoring.

In light of current critical gaps in human environmental monitoring in the oil sands region, the author recommends that the Joint Review Panel require as a

60 This is a long-standing concern and cause of high levels of frustration among ACFN members, as reported in ACFN IRC (2012a, 15): “The Nation members noted that they have been providing input and knowledge into project after project and that there has been no change in outcomes, with the same impacts being increasingly experienced. Nation members noted that they feel their input has been disregarded and that consultation is an empty process.” www.thefirelightgroup.com 142 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

condition, should the Project proceed, the development of a comprehensive human environmental monitoring agency for affected First Nations, including the ACFN, with meaningful and substantial participation of these groups in planning, data collection, analysis, reporting to the communities and adaptive management.

Development of a long-term human environmental monitoring system for the oil sands will allow for data collection across a series of social, economic and cultural indices, linked into an adaptive management system framework that includes identification of thresholds of acceptable change for key valued components, criteria and indicators of the human environment.

There is a critical need for a human environmental monitoring system for First Nations in the oil sands region, in order to track social, economic and cultural change, to avoid or reduce harm, and to maximize beneficial outcomes. The author also strongly recommends that the human environmental monitoring system include the development of thresholds of acceptable change across a series of social, economic and cultural criteria. Such thresholds can be used as triggers for adaptive management systems should they be breached.

Without additional information, increases in the already arguably significant cultural impact outcomes of oil sands development, alone and in combination with other cumulative effects causing agents, cannot be properly characterized let alone properly mitigated. In addition, a human environmental monitoring system is required to accurately assess the significance of adverse social impacts of oil sands development on First Nations, and the degree to which proposed compensatory economic effects actually accrue to First Nations and their members.

Appendix A identifies some of the criteria that could be integrated into the required human environmental monitoring system.

9.4 Recommended Further Work

This study was preliminary in nature and constrained by budget and time limitations. It has only scratched the surface of human environmental impact assessment in relation to the effects of oil sands development on the ACFN. Further dedicated and longer-term studies are required. The following additional is recommended in order to better understand the Project-specific and cumulative effects of oil sands development on ACFN and the community of Fort Chipewyan. While the JRP may enshrine some of these recommendations in its decision, others may need to be adopted by government, industry and ACFN in combination.

Studies on health effects of loss of country food and associated physical activity and mental health.

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Studies looking closer at the psycho-social impact loads on ACFN members and their potential adverse outcomes. Additional studies on educational and training attainment and needs among ACFN members, including assessment of functional literacy and numeracy. Workplace quality of life surveying and exit surveying for Aboriginal employees, to track satisfaction and factors around turnover rates. A study or studies examining the impacts on families, communities, youth, workers and marriages of long-distance commuting, including examination of alternative shift rotation schedules.

www.thefirelightgroup.com 144 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

10 Closure

Should there be questions or clarification required regarding this Report, please email requests to [email protected].

Signed September 29, 2012.

ORIGINAL SIGNED

Alistair MacDonald, M.A. Director, Environmental Assessment Specialist ______The Firelight Group 10827 131 Street, Edmonton, AB T: +1 (780) 488-0090 C: +1 (780) 996-5110 E: [email protected]

www.thefirelightgroup.com 145 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

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Appendix A: Potential Criteria for a Human Environmental Monitoring System for First Nations in the Oil Sands Region

The Report recommended that the Joint Review Panel include as a requirement, should the Project proceed, the development of an integrated human environmental monitoring system via an independent monitoring agency, with final terms of reference, indicators, and data collection and reporting systems to be determined through dialogue between the affected parties, Shell and responsible authorities. Annual or bi-annual self-reported well-being and quality of life surveys may be an important part of this human environmental monitoring system.

This list of potential human environmental monitoring criteria is based on analysis of previous documents such as MVRB’s (2007) Socio-economic Impact Assessment Guidelines and our experience working with Canadian Aboriginal groups. This is neither a comprehensive nor a minimum mandatory list, but rather a starting point for developing a set of indicators for a proper human environmental monitoring system to measure the well-being and quality of life among ACFN members (and potentially other First Nations and Aboriginal groups) in the RMWB.

TABLE A-1: Potential Criteria and Indicators of an Oil Sands Human Environmental Monitoring System Categories Topics for Information Gathering

Population composition (including gender, age, Demographics race, growth rates) and Education Population mobility (in- and out-migration data) Dependency ratio (essentially the ratio of how many youth and elders there are vs. working age people) Educational completion rates (high school, post- secondary, trades) Functional literacy and numeracy rates Self-reported satisfaction with educational and training completion rates Trades and college completion rates Economy Main economic activity types within the

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Categories Topics for Information Gathering community/region Labour force analysis (including labour pool analysis & identification of skill shortages and surpluses) Employment, unemployment and participation rates Preferred type of work Willingness to do shift work and work at long- distance commutes Income sources and amounts (individual and by family type; including social assistance) Average, mean, and median income (individual earner or family by type) Employment by occupation, industry affiliation Debt levels in the community Cost of living indices and expenditures by type (e.g., food, housing, travel, recreation), including comparisons to Fort McMurray and Edmonton Role of barter and sharing in local economy Factors influencing employability and desire to be in the wage economy Quality of work environment and job satisfaction levels Locally owned (including Nation-owned) business ventures – number, diversity, and success and per cent of population self-employed Degree of reliance on government service jobs, resource sector, other sectors Infrastructure Housing cost, housing conditions, ownership and structure, per cent renting, household size and Community housing appropriateness, homelessness rates Services Transportation, utilities, energy, emergency, recreation and communications infrastructure and services Current governance and service provision responsibilities www.thefirelightgroup.com 158 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

Categories Topics for Information Gathering

Access to health and social services in home community Satisfaction with health and social services (broken down) Crime and policing data Access to child care and early childhood development programs Social and protection facilities and services (access to and pressures on) Individual, Physical and mental health conditions by age and Family and sex, race Community Wellness Self-reported health status Sexually transmitted infection rates Teen pregnancy rates Lifestyle and health practices, perceptions and behaviours Diet, including per cent country food (e.g., estimated amount of current consumption and per cent of total meat intake from hunted animals) Individual and community health determinants as identified by Aboriginal groups Health care facilities and services available Wait times and need to travel for health care services Traditional medicinal practices in community and their use Family cohesion measures (e.g., per cent single parent families; divorce and separation rates) Amount of time spent with immediate and extended family Self-reporting well-being and quality of life data (via annual or bi-annual censuses), including mental and physical health status Self-reported sense of community cohesion

www.thefirelightgroup.com 159 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

Categories Topics for Information Gathering

Volunteerism rate Self-reported sense of control over one’s own future Number of, nature, and attendance at communal events Inter-generational time spent together and respect levels Education and training programs and services Injuries due to accidents Suicide rate and other metrics of self-harm Birth rate Death rate Access to and use of Aboriginal cultural programming Aboriginal language use rates Psycho-social stressors identified by community members Social dysfunction measures (e.g., levels of alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence, children in care) Time spent on the land (including sub-categories of “alone,” “with immediate family,” “with youth,” “with elders,” “community hunts”)

Per cent of households that report harvesting off the land and self-reporting of barriers to Cultural harvesting retention and continuity Faith in country food Harvesting surveys including harvest counts, distance traveled, success rates Reporting system and feedback mechanisms for observed concerns on the land County food consumption rates (by amounts, species, body parts – e.g., organs)

www.thefirelightgroup.com 160 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

Categories Topics for Information Gathering

Per cent of population working on crafts Contribution (qualitative and quantitative) of the mixed and traditional use economy (e.g., per cent of income from trapping and craftwork) Per cent of population reporting hunting, fishing or trapping Continuity of communal sharing practices (e.g., per cent of harvesters reporting sharing outside the family; per cent of elders reporting receiving country foods) Language retention rates (including fluency, conversational, and other categories Self-reported ability to travel freely on and enjoy the land Status of land alienation (growing, declining, staying the same)

www.thefirelightgroup.com 161 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

CV of Alistair MacDonald attached under separate cover

www.thefirelightgroup.com 162 ACFN Supplemental Social, Economic and Cultural Effects Submission for JPME September 2012

CV of Dr. Ginger Gibson attached under separate cover

www.thefirelightgroup.com 163

CURRICULUM VITAE

PATRICIA A. McCORMACK

Professor Emerita,Faculty of Native Studies 2-31 Pembina Hall,University of Alberta Edmonton, AlbertaT6G 2H8 Canada

Phone 780 492-7690 (university office)

Fax: 780 492-0527 (university)

E-mail

Current Adjunct Positions

Adjunct Professor, Comparative Literature Program Office of Interdisciplinary Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Alberta

Adjunct Professor, Department of Human Ecology Faculty of Agricultural, Life, and Environmental Sciences University of Alberta

Adjunct Associate Professor, Canadian Circumpolar Institute University of Alberta

Adjunct Researcher, Royal Alberta Museum

Education

1984 Ph.D. Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta Thesis: "How the (North) West Was Won: Development and Underdevelopment in the Fort Chipewyan Region"

1975 M.A. Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta Thesis: "A Model to Determine Possible Adaptive Strategies for the Aboriginal Treeline Dene"

1969 B.A. (Honors) Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta Thesis: "A Colonial Factory: Fort Chipewyan"

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Skills Overview

1. Subject interests • North American Aboriginal peoples: Aboriginal and traditional cultures and identities, cultural suppression and racism, cultural transformation/renewal, modern cultures • Subarctic and Canadian North, northwestern Plains • Canadian fur trade and Scottish workers; cultures and histories of Orkney and Lewis • Canadian history: expansion of the state and internal colonialism; political economy • Ethnohistory • Oral traditions and indigenous knowledge • Genealogy and kinship, social structure • Material culture, museology, repatriation • Discourse and representation • Gender relations

2. Research process and outcomes • Community-based research and partnership projects • Archival and museum-based research • Expert reports and courtroom testimony • Research ethics

3. Education • Adult education; course design and instruction • Evaluation of students

4. Administration • Participation on university, government, and interagency committees • Budget preparation and management • Hiring, management, and evaluation of personnel • Volunteer recruitment and management • Conference planning

5. Heritage and museums programs • Heritage preservation and interpretation; cultural resource management • Material culture research and collecting; collections management and conservation 3

• Exhibit development • Public programming

6. Media and public relations • Radio and T.V. experience • Public speaking to diverse audiences

Awards

Scholarly Awards

2012 Recollecting: Lives of Aboriginal Women of the Canadian Northwest and Borderlands (AU Press, 2011) was awarded the Canadian Historical Association prize for the best Aboriginal book in 2011 and the 2011 Best Scholarly and Academic Book of the Year by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta.

1993 Fellow of the American Anthropological Association

1969 Woodrow Wilson Fellowship

Public Awards

1993 Fort Chipewyan Historical Society, Lifetime Membership

1983 Yukon Historical and Museums Association, Honorary Life Membership

Grants

Research Grants

1998 University of Alberta: EEF Support for the Advancement of Scholarship Operating Grant (Small Faculties Research Grants Program), for “The Making of Modern Fort Chipewyan, a Contemporary Native Community,” $4,998.00. 13 May 1998.

Alberta Historical Resources Foundation, for “The Making of Modern Fort Chipewyan, a Contemporary Native Community,” $8,000.00. 18 December 1998.

1996 University of Alberta: Central Research Fund Operating Grant for "Blackfoot Traditions Project," $4,755.00.

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1989 Wenner-Gren Grant-in-Aid for "The Orcadian/Scottish Roots of Canadian Native Cultures: An Ethnohistorical Study," $8,000.00 US.

1987 Canadian Museums Association Short-Term Study Grant for "Fort Chipewyan Bicentennial Project: Research in British Collections," $1,000.00.

1985 Boreal Institute Research Grant for "The Fort Chipewyan Fur Trade Fort Chipewyan, Alberta," $4,552.50

1975 Boreal Institute Research Grant for "Native Uses of Fire in the Lake Athabasca Region"

1970, 1974-1977 University of Alberta Summer Bursaries

Travel Grants

2006 EFF Support for the Advancement of Scholarship, Travel Grant, to present a paper at the 9th North American Fur Trade Conference and 12th Rupert’s Land Colloquium, St. Louis, Mo., 24-28, 2006. Grant #A026663 for $2,000.00 awarded 9 May 2006.

2004 EFF Support for the Advancement of Scholarship (Small Faculties), Travel Grant, to present a paper at the 11th Rupert’s Land Colloquium 2004, 24-31 May 2004, Kenora, Ontario. Grant #A017639 for $1,404.00 awarded 27 April 2004.

2003 HFASSR Humanities, Fine Arts and Social Sciences Research Travel Grant, to present a paper at the American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, 5-9 Nov. 2003, Riverside, California. Grant #A014704 for $800.00 awarded 22 Sept. 2003.

2002 UFASSR Humanities, Fine Arts and Social Sciences Research Travel Grant to present a paper at the Rupert's Land Research Centre Colloquium, 9-12 April 2002, Oxford, England. Grant #G124120491 for $1,200.00 awarded 10 January 2002.

2001 EFF Support for the Advancement of Scholarship (Small Faculties) grant to present a paper at the 100th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Session, 28 Nov. - 2 Dec. 2001, Washington, D.C. Grant #G018000417 for $1,737.889 awarded 10 May 2001.

2000 SSR Conference Travel Fund grant to present a paper at “Nation Building,” British 5

Association for Canadian Studies 25th Annual Conference, 11-14 April 2000, University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Grant #G124120312 for $1,200.00 awarded 12 April 2000.

1997 Central Research Fund grant to present a paper at The Fur Trade Era: The Influence of the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade on the Development of the American West, Museum of the Mountain Man, 11-13 Sept. 1997, Pinedale, Wyoming.

1996 CRF grant to present a paper at the Sacred Lands conference, 24-26 Oct. 1996, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

1995 CRF travel grant to present a paper at the Rupert's Land Research Centre Colloquium, 1-4 June 1996, Whitehorse, Yukon.

1994 CRF travel grant to present a paper at the Western History Association 34th Annual Conference, 19-24 Oct. 1994, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Employment & Research

2012-2015 Part-time appointment at the Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta 2011-2012 Professor, Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta, awarded 17 Feb. 2011 (retired 30 June 2012) 1998-2011 Associate Professor; tenure and promotion to Associate Professor, awarded December 1997 1994-98 Assistant Professor, School of Native Studies, University of Alberta Position involved research into Aboriginal cultures, histories, and identities and dissemination of scholarship through publications of various kinds (especially peer-reviewed); development of courses with an emphasis on Aboriginal perspectives and instruction to Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students; professional contributions; university and community service.

Current research: A primary focus is a broad research program designed to study the transformation of the cultures, identities, social structures, lifeways, and material cultures of the Aboriginal peoples of northwestern Canada, with particular reference to Chipewyans, Crees, Scots-Métis, and French-Métis. Major projects underway include: “Fort Chipewyan and the Shaping of Canadian History,” with one book in press and a second in revision; a book about Thanadelthur and the early fur trade on the west coast of Hudson Bay; Chipewyan and Cree occupations of the western Lake Athabasca region, and a transatlantic study of Orcadian/Lewis connections to Canadian Native peoples and cultures.

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A secondary focus is research into traditional Blackfoot culture and history (northwestern Plains) and contemporary cultural revitalization/redefinition, its material aspects and representation in museum collections and interpretation, and the meanings of repatriation. The "Blackfoot Traditions Research Program” includes two major components: the history of Blackfoot ranching and the revitalization of Blackfoot religious traditions. The continued importance of horses is a thread that connects both projects and also relates to my personal life.

Artifact collection: I have developed and continue to build a personal collection of artifacts with two dimensions: stereotypes about Aboriginal people and contemporary Aboriginal iconography.

Adjunct Positions

2010-2013 Adjunct Professor, Comparative Literature Program, Office of Interdisciplinary Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Alberta. 1 Jan. 2010-31 Dec. 2014.

1996-present: Curator, University of Alberta Art and Artifact (Ethnographic) Collection (six Ethnology Collections: Edwards/Scully, Smith, Lord, Mason, Molly Cork Congo Collection). Part of the Multi-MIMSY Users' Group (computer-based collections database).

1995-present: Research Associate, Royal Alberta Museum (formerly, Provincial Museum of Alberta)

1990-present: Adjunct Associate Professor, Canadian Circumpolar Institute, University Alberta

Adjunct Professor, Department of Human Ecology, Faculty of Agricultural, Life, and Environmental Sciences, University of Alberta

1992-98 Adjunct Professor, Dept. of Anthropology

l99l-95 Associate Curator of Ethnology, Glenbow Museum l988-90 Adjunct Researcher, Boreal Institute for Northern Studies, University of Alberta

Other Professional Employment

2012 For Fort McKay First Nation, represented by Karin Buss (Ackroyd, Piasta, Roth & Day): an expert report about Treaty No. 8. In preparation. 7

For Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and Mikisew Cree First Nation, represented by Jay Nelson (Woodward & Company Lawyers): a review of a cultural assessment of the Jackpine Mine Expansion Project prepared by Golder Associates and preparation of a critique for submission to the Review Panel.

2011 For Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, represented by Jay Nelson and Sean Nixon (Woodward & Company Lawyers): an expert report relating to ethnohistorical issues for submission to the hearing for Shell’s proposed Jackpine Mine Expansion and new Pierre River Mine, two oil sands projects (183 pp.).

For North Slave Métis Alliance, represented by Christopher G. Devlin (Devlin Gailus, Victoria): an expert report about the ethnogenesis of the northern Métis of the Great Slave Lake area (58 pp.).

2010 For Mikisew Cree First Nation, represented by Janes Freedman Kyle Law Corporation (Vancouver & Victoria: an expert report relating to ethnohistorical issues with special reference to Treaty No. 8 and traditional territory, for a submission to the Joslyn North Mine Project Hearing, a tar sands project (88 pp.).

For a Fort Nelson First Nation family, represented by Karey M. Brooks (Janes Freedman Kyle Law Corporation, Vancouver): an expert report relating to ethnohistorical and Treaty No. 8 issues (135 pp.), along with an annotated bibliography.

2007 For Mikisew Cree First Nation, represented by Peter McMahon (Rath & Company, Calgary): genealogical consultation regarding a Treaty Eight claim, used in “Report on the Southern Territory Use and Occupancy Mapping Project,” prepared for MCFN by PACTeam Canada Inc., Sept. 2007.

2005 For Siksika Nation, represented by Clayton Leonard (MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman, Calgary): a report about historic Blackfoot territories (52 pp.).

2004 For Mikisew Cree First Nation, represented by Peter C. Graburn (Rath & Company, Calgary): an economic history of the First Nation in connection with a Treaty Eight claim (124 pp.).

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2003-2006 For Big Island Lake Cree Nation, Saskatchewan, represented by James Jodouin (Woloshyn & Company, Saskatoon): research in connection with a Treaty Six claim.

1999-2002 For Treaty 8 First Nations (Akaitcho Tribal Council, Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council, Athabasca Tribal Council, Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council), represented by Karin Ross and Elizabeth Johnson (Ackroyd, Piasta, Roth & Day, Edmonton): research about what Aboriginal peoples in the Treaty 8 region may have known about taxation when they negotiated the treaty in 1899 and 1900. In collaboration with Gordon Drever, prepared an expert report (30 April 1999; 63 pp.) and a rebuttal report (20 March 2001; 61 pp.). Served as an expert witness, summer,2001, and advised the lawyers about cross-examination of defense witnesses. Subsequently organized a conference session that included expert witnesses and lawyers from both plaintiffs and defense.

1999-present: Appraisals of Native artifacts for various clients (e.g., University of Alberta, Royal Alberta Museum, Northern Cultural Arts Museum, Motor Association Insurance Company, private individuals)

1998 For Smith's Landing First Nation, represented by Jerome Slavik (Ackroyd, Piasta, Roth & Day, Edmonton): a report on the economic history of Smith's Landing/Fort Fitzgerald for its use in a Treaty Eight claim (40 pp.).

1997 For the Métis Heritage Association of the Northwest Territories: a chapter about the history of northern Métis in relation to Treaties No. 8 and No. 11 and scrip for a book on Métis of the Mackenzie Basin.

For the Provincial Museum of Alberta: wrote the script for two units of the new Gallery of Aboriginal Peoples dealing with contemporary economic ventures and political activities.

1996-98 For Little Red River Cree Nation and Tallcree First Nation: Project Director, Cultural Resource Inventory Project. Designed project, provided training to members of four research teams (1996) and one research team (1997), and supervised the teams as they researched places of cultural significance in the traditional lands of these two First Nations. Prepared regular reports for Chiefs and Councils. Contributed to development of project software (LightHouse) and user manual and coordinated with a parallel Biophysical Inventory Project. Participated as requested in meetings with the two First Nations.

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1996 For Treaty Land Entitlement, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada: a confidential report on a northern claim that consisted of an historical analysis (57 pp.) and an annotated bibliography.

1984-94 Curator of Ethnology at the Provincial Museum of Alberta (now the Royal Alberta Museum)

Administered the Ethnology Program, a sub-unit of the museum, which involved program and policy development, budget planning and management, and personnel recruitment and management. Program activities focused on the curation of a large collection of material culture of the Aboriginal peoples of Alberta and other regions (First Nations, Métis, Inuit), documentation of Aboriginal cultures and lifeways through field and archival investigations and collection of additional artifacts, interpretation through publications, exhibits, and public programs, and cooperation with a wide range of client groups. Program responsibility was for the entire province and related regions (primarily the western Subarctic, northern Plains, and Canadian Arctic). Collecting activities emphasized contemporary materials with good documentation, although older artifacts were also acquired.

Research: Conducted research at Fort Chipewyan, Janvier, Sucker Creek, Saddle Lake, Kehewin, Blood Reserve, Peigan Reserve, Poorman Reserve, and in Scotland, especially the Orkney Islands and the Outer Hebrides. Museum and archival collections were studied in the United States, Canada, and Britain.

Major project: Initiated, coordinated, and conducted research for a special project to commemorate the Fort Chipewyan Bicentennial with a major in-house exhibit, travelling exhibit, exhibit catalogue, conference, and public programming. Served on two committees, one to plan the conference and publish proceedings and a book of referred papers, and the second to administer a special research fund for scholarly research in the Fort Chipewyan and Fort Vermilion regions. Participated in extensive fund-raising and coordinated activities with Fort Chipewyan residents. Co-edited conference proceedings (l990) and a book of refereed papers (l993). In 1993 was awarded a lifetime membership in the Fort Chipewyan Historical Society in recognition of work researching and promoting the heritage of the community.

1984 For the Friends of Jezebel, a society organized to promote tolerance and understanding of prostitutes in Edmonton: developed a research proposal on the "sex industry" in Edmonton

1983 For the Yukon Native Languages Project: prepared community study kits for Pelly Crossing, Carmacks, Burwash Landing, Destruction Bay.

1980-83 For CBC:commentaries for national and regional programs on Native and northern affairs. 10

1982 For CBC: "Homeland": 12 episode series tracing the development of the concept of Aboriginal rights and land claims in Canada. Taped for CBC Radio (Whitehorse) with broadcaster Neil Ford.

1982 For Athabasca University: developed a draft correspondence course, "Contemporary Native Issues." l98l-82 For the Yukon Educational Television Society: prepared briefs on three Yukon historical figures (Leroy Napoleon "Jack" McQuesten, William Ogilvie, and Skookum Jim, or Keish) as background information for three episodes of The Yukoners, a series of videotaped interviews between CBC broadcaster Neil Ford and the historical figure, played by a local actor.

1980-81 For Council for Yukon Indians: researcher-consultant to oral history program. Assisted in coordinating an oral history workshop for Native researchers (1981).

1979-80 For the Yukon Native Brotherhood and the University of British Columbia: developed a "Yukon Studies" course outline, which entailed a survey of literature related to all aspects of the Yukon's history and socioeconomic development. The commentary provides an overview of Yukon social, economic, political, and constitutional history, with an annotated bibliography of nearly 500 sources.

1975-76 For the Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta: General Editor of TheWestern Canadian Journal of Anthropology, a quarterly professional journal. Solicited manuscripts, edited and published several special issues as well as general issues

1971 For Keith Crowe, DIAND: research to support a history of northern Native Canadians. Included library research and fieldwork in communities in the Great Slave Lake and upper MacKenzie regions.

Expert Witness

On-going advice provided to lawyers in Alberta and Saskatchewan regarding Native cultures, lifeways, and histories related to the First Nations and Métis peoples of the Treaties No. 6, 7, 8, and 11 regions, and to alleged offenses under fisheries and wildlife legislation.

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Qualified as an expert witness in the following trials and hearings:

1986 Expert witness by way of Affidavit, in The Queen and John Piche.

20 Jan. 1986 R. vs. Donald Harvey et al. (Sturgeon Lake First Nation). Fishing regulations violation.

12 May 1986 R. v. Joe Desjarlais, William Durocher, and Dorothy Durocher (Fishing Lake Metis Settlement). Fishing regulations violation.

9 Sept. 1987 R. v. Walter Janvier and R. v. John Cardinal (Janvier First Nation). Fishing regulations violation.

14 Oct. 1988 R. v. Vic Machatis (Cold Lake First Nation). Fishing regulations violation.

2-5 Dec. 1991 R. v. Ernest Wolf (Onion Lake First Nation). Hunting regulations violation.

10-11 Sept. 1992 R. vs. Larry Littlewolfe (Onion Lake First Nation). Hunting regulations violation.

8 Feb. 1995 R. v. Angelique Janvier (Cold Lake First Nation). Hunting regulations violation.

16 Sept. 1996 R. v. Hazel Jacko et al. and R. v. Jobby Metchewais et al. (Cold Lake First Nation). Fishing regulations violation.

Summer 1997 Appeared in Edmonton, before Judge Meuwissen, with the U.S. Department of the Interior, in connection with the U.S. White Earth Lands Settlement Act.

23 May 2001 Benoit et al. v. the Queen (Treaty No. 8 First Nations). Treaty Eight litigation in federal court. Justice Douglas Campbell.

12 May 2005 Brett Janvier v. the Queen (Cold Lake First Nation). Fishing regulations violation. Judge Wheatley.

29 Sept. 2009 Betty Woodward and Mickey Cockerill and Harry Cockerill vs. Chief and Council of the Fort McMurray No. 268 First Nation (Treaty 8 First Nation). Judicial review of two cases heard concurrently concerning band membership. Federal Court Justice O’Reilly.

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Early Research and Other Activities

1978 Archival investigations in Edmonton (Provincial Archives), Ottawa (Public Archives of Canada), and Fort Smith (Archives of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate; Archives of the Bishop)

1977-78 Community research in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta

1975-76 Fieldwork on Native uses of fire as an habitat management tool in the Lake Athabasca region (Fort Chipewyan and Black Lake).

1970 Research in the Hudson's Bay Company archival collection in the Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa

1968 Alberta Service Corps, Fort Chipewyan, Alberta: conducted community service projects.

1967 Ward Aide, Charles Camsell Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta.

1966 Nurse Aide, Delaware General Hospital, Wilmington, Delaware.

University Administration and Service

University Committees

2012 Member of the University Writing Committee

2011-13 Member of the Panel of Chairs of the University Appeal Board (1 July 2011-30 June 2013)

2009-12 General Faculties Council representative for the Faculty of Native Studies (24 Nov. 2009-30 June 2012)

2009 Association for Academic Staff, University of Alberta representative for faculty members at the Faculty of Native Studies

2005-11 Faculty member on GFC Academic Appeals Committee

2001-09 University Committee on Human Research Ethics (UCHRE)

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2003-present Council for the Interdisciplinary Program in Religious Studies (formerly, Religious Studies Advisory Council), University of Alberta

1997-present Multi MIMSY Users' Group (University curators)

2003-04 General Faculties Council representative for the School of Native Studies

2003-04 Henry Marshall Tory Selection Committee

2002-03, 1997 Selection Committees, Director of the School of Native Studies

2003-06, 1997-2000 Association for Academic Staff, University of Alberta, for faculty members at the School of Native Studies

1995-98 General Faculties Council Special Sessions Committee, University of Alberta, 1 July 1995 - 30 June 1998

Faculty of Native Studies

2011-12 Member, Faculty Evaluation Committee

2009-12 AASUA representative

2009-12 Member, Academic Affairs Committee

2010 Member, Budget Benchmarks Working Group

2006-09 Chair, Faculty Evaluation Committee

2007-09 Ad hoc Curriculum Review Committee

2007-08 Ad hoc committee to coordinate NS210 and NS211

2006-present Research Methods and Theory Undergraduate Curriculum Working Group

2003-2007 Acting Dean in the Dean’s absence, upon request (originally appointed 3 Dec.2003), until Associate Deans appointed

1996-99, 2003-04 Selection Committees for faculty positions

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1994-present Faculty of Native Studies Council

1999-2006, 2007-09 Chair, Research Ethics Board

2007 Member, Research Ethics Board

1996-2000 School of Native Studies Executive Committee

1997-99 Committee on Retention and Support

Other University Involvement

l990 Department of Textiles and Clothing, University of Alberta: participated in developing new departmental material cultural focus

Teaching Positions

University of Alberta 2012-2015 Part-time appointment, Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta 2011-2012 Professor, Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta 1998-2011 Associate Professor, Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta 1994-1997 Assistant Professor, School of Native Studies, University of Alberta l972-76, l978, 1984-89, l993, 1994 Sessional Lecturer/Instructor (Anthropology,Canadian Studies, Geography)

Sessional Lecturer/Instructor: other institutions l993 University of Idaho 1984 Grant MacEwan Community College at Alexis Reserve 1979-83 Yukon Campus, Whitehorse, for the University of British Columbia (from l979-8l, Yukon Teacher Education Program) l979, 1983 Athabasca University at Blue Quills Native Education Centre, St. Paul, Alberta

Graduate Teaching Assistantships l970-71, 1973-75 Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta

For Parks Canada 1995 Developed and delivered a curriculum package on "Partnerships and the Parks Canada Cultural Resource Management Policy" for a Cultural Resource Management Orientation Course, held in Haines Junction, Yukon, 19-21 Oct. 1995. 15

For the Alberta Government 1993 Insights toward Understanding Contemporary Aboriginal Cultures. Developed with Art Sciorra for instruction to forestry service staff from Alberta, B.C., and the N.W.T., at the Forest Technology School, Hinton, Alberta, 25 October l993.

Understanding Contemporary Aboriginal Issues and Working with Aboriginal Cultures and Communities. Developed with Art Sciorra for instruction to senior managers, Department of Environmental Protection, Lands and Wildlife Division, 13-14 May l993.

Courses Offered An asterisk [*] denotes the development of a new course.

University of Alberta

Faculty of Native Studies 100 Introduction to Native Studies 110 Historical Perspectives in Native Studies 210 Native Issues and Insights I (Issues in Native History) 300* Traditional Cultural Foundations I 330* Native Economic Development 335* Native People and the Fur Trade 355* Oral Traditions and Indigenous Knowledge 361* Challenging Racism and Stereotypes 376* Native Demography and Disease 380* Selected Topics in Native Studies • Oral Traditions and Indigenous Knowledge (became NS355) • Traditional Cultural Foundations (became NS300 and paved the way for NS361) • Native Material Culture • Challenging Racism and Stereotypes (became NS361) 390 Community Research Methods 390* Research Methods in Native Studies (new course in 2008) 400* Traditional Cultural Foundations II 403* Selected Topics in Native Studies • Aboriginal Origins; Traditional Cultural Foundations II (became NS400) • Native Demography and Disease (became NS376) • Alternative Voices: Reading Narratives of Contact (also offered as NS503) 480* Métis/Indian/Inuit Issues Seminar: Treaty No. 8 and Métis Scrip (1999) 490* Community-Based Research 499* Research Project 16

503 Directed Readings in Native Studies 520* Honors Seminar

Anthropology 202 Man and Culture 210* Sex, Society, and the Individual 282* Canadian Issues in Ethnographic Perspective 306 Introduction to Prehistory 346 Circumpolar Peoples 350 North American Indians 355 Contemporary Canadian Indians 410* Sex and Status in Comparative Perspective

Canadian Studies 402* Canada's North: The Human Dimension 302* Canada’s North: The Human Dimension

Geography 446 Northern Human Geography

Human Ecology 238 Material Culture

University of Idaho History 404-504: Anthropologist on teaching team for a course about Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce War

University of British Columbia (in Whitehorse, at Yukon College) Anthro/Soc 100* : Elementary Problems in Anthropological and Sociological Analysis 200* Introduction to Social Organization 201* Ethnic Relations 329* Indians and Eskimos of Canada

Athabasca University Anthro 207 Introductory Anthropology 326* Contemporary Native Issues

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Graduate and Honours Supervision

Graduate Supervision

University of Alberta: The Faculty of Native Studies has just begun a M.A. program, with the first students accepted for fall 2012. However, I have been formally involved with 18 graduate students at the University of Alberta, 8 at the Ph.D. level and 10 at the Master's level, serving on supervisory committees and as an external examiner for candidacy exams and dissertation defenses in the following faculties (departments in parentheses): Agriculture, Forestry, and Home Economics (Human Ecology), Arts (Anthropology, Comparative Literature, English, History, Human Geography, Political Science), Education (Educational Policy Studies), Physical Education and Recreation (Recreation, Sport, and Tourism), Science (Biology), and Business.

External committee member for: M.A. in Design at the University of Calgary

External examiner for: • M.A. defense in Anthropology at the University of Lethbridge • Ph.D. defense in History at Carleton University • Ph.D. defense in History at the University of Manitoba

Honours Supervision

1998-99 The School of Native Studies initiated an Honours Program and accepted its first honors students - a class of four - in September 1998. I supervised the first year of this program and developed a draft Honours Program guide.

1998-2010 NS Honours student supervision (11 in total)

2002-03 Supervised one honours student for the Department of Anthropology

Publications, Exhibits, Papers, Conference Development

Refereed Publications

2012 “A world we have lost”: the plural society of Fort Chipewyan. In Robin Jarvis Brownlie and Valerie J. Korinek, eds., Finding a Way to the Heart. Feminist Writings on Aboriginal and Women’s History in Canada. Pp. 146-169. Winnipeg, MB: University of Manitoba Press.

2011 Recollecting: Lives of Aboriginal Women of the Canadian Northwest and the U.S. Borderlands. Edited jointly with Sarah Carter, with a jointly written introduction, “Lifelines,” (pp. 5-25). Athabasca, AB: Athabasca University Press. Includes 18

my own article: “Lost women: Native wives in Orkney and Lewis” (pp. 61-88). Awarded the Canadian Historical Association prize for the best Aboriginal book in 2011 and the 2011 Best Scholarly and Academic Book of the Year by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. Short listed for the 2011 Margaret McWilliams Award in Scholarly History (Manitoba Historical Society).

2010 Fort Chipewyan and the Shaping of Canadian History, 1788-1920s: We like to be free in this country. Vancouver: UBC Press.

2007 Visioning Thanadelthur: shaping a Canadian icon. Manitoba History. No. 55:2-6. June 2007.

2005 Competing narratives: barriers between Indigenous peoples and the Canadian state. In Duane Champagne, Karen Jo Torjesen, and Susan Steiner, eds., Indigenous Peoples and the Modern State. Pp. 109-120. Walnut Creek, Calif.: AltaMira Press.

2003 The many faces of Thanadelthur: documents, stories, and images. In Jennifer S. H. Brown and Elizabeth Vibert, eds., Reading Beyond Words: Contexts for Native History. 2nd ed. Pp. 329-364. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Press.

2000 Overcoming the differences of treaty and scrip: the Community Development Program in Fort Chipewyan. In Duff Crerar and Jaroslav Petryshyn, eds., Treaty 8 Revisited: Selected Papers on the 1999 Centennial Conference. Lobstick. 1(1):277-295.

1999 Securing Northern Futures: Developing Research Partnerships. Co-editor with D. Wall, M.M.R. Freeman, M. Payne, E. E. Wein, and R. W. Wein. Edmonton: Canadian Circumpolar Institute Press, University of Alberta.

1998 Native homelands as cultural landscapes: decentering the wilderness paradigm. In Jill Oakes, Rick Riewe, and Kathi Kinew, eds., Sacred Lands: Claims, Conflicts and Resolutions. Pp. 25-32. Occasional Publication No. 43. Edmonton: Canadian Circumpolar Institute, University of Alberta.

Northern Métis and the treaties. In Picking Up the Threads; Métis History in the Mackenzie Basin. Pp. 171-201. Yellowknife, Métis Heritage Association of the Northwest Territories.

1996 The Canol project at Fort Chipewyan. In Bob Hesketh, ed., Three Northern Wartime Projects. Pp. 183-199. CCI Occasional Publication No. 38. Edmonton: Canadian Circumpolar Institute, University of Alberta, and Edmonton & District Historical Society.

1994 Linking bush and town: the mixed economy of the Aboriginal peoples of Fort 19

Chipewyan. In Proceedings of the 8th International Abashiri Symposium on Peoples and Cultures of the Boreal Forest. Pp. 21-33. Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples, Abashiri City, Hokkaido, Japan.

l993 Romancing the northwest as prescriptive history: Fort Chipewyan and the northern expansion of the Canadian state. In Patricia A. McCormack and R. Geoffrey Ironside, eds., The Uncovered Past: Roots of Northern Alberta Societies. Pp. 89-104. Circumpolar Research Series No. 3. Edmonton: Canadian Circumpolar Institute, University of Alberta.

Co-editor with R. Geoffrey Ironside. The Uncovered Past: Roots of Northern Alberta Societies. Includes the "Introduction" and "Conclusion." Circumpolar Research Series No. 3. Edmonton: Canadian Circumpolar Institute, University of Alberta.

Images of the buffalo in the collection of the Provincial Museum of Alberta. Alberta. 3(2):37-43. With Ruth McConnell. l992 The political economy of bison management in Wood Buffalo National Park. Arctic. 45(4):367-380. Nominated for the Eleanor B. Leacock award.

The Ethnology Oblate Collection at the Provincial Museum of Alberta. Western Oblate Studies 2. Pp. 231-236. Queenston, Ont.: The Edwin Mellen Press. With Ruth McConnell.

Editor: Prairie Forum. Vol. l7, no. 2. Special issue on Aboriginal peoples.

l991 "That's a piece of junk": issues in contemporary subarctic collecting. Arctic Anthropology. 28(l):124-137.

l989 Chipewyans turn Cree: governmental and structural factors in ethnic processes. In K. S. Coates and W. R. Morrison, eds., For Purposes of Dominion: Essays in Honour of Morris Zaslow. Pp. 125-138. North York, Ont.: Captus Press.

Working with the community: a dialectical approach to exhibit development. Alberta Museums Review. 14(2):4-8. l987 Fort Chipewyan and the Great Depression. Canadian Issues. 8:69-92.

1986 The Yukon. In R.B. Byers, ed., Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs l983. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

1985 The Yukon. In R.B. Byers, ed., Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs 1982. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

1984 Becoming trappers: the transformation to a fur trade mode of production at Fort 20

Chipewyan. In Rendezvous, Selected Papers of the Fourth North American Fur Trade Conference, 1981. Pp. 155-173. St. Paul, Minnesota: North American Fur Trade Conference.

Accepted (refereed)

Evolving accommodations: the sled dog in the Canadian fur trade. For publication at the Université de Valenciennes, France.

In Preparation (will be refereed)

Deconstructing Canadian subarctic grasslands.

Transatlantic rhythms: To the far Nor’Wast and back again. Submitted for a book to be published by McGill-Queen’s Press.

Other Publications (non-refereed)

2010 Popularizing contact: Thanadelthur, the Sacagawea of the North. In Papers of the Rupert’s Land Colloquium 2010. Pp. 409-416. Compiled by David Malaher; edited by Anne Lindsay and Jennifer Ching. Winnipeg: The Centre for Rupert’s Land Studies at the University of Winnipeg. 2004 Telling the story of Canada: the roles of the fur trade. In Selected Papers of Rupert's Land Colloquium 2004. David G. Malaher, compiler. Pp. 473-482. Winnipeg: Centre for Rupert's Land Studies, University of Winnipeg.

2002 Introduction: “A promise by any other name....” Treaty No. 8 and taxation. P. 283. With Gordon Drever. Imposing tax: taxation in the Northwest Territories and Aboriginal fears in the Treaty Eight region. In David G. Malaher, compiler, Selected Papers of Rupert's Land Colloquium 2002. Pp. 309-315. Winnipeg: Centre for Rupert's Land Studies, University of Winnipeg.

2001 Genealogical studies in community-based research. Proceedings, Canadian Indigenous/Native Studies Association Annual Conference. CD ROM.

1996 The Athabasca influenza epidemic of 1835. Issues in the North. CCI Occasional Publication No. 40. Pp. 33-42. Edmonton: Canadian Circumpolar Institute, University of Alberta.

1995 Revision of the entry on "Chipewyan" for the Canadian Encyclopedia, originally written by James G. E. Smith (deceased); revised version carries both names as co-authors.

1993 Living Cultures: The Aboriginal Peoples of Alberta. Exhibit catalogue. Hokkaido, Japan: Historical Museum of Hokkaido.

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Editor: Soapstone and Seedbeads: Arts and Crafts at the Charles Camsell Hospital, by Annalisa Staples and Ruth McConnell. Provincial Museum of Alberta Special Publication No. 7. Edmonton: Provincial Museum of Alberta.

l990 Government comes to Fort Chipewyan: expansion of the state into the heart of the fur trade country. In Patricia A. McCormack and R. Geoffrey Ironside, eds., Fort Chipewyan-Fort Vermilion Bicentennial Conference Proceedings. Pp. 133-137. Edmonton: Boreal Institute for Northern Studies.

Co-editor with R. Geoffrey Ironside. Proceedings of the Fort Chipewyan and Fort Vermilion Bicentennial Conference. Edmonton: Boreal Institute for Northern Studies.

A survey of the Scriver Blackfoot collection. In Philip H. R. Stepney and David J. Goa, eds., The Scriver Blackfoot Collection: Repatriation of Canada's Heritage. Pp. 105-134. Edmonton: Provincial Museum of Alberta. With Karen Robbins. l988 Northwind Dreaming: Fort Chipewyan l788-l988. Exhibit catalogue. Provincial Museum of Alberta Special Publication No. 6. Edmonton: Provincial Museum of Alberta.

1981-82 Newsletters of the Yukon Historical and Museums Association, nos. 8-11.

1977 Introduction. The Western Canadian Journal of Anthropology. 7(1):1-14. Special issue: Environmental Manipulation, P. McCormack, ed.

1976 Introduction. The Western Canadian Journal of Anthropology. 6(3):1-7. Special issue: Native Peoples: Cross-Sex Relations, P. McCormack, ed.

"Big Man" on the steppes: social causes for economic transformations. Abstract in the AMQUA Fourth Biennial Conference abstract Volume.

1975 A theoretical approach to northeastern Dene archaeology. The Western Canadian Journal of Anthropology. 5(3,4):187-229. Special issue: Athapaskan Archaeology, D. Hudson and D. Derry, eds.

Book and Film Reviews

2011-12 Ron Scollon, This is What They Say. Stories by François Mandeville. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2009. BC Studies. No. 172:136-37. Winter 2011-12.

2006 Betty Bastien, Blackfoot Ways of Knowing: The Worldview of the Siksikaitsitapi. Calgary, Alberta, University of Calgary Press, 2004. Great Plains Quarterly. 26(2):134-5.

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2004 Celeste Ray, Highland Heritage. Scottish Americans in the American South. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 2001. American Anthropologist. 106(3):631-2.

1998 Flora Beardy and Robert Coutts, editors and compilers, Voices from Hudson Bay. Cree Stories from York Factory. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1996. Vol. 5 in the Rupert's Land Record Society Series. Manitoba History. No. 35 (Spring/Summer):25-26.

Julie Cruikshank, The Social Life of Stories. Narrative and Knowledge in the Yukon Territory. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. American Indian Quarterly. 22(4):499-500.

Katherine Pettipas, Severing the Ties that Bind. Government Repression of Indigenous Religious Ceremonies on the Prairies. Winnipeg: The University of Manitoba Press, 1994. Canadian Ethnic Studies. 30(2):161-2.

1997 Clark Wissler and D.C. Duvall, Mythology of the Blackfoot Indians. Introduction to the Bison Book Edition by Alice Beck Kehoe. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1995. The Canadian Journal of Native Studies.

1995 Kerry Abel, Drum Songs: Glimpses of Dene History. The Canadian Journal of Native Studies. 14(2):395-398.

David V. Burley, John D. Brandon, and Gayle A. Horsfall, Structural Considerations of Metis Ethnicity: An Archaeological, Architectural, and Historical Study. The Canadian Historical Review. Pp. 692-694.

Peter Iverson, When Indians Became Cowboys: Native Peoples and Cattle Ranching in the American West. The Journal of American History. 82(3):1239-1240.

Jocelyn Riley, Mountain Wolf Woman: 1884-1960 and Her Mother Before Her: Women's Stories of their Mothers and Grandmothers. The Public Historian. With William R. Swagerty. 18(4):148-149. [Film review]

1994 Lynda Shorten, Without Reserve. Great Plains Quarterly. 14(3):221-2.

Michael Ames, Cannibal Tours and Glass Boxes. The Anthropology of Museums. Alberta Museums Review. 20(2):42.

1993 Terry Garvin, Bush Land People. Arctic. Vol. 46, no. 4:367-8.

James W. VanStone, Material Culture of the Blackfoot (Blood) Indians of Southern Alberta. Museum Anthropology. 17(3):72-73. 23

1992 Kerry Abel and Jean Friesen, eds., Aboriginal Resource Use in Canada: Historical and Legal Aspects. Manitoba History. No. 24:45-46.

Arthur J. Ray, The Canadian Fur Trade in the Industrial Age. The Western Historical Quarterly. 25(2):237-239. l986 The Great Buffalo Saga. The Canadian Field-Naturalist. 100(3):398-399. [Film review] Robert G. McCandless, Yukon Wildlife: A Social History. Archivaria. 22:209-12.

1985 Julie Cruikshank, The Stolen Woman: Female Journeys in Tagish and Tutchone Narrative. The American Indian Quarterly. 9(1):115-6.

Shepard Krech III, The Subarctic Fur Trade: Native Social and Economic Adaptations. Canadian Ethnic Studies. l7(3):135-137.

1982 Sylvia Van Kirk, "Many Tender Ties": Women in Fur Trade Society, 1670-1870. Resources for Feminist Research. 11(3):313.

1979 Rene Fumoleau, As Long as this Land Shall Last. Canadian Ethnic Studies. 11(1):174-175.

Exhibits

2001 Muse Project (with Lisa Barty). A teaching exhibit in the foyer of the Education Building featuring Blackfoot and Inuit artifacts. In cooperation with Museums and Collections Services. Designed by Kevin Zak and Bernd Hildebrandt.

1999 Treaty No. 8 and the Northern Collecting of Dr. O. C. Edwards 500 square foot centennial commemoration exhibit developed in cooperation with NS480 students. Designed by Bernd Hildebrandt. School of Native Studies and Museums and Collections Services, University of Alberta.

1997 Script for portions of The Syncrude Gallery of Aboriginal Culture, Provincial Museum of Alberta: "For Every Three Families, One Plow and One Harrow" (Native farming and ranching, with Rhonda Delorme) and units on Economic Ventures and Political Activity.

1994 Storyline for the ethnology portion of The Syncrude Gallery of Aboriginal Culture: a new permanent gallery (9,500 square feet). Developed with Ruth McConnell, Assistant Curator of Ethnology, in consultation with other museum staff and a Native Advisory Committee.

1993 "In All their Finery": A Legacy from the Past 1,000 square foot exhibit featuring aesthetically distinctive, older items made by 24

Aboriginal peoples of the northwestern Plains and western Subarctic; the first phase of a new permanent gallery. Designed by Bryan McMullen.

Aboriginal Peoples of Alberta Large traveling exhibit and catalogue developed for the Historical Museum of Hokkaido. Designed by Virginia Penny.

1992 Gateway from the North: The Charles Camsell Hospital Collection One case display featuring "arts and crafts" from the Camsell Collection (with catalogue); circulated to other venues in Edmonton l992-93. Designed by Bill Gordon. l990 Kayasayawina Ka Wapahtihitohk: To Show the Old Things 500 square foot exhibit of artifacts showing the diversity of the collection and of the Aboriginal peoples of Alberta. Designed by Paul Beier. (The exhibit became part of the Royal Alberta Museum Syncrude Gallery of Aboriginal Culture)

Clothing of the Northern Plains Three-case display for Head-Smashed-In Historic Site. Designed by Bill Gordon.

l989 Northwind Dreaming: Fort Chipewyan l788-l988 500 square foot traveling exhibit, for venues in Alberta, NWT, Yukon, B.C., Sask., and Manitoba, l990-94. Designed by Vic Clapp.

l989 Dr. Robert Bell: Geologist and Collection One case display.

l989 Douglas Light Collection Temporary display prepared for the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation.

l988 Northwind Dreaming: Fort Chipewyan l788-l988 3,000 square feet feature exhibit commemorating the bicentennial of the founding of Fort Chipewyan, Alberta's oldest, permanently occupied community, and celebrating the lives of the Indian, Métis, and non-Native peoples who have made their homes there for 200 years and longer. Developed in collaboration with community residents. Contained over 400 artifacts, many borrowed from collections in Canada, U.S., and Scotland. Designed by Vic Clapp. l987 Indian Tipis One case traveling display, for the library case circuit. Designed by Julian West. l986 Trapping in Transition: Native Trapping in Northern Alberta l,000 square feet exhibit depicting the roles of trapping in Aboriginal economies in northern Alberta in the years before World War II and in the present. Designed by 25

Shelby Craigen. l985 Rigging the Chiefs 500 square feet exhibit depicting historical relations between Indians and non-Indians mediated through the giving of gifts. Cases show the fur trade, treaty, and modern eras. Designed by Julian West. Métis Artifacts Temporary display. Native Games One case traveling display, for the library case circuit. Indian Dolls One case display.

Papers

2011 The invisible parkland: rethinking the plains and subarctic culture areas. Updated paper with PowerPoint slides presented at the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, 19 - 21 May 2011, Sacramento, California.

Defining the scope of assessment: traditional territories of indigenous people. Presented at the Impact Assessment International Association 2011 conference, Puebla, Mexico, 31 May - 3 June 2011 (with PowerPoint slides).

Lewismen and Aboriginal people of the Canadian Northwest - the Talamh Fuar. Prepared for the Celts in the Americas Conference, 29 June - 2 July 2011, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

2010 Evolving accommodations: the sled dog in the Canadian fur trade. Revised from a paper presented in 2009 and presented as an invited luncheon talk at the Rupert’s Land Colloquium, 19-22 May 2010, Winnipeg (estimated attendance: 130+).

Popularizing contact: Thanadelthur, the Sacagawea of the north. Revised and presented in “Performances and Representations,” at the 2010 Rupert’s Land Colloquium, 19-22 May 2010, Winnipeg.

Transatlantic rhythms: to the far Nor’Wast and back again. Invited keynote talk for an international conference sponsored by the University of Aberdeen, University of Guelph, and St. Michael’s College. Held at the University of Toronto and University of Guelph, 10-12 June 2010.

2009 Ethical requirements: how far is too far? Going overboard to satisfy university risk management. Invited for “Practical Problems and Pragmatic Solutions in Conducting Ethical Research,” sponsored by the Native History Group of the CHA, 88th Annual General Meeting, Canadian Historical Association, Ottawa, 25 May 2009.

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Rethinking the Blackfoot and the fur trade of the northern Plains. Invited for the Fourth International Fur Trade Symposium, Fort Whoop-Up National Historic Site, Lethbridge, AB, 9-13 September 2009.

James Thomson and his fur trade wives: fur trade reality or the soap opera of Fort Chipewyan? Invited paper for a session at Ethnohistory, 30 Sept.- 4 Oct. 2009, New Orleans, Louisiana.

The racialization of traditional knowledge. Invited for the Cumulative Environmental Management Association (CEMA) TEK 2009 Coaching Workshop, “Perspectives into Practice.” 28 October 2009, Fort McMurray, AB.

Evolving accommodations: the sled dog in the Canadian fur trade. Third International meeting of the conference series, “Des bêtes et des hommes”: “Une bête parmi les hommes: le chien.” Université de Valenciennes, France, 5-6 November 2009.

2008 Down the Fond du Lac River with David Thompson. Prepared for the 13th Rupert’s Land Colloquium, Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, 14-16 May 2008.

The invisible parkland: rethinking the Plains and Subarctic culture areas. Presented at The West and Beyond: Historians Past, Present, Future, University of Alberta, 19-21 June 2008.

2007 Tipi dweller: all the comforts of home. Invited paper prepared for Domestic Space, Domestic Practice: Exploring the Materiality of Home, the inaugural symposium of the Material Culture Institute, University of Alberta, 20 April 2007.

“A world we have lost”: the plural society of Fort Chipewyan. Presented as part of “Many Tender Ties: A Forum in Honour of Sylvia Van Kirk,” for Canadian Historic Association, 28-30 May 2007, Saskatoon, SK.

Deconstructing Canadian subarctic grasslands. Presented as part of “Grassland Construction, Deconstruction, and Reconstruction: Global Perspectives,” a session at the European Environmental History Conference, Amsterdam, 5-9 June 2007.

Telling the story of Canada: the roles of the fur trade. Presented at “Research as Resistance,” a symposium organized by the Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta, 22-24 August 2007. Revised paper based on paper delivered in 2004 at the Rupert’s Land Conference.

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Building a new society in western Canada: the world of the early fur trade. Invited paper for David Thompson: New Perspectives, New Knowledge, a symposium organized by the Glenbow Museum, 26-27 Oct. 2007.

Lost women: Native wives in Orkney and Lewis. Presented as part of “Negotiating Identities: Aboriginal Women’s Stories of Northwestern America,” a session for the American Society for Ethnohistory annual conference, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 7-10 Nov. 2007.

2006 The government foot in the door: beginnings of state regulation in the Fort Chipewyan-Fort Smith Region. The 9th North American Fur Trade Conference and 12th Rupert’s Land Colloquium, St. Louis, Mo., 24-28 May 2006. (Earlier version presented at the School of Native Studies Annual Research Day, University of Alberta, 1 April 2005.)

Visioning Thanadelthur. The American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1-4 Nov. 2006.

2005 Building national history: how should we talk about Canada’s past? Presentation for “Philosophers Café,” University of Alberta Office of Public Affairs, 3 Dec. 2005.

2004 Telling the story of Canada: the roles of the fur trade. Rupert’s Land Studies Colloquium 2004. Kenora, Ontario, 24-30 May 2004.

2003-05 The narratives at the heart: stereotypes and stories about Aboriginal peoples and their place in Canadian history. With slides and artifacts. Greater Edmonton Teachers' Convention Association, Edmonton. Feb. 28, 2003. Revised for the Bonnyville Support Staff Conference, Bonnyville, 13 Feb. 2004 and 18 Feb. 2005.

2003 British identities and Canadian Aboriginal identities: evolving in tandem. British World Conference II, British Identities, University of Calgary, 10-12 July 2003.

Popularizing contact: Thanadelthur, the Sacagawea of the North. American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, Riverside, California, 5-9 Nov. 2003.

2002 Popularizing contact: the many faces of Thanadelthur. Presented at Worlds in Collision: Critically Analyzing Aboriginal and European Contact Narratives, a colloquium at Dunsmuir Lodge, University of Victoria, B.C., 22-23 Feb. 2002.

Competing Narratives: Barriers between Indigenous Peoples and the Canadian State. Indigenous Peoples and the Modern State, Claremont Graduate University, California, 5-7 April 2002. This paper was revised for a conference proceedings. A revised version was presented as an invited keynote address at Re-Visioning Canada Workshop: Integrating the History of 28

Aboriginal/Non-Aboriginal Relations, University of Toronto, 27-28 Sept. 2002.

Imposing tax: taxation in the Northwest Territories and Aboriginal fears in the Treaty Eight region. Co-authored with Gordon Drever. Presented as part of “'A promise by any other name...': Treaty No. 8 and Taxation,” at the 10th Rupert's Land Colloquium, 9-12 April 2002, Mansfield College, University of Oxford.

Deconstructing Barbie! A popular lecture invited by the University of Alberta Museums and Collections Service, delivered 10 Feb. 2002.

2001 Expanding the boundaries: studying Dene kinship. Presented as part of “Dene Kinship and Ethnohistory,” at the 100th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropology Association, 28 Nov. - 2 Dec. 2001, Washington, D.C.

2000 Scenes from an exhibit: “From the Far North”: Treaty No. 8 and the northern collecting of Dr. O. C. Edwards. A curatorial lecture invited by the Friends of the University of Alberta Museums, 23 Jan. 2000.

Canadian nation-building: a pretty name for internal colonialism. Presented at Nation Building, British Association for Canadian Studies 25th Annual Conference, 11-14 April 2000, University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Presentation as part of a panel, “Representing Aboriginal Histories and Cultures at Historic Sites and Museums.” Canadian Indigenous/Native Studies Association Annual Meeting and Conference, 28-31 May 2000, Edmonton. Co-presenters were Flora Beardy, Robert Coutts, and Michael Payne.

Genealogical studies in community-based research. Presented at the Canadian Indigenous/Native Studies Association Annual Conference, as part of a session on “Genealogical Research and Methods,” 29-31 May 2000, Edmonton.

1999 Overcoming the differences between treaty and scrip. For the 1899 Centennial Conference, a conference in commemoration of the initial signing of Treaty No. 8 and the distribution of scrip in 1899, Grouard, Alberta, 17-19 June 1999.

Treaty No. 8 and issues of taxation. Co-authored with Gordon Drever. Prepared for Akaitcho Tribal Council, Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council, Athabasca Tribal Council, and Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council, 30 April 1999. (Expert report)

1998 Smith's Landing/Fort Fitzgerald: an economic history. Prepared for the Smith's Landing First Nation, 23 October 1998.

Building partnerships: Canadian museums, Aboriginal peoples, and the spirit and intent of the Task Force on Museums and First Peoples. With Arthur J. Sciorra. 29

For the annual meeting of the Canadian Association for the Conservation of Cultural Property, Whitehorse, Yukon, 29-31 May 1998.

Northern Métis, Treaties No. 8 and No. 11, and the issuance of scrip. For the Rupert's Land Colloquium 1998, Winnipeg, 4-7 June 1998.

The communities: after European contact. Description of the human communities of the Wood Buffalo National Park region, for a handbook about the park, edited by Ross Wein. (Accepted for the handbook, which was never completed.)

1997 From buffalo to beef: the emergence of a Blackfoot cattle industry. For The Fur Trade Era: The Influence of the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade on the Development of the American West, Museum of the Mountain Man, Pinedale, Wyoming, 11-13 Sept. 1997.

1996 Orkneymen and Lewismen: distinctive cultures and identities in the Canadian fur trade. For Scots and Aboriginal Culture, a Scottish Studies Colloquium, University of Guelph, 22-24 March 1996. A revised version was given at the Rupert's Land Research Centre Colloquium, Whitehorse, 1-4 June 1996.

Native homelands as cultural landscapes: decentering the wilderness paradigm. For the Sacred Lands conference, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, 24-26 Oct. 1996.

1995 The invisible parkland: rethinking the Plains and Subarctic culture areas. For the 53rd Plains Anthropological Conference, Laramie, Wyoming, 18-21 Oct. 1995.

Native peoples and cultural renewal. For Managing Change: Drawing on the Dynamics of Cultural Traditions, a session developed by Anne M. Lambert and Patricia A. McCormack as part of the Canadian Home Economics Conference, Beyond Tradition, Edmonton, 9-11 July 1995.

1994 James and Isabella Thomson: a Lewis family in the Canadian fur trade. For the Sixth Biennial Rupert's Land Research Centre Colloquium, Edmonton, 25-27 May l994.

The smokescreen of technology: the mixed economy of Fort Chipewyan and the persistence of Aboriginal cultures. For the School of Native Studies, 21 Jan. 1994.

The invisible parkland: ethnohistoric considerations. For Diversity on your Doorstep, a program presented by the Beaver Hills Ecological Network, as part of 30

the Beaverhills Lake-Fall Migration Celebration, Tofield, Alberta, 24 Sept. 1994.

Peigan horse traditions and ranching: persistence and change in Peigan cultural patterns. With Willard Yellowface. For the Plains Indian Seminar at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming, 30 Sept. - 2 Oct. 1994.

The Indian trade of the northern Rockies as reflected in the collections of the Provincial Museum of Alberta and the Glenbow. For the Western History Association Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 20-23 Oct. 1994.

The Athabasca influenza epidemic of 1835. For the Chacmool Conference, Calgary, 10-13 Nov. 1994. Revised version delivered 24 Jan. 1995, as part of the Issues in the North lectures series, sponsored by the Canadian Circumpolar Institute.

1993 Linking bush and town: the mixed economy of the Aboriginal peoples of Fort Chipewyan. For the 8th International Abashiri Symposium on Peoples and Cultures of the North, Peoples and Cultures of the Boreal Forest, Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples, Abashiri City, Hokkaido, Japan, 11-12 Nov. l993. l992 The bison of Wood Buffalo National Park and their future. For the Sierra Club of Alberta, Calgary, 8 Jan. l992.

Bringing home wives. Native Hudson's Bay families in Orkney, Scotland. For the Department of History, University of Winnipeg, 5 Feb. l992.

The expansion of the state into the Fort Chipewyan region. For a Department of Geography Colloquium, University of Alberta, 31 Jan. 1992 and a Department of History Graduate Seminar, University of Winnipeg, 5 Feb. l992. Two solitudes: museum displays and Indians in the fur trade. For a session, “Inventing Fur Trade Traditions,” organized by Patricia A. McCormack and Robert Coutts, for the Fifth Biennial Rupert's Land Colloquium, Winnipeg, 6-9 Feb. l992.

Indian cowboys: mythologies of the west and museum collecting. For a Department of Textiles and Clothing class in the History of Native Clothing, University of Alberta, 18 Feb. l992.

The Canol Pipeline and northern Alberta. For the Alaska Highway Conference, Edmonton, 5-6 June l992.

Native trapping in northern Alberta. For a seminar at the Glenbow Museum in conjunction with the exhibit Trapline Lifeline, Calgary, 13 June l992.

Alexander Mackenzie, the Scot. For Ten Great Days, a celebration of Alexander 31

Mackenzie's arrival at Peace River in l792, Peace River, Alberta, 30-31 Aug. l992.

The Blackfoot and the fur trade. For Meet Me on the Green: The Rocky Mountain Fur Trade, a symposium organized by the Museum of the Mountain Man, Pinedale, Wyoming, 10-12 Sept. l992.

Perceptions of place: Natives and Europeans of the fur trade era. For the Alberta Museums Association Conference, Medicine Hat, Alberta, 29-31 Oct. l992.

Expanding state regulatory systems and their impacts on northern and Native peoples. For Symposium on Contemporary and Historical Issues in Legal Pluralism: Prairie and Northern Canada, organized by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Law in Society Program, Winnipeg, 7-8 Nov. l992.

Blackfoot horse traditions and modern museum collection. For a special session, Contemporary Collecting: The Production of New Collections for the Future, organized by Patricia A. McCormack and invited by the Council for Museum Anthropology for the 91st Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Francisco, 2-6 Dec. l992. l99l Reconstituting a Natoas bundle: a Provincial Museum of Alberta-Peigan collaboration. For the Task Force on Museums and First Peoples.

Working with Native communities. Seminar prepared for Parks Canada research staff, Winnipeg.

Evolving Blackfoot dress styles and their representation in museum collections. For It's a Material World, an Interdisciplinary Material Culture Lecture Series at the University of Alberta. The Canadian fur trade: the Orkney connection. For Focus on the Forks, a conference on the historical significance of the forks region, Winnipeg, April, l991.

With Ruth McConnell. The Ethnology Oblate Collections at the Provincial Museum of Alberta. For the Oblate Conference, Edmonton, 22-23 July l99l. l990 Northern boats. Paper on Native lake skiffs and their possible Orkney origin. For the Orkney Museum Service; delivered in three Orkney towns, September l990.

Saving Canada's wild bison: the political economy of bison management in Wood Buffalo National Park. For The Wood Bison Issue, a Circumpolar Lecture Series of the Canadian Circumpolar Institute, University of Alberta, 7 Dec. l990.

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The Orkney Islands and the Canadian fur trade and Native communities. For Partnerships: Museums and Native Living Cultures, Alberta Museums Association Professional Development Series, Edmonton, 3-4 Dec. l990. l989 From their labor: a material slant to ethnohistorical research. For the American Society for Ethnohistory Conference, Chicago, 2-5 Nov. l989.

Reviving contemporary collecting: the Fort Chipewyan collection at the Provincial Museum of Alberta. For a special session, Collecting the Objects of Others, at the 88th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C., 15-19 Nov. l989.

"That's a piece of junk": issues in contemporary subarctic collecting. For Out of the North: A Symposium on the Native Arts and Material Culture of the Canadian and Alaskan North, Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, 20-21 Oct. l989.

Working with the community: a dialectical approach to exhibit development. Prepared for Canada's Native Community and Museums: A New Dialogue and New Initiatives, a seminar in the Alberta Museums Association's Professional Development Series, Calgary, 7-9 April l989 l988 Surrounded by Crees: Chipewyan persistence in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta. For an invitational session on Variations in Chipewyan Thought and Behavior, 87th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Phoenix, 16-20 Nov. l988.

Hub of the North: Fort Chipewyan l788-l988. For the Rupertsland Colloquium, Winnipeg and Churchill, 29 June - 3 July l988, and also delivered as a public lecture at the Provincial Museum of Alberta.

Government comes to Fort Chipewyan: expansion of the state into the heart of the fur trade country. For the Fort Chipewyan-Fort Vermilion Bicentennial Conference, Edmonton, 23-24 Sept. l988. l987 Fort Chipewyan and community development. For Nurturing Community, a conference on community development organized by the Edmonton Social Planning Council, 27-29 April 1987. l986 Rooted in the past: the modern community of Fort Chipewyan. For the Boreal Institute for Northern Studies 25th anniversary conference, Knowing the North.

1982 Fur trade society to class society: the development of ethnic stratification at Fort Chipewyan, Alberta. For the Canadian Ethnology Society meetings, Vancouver, B.C. 33

Skookum Jim (Keish); an historical brief. For the Yukon Educational Television Society, Whitehorse.

l981 Leroy Napoleon "Jack" McQuesten; an historical brief. For the Yukon Educational Television Society, Whitehorse.

William Ogilvie; an historical brief. For the Yukon Educational Television Society, Whitehorse.

1979 The Cree Band land entitlement in Wood Buffalo National Park: history and issues. For the Edmonton Chapter of the National and Provincial Parks Association of Canada.

Conference/Session Development

2011 With Jennifer S. H. Brown, organized “Aboriginal People as Part of Plural Societies: Searching for Multi-vocality,” for the American Society for Ethnohistory annual conference, Pasadena, California, 19-22 Oct. 2011.

2006-8 Organizing committee, Centre for Rupert’s Land Studies 2008 Colloquium, Rocky Mountain House.

2007 With Sarah Carter, organized “Negotiating Identities: Aboriginal Women’s Stories of Northwestern America,” a session for the American Society for Ethnohistory annual conference, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 7-10 Nov. 2007.

2006 Organized “Imagining the Unknown: Visual and Textual Images of Early History Makers,” a session for the American Society for Ethnohistory annual conference, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1-5 Nov. 2006.

2005-6 Member of the Scientific Committee for the 12th Qualitative Health Research Conference,2-5 April 2006.

2001-2 Organized “'A promise by any other name...': Treaty No. 8 and Taxation,” a session for the 10th Rupert's Land Colloquium, 9-12 April 2002, Mansfield College, University of Oxford.

2001 Organized “Dene Kinship and Ethnohistory,” a session for the 100th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropology Association, 28 Nov. - 2 Dec. 2001, Washington, D.C.

2000 With Michael Payne, organized “Representing Aboriginal Histories and 34

Cultures at Historic Sites and Museums,” a panel for the Canadian Indigenous/Native Studies Association Annual Meeting and Conference, 28-31 May 2000, Edmonton.

1997-9 Member of the organizing committee for the 1899 Centennial Conference, A Conference in Commemoration of the Initial Signing of Treaty #8 & the Distribution of Scrip in 1899; serving also on the program and publicity subcommittees.

1997-99 Member of the organizing committee for Traditions for Today: Building on Cultural Traditions, an International Indigenous Research Institute organized by the School of Native Studies, University of Alberta, and held at the University May 26-28, 1998. Proposed the Institute's theme and planned the session, “How can we talk about indigenous Christianity.”

1995-99 Member of the organizing committee for an international conference, Securing Northern Futures: Developing Research Partnerships, sponsored by the Canadian Circumpolar Institute, held in Edmonton 1-4 May 1997. Special responsibility for organizing the sessions on "Reconfiguring the North," with Michael Payne. Co-edited proceedings with Michael Payne.

1995 On behalf of Native Studies, chaired a campus working group that assisted in planning a Parks Canada workshop on cooperative management of protected areas. Developed the final program jointly with a Parks Canada staff member, attended the workshop on March 4-5, chaired one day's proceedings, and acted as a rapporteur the second day. Co-edited proceedings with Richard Stuart (proceedings never published).

With Anne M. Lambert, organized Managing Change: Drawing on the Dynamics of Cultural Traditions, a session of the Canadian Home Economics Conference, Beyond Tradition, Edmonton, 9-11 July 1995.

1992-94 Co-organized the Sixth Biennial Rupert's Land Research Centre Colloquium, held inEdmonton, May 25-27, l994.

1993 With Joseph Tiffany, organized a session on museums and Plains archaeology for the l993 Plains Anthropology annual meetings, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

l992 Organized "Contemporary Collecting: The Production of New Collections for the Future," a session for the 91st Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Francisco, Dec. 2-6, l992. Session was invited by the Council for Museum Anthropology.

l991-92 With Robert Coutts (Parks Canada, Winnipeg), organized "Inventing 35

Fur Trade Traditions," a session for the l992 Rupert's Land Colloquium, Winnipeg.

l985-88 With R. G. Ironside, organized a major conference to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Fort Chipewyan and Fort Vermilion, in northern Alberta. Served as liaison with Fort Chipewyan residents and conference participants.

Professional Activities

Referee

Grant applications Canadian Circumpolar Institute, the Boreal Institute for Northern Studies, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), and other institutions as requested. Publications Book manuscripts: University of Oklahoma Press, University of Nebraska Press, University of Washington Press, UBC Press, McGill-Queen’s University Press, Harcourt Brace, NeWest Press, Canadian Circumpolar Institute, Crabtree Publishing Company, Canadian Plains Research Centre. Journal manuscripts: Ethnohistory, Canadian Ethnic Studies, American Indian Culture and Research Journal.

External faculty referee Promotion from Assistant to Associate Professor, University of Winnipeg, 2004

Management/Supervision Courses (Govt. of Alberta)

Supervision Managing the Difficult Employee

Professional Development Courses

2007 2007 PRE-conference and National Conference, “Empowering Research Participants, 16-18 Feb. 2007, Ottawa.

2005 2005 National Conference, National Council on Ethics in Human Research, 5-6 March 2005, Ottawa, and the associated Pre-Conference, 4 March 2005.

2004 Training in Research Ethics, Social and Behavioral Sciences and Humanities, 22 Feb. 2004. National Council on Ethics in Human Research.

36

2003 Innovative Instructors Institute, University of Alberta. Stream One: Effective Electronic Presentations (PowerPoint). 28 April-2 May.

Committees and Advisory Boards

2011-2012 Treasurer and Director, Alberta Equestrian Federation. Chair of the Finance Committee and responsible for a budget of approximately $175,000.

2009-2011 Director, Alberta Equestrian Federation. Member of the Finance Committee.

2007-10 Advisory Council, The Centre for Rupert’s Land Studies at the University of Winnipeg

2003-present Advisory Board of Material History Review

2003-06 Member of the Aid to Scholarly Publications (ASP) Committee, on behalf of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences.

1997-99 Treaty 8/Scrip Conference Steering Committee, Program Committee, Publicity Committee

1992-93 Steering Committee and Research Sub-committee, Frog Lake Historic Site Project l99l Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin Prize Committee for the American Society for Ethnohistory l985-91 Fort Chipewyan-Fort Vermilion Bicentennial Conference Committee and Research Grant Committee l987-98 Prairie Forum Editorial Board l988-89 Alberta Museums Association Standards Committee l985-89 Canadian Studies Committee

Societies 1986-90 President, Boreal Circle Society 1983 Board member, MacBride Museum Society 1980-82 President, Yukon Historical and Museums Association • Ex-officio board member 1982-84, Vice-president 1979-80 • Honorary Life Membership awarded 1983 37

Miscellaneous On-going: • Guest lectures, colloquia, and workshops for University of Alberta staff and students. • Responses to numerous requests for information and assistance from University staff and students, lawyers, and the general public.

Academic consultant: • Radio, television, and films: Death of a Delta (Tom Radford, Filmwest l972), Coppermine (NFB l992), Indian America series (l992), and Honour of the Crown (Tom Radford, NFB 2001). • Popular books: The Buffalo Hunters (Time-Life, 1993) and Native North American Foods and Recipes (Crabtree Publishing Company, 2006).

For Treaty Eight First Nations of Alberta, Education Commission Project: served as resource person for curriculum development project, 2005, 2008.

For Wood Buffalo National Park: participated in Cultural Resource Management Workshops (18-20 July 1999, Fort Smith; 18-19 Oct. 2002, Fort Chipewyan), an Ecological Integrity Workshop (11-14 March 1999, Fort Smith), and research at the House Lake site, August 2011. Cooperative work with park staff is on-going.

For Teacher and Teacher Aid Conventions (Edmonton and Bonneville): presentations about stereotypes of “Indian-ness” and Canadian history.

For Daniel Wolf, author of The Rebels: An Outlaw Motorcycle Club (University of Toronto Press, 1991): extensive editorial assistance.

Professional Memberships American Anthropological Association American Ethnology Society American Society for Environmental History American Society for Ethnohistory Canadian Historical Association Council for Museum Anthropology International Association for Impact Assessment Rupert's Land Research Centre Yukon Historical and Museums Association

Interests Equestrian sports Snowshoeing and dog walking Herb gardening and pickling Resumé Alistair MacDonald July, 2012

EDUCATION Alistair MacDonald MA Geography, Simon Director and Environmental Assessment Specialist Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, 2001 MAINTAINS ACTIVE Employment History RESEARCH AND CONSULTANCY ASSOCIATIONS WITH: The Firelight Group – Edmonton, AB Co-Founder and Director (2009 to date) On Common Ground Consulting, Vancouver, Responsible, as co-founder and director, for helping establish The BC; specializing in Firelight Group, a firm of aboriginal and non-aboriginal professionals corporate social specialized in providing respectful and respected environmental and responsibility, social social science research, consulting, and support services in processes licensing, community where aboriginal and non-aboriginal interests interact, and where good engagement, strategic relationships are desired by all sides. Tasks include business planning and development, as well as design, development, and delivery of technical social/cultural impact services including community-based traditional knowledge research and assessment, with a focus documentation systems, environmental and socio-cultural impact on mining in Latin assessments and monitoring programs, indigenous land use mapping, America. GIS technical support and training, research, community involvement processes, and First Nations consultation support services. Project work includes: SENES Consultants Ltd., Richmond Hill, ON; . Third Party Review - expert advisor to Athabasca Chipewyan and specializing in socio- Mikisew Cree First Nations on socio-economic and cultural effects economic and cultural assessment for several proposed developments in the oil sands impact assessment, region of northern Alberta in 2012, including: environmental . Teck’s proposed Frontier Mine assessment process . Shell’s proposed Jackpine Mine Expansion management, policy . Cenovus’ proposed Telephone Creek SAGD Operation analysis, and consultation services with . Project Manager and Trainer for Treaty 8 First Nations (BC) a focus on Aboriginal Communities Assessment (SEIA and Cultural) for the BC Hydro communities potentially Site C Project (2012) affected by resource developments. . Project Lead on a series of traditional use studies and environmental assessment processes for Fort Nelson First Nation PRESENTATIONS AND from 2011 to present, including: SEMINARS . Encana Fontas Traditional Use Study . TCPL Kyklo Komie Ekwan Pipeline (NEB) Developed and ran . Quicksilver Resources Fortune Creek Gas Plant (BCEAO) dozens of presentations . TCPL Komie North Expansion Pipeline (NEB) and seminars on social, economic and cultural . Senior Technician on direct-to-digital interviews for Treaty 8 Tribal impact assessment for Association on use and occupancy study associated with BC diverse audiences Hydro Site C proposed dam (2011) between 2005 and present. Recent . Project Lead on direct-to-digital interviews and on-territory examples include: mapping for Doig River First Nation on use and occupancy study for Transcanada Pipelines Ltd.’s proposed Gordondale Loop gas

pipeline (2011)

Resumé Alistair MacDonald July, 2012

. Third-party review work for environmental assessments/regulatory for West Moberly First Nation on BC Hydro DCAT Transmission “Cultural Considerations Line (2012) in EIA and Project Planning”, Northern . Lead on socio-economic impact assessment for the Ktunaxa First Geoscience Forum, Nation’s (BC) submission as part of Teck Coal’s Line Creek Phase Yellowknife, NT, II environmental assessment (2010-2011) November 16-18, 2010. . “Social Impact Technical Expert on review of Existing Impact Benefit Agreements Assessment and for Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Protected Areas”, NWT Protected Areas Strategy Workshop, Yellowknife, NT, April 23-4, 2009. SENES Consultants Limited – Edmonton, AB Environmental Assessment Specialist (2010 to 2012) “Cultural Impact Assessment: Guidelines Environmental Assessment Specialist responsible for SENES’ Alberta for Maximizing branch office, providing environmental assessment expertise, traditional Effectiveness”, use study work, and social, economic and cultural impact assessment Environmental Law and guidance and practice. Project work includes: Regulation North of 60, Canadian Institute, Edmonton, AB, Nov.13- . Project Lead, development of Cultural Impact Assessment 14, 2008. Guidelines for the Mackenzie Valley Review Board (2009-10, 2012-ongoing) “Integrating Cultural Impact Assessment into . Environmental Assessment Process Advisor, Giant Mine Development Planning”, Remediation Project (2012) International Association for Impact Assessment . Project Lead, Consultation on Effects of the James Bay Winter annual global Road, for Kimesskanemenow Corporation (2011) conference, May 4, 2008, Perth, Australia. Full day . Project Manager, West Moberly First Nation Water Needs workshop co-facilitated Assessment (2012) with Dr’s. Ciaran O’Faircheallaigh and . Third-party socio-economic and cultural impact assessment review Ginger Gibson. work for environmental assessments/regulatory for: o “Integrating Cultural Tlicho Government on De Beers Gahcho Kue Diamond Impact Assessment into Mine EIR (2011) o EIA: Overcoming Tlicho Government on Fortune NICO Mine EA (2011- Common Hurdles”. 2012) International Association . for Impact Assessment Renewable resources assessment for North Arm Candidate Western and Northern Protected Area, NWT (2010) Canada annual . conference, Cultural Two-phase Socio-economic Assessment of Sambaa K’e Impact Assessment: Candidate Protected Area, NWT (2011-2012) Beyond the Biophysical, . February 28-9, 2008, Technical Expert, 2010 NWT Environmental Audit Yellowknife, NT.

Resumé Alistair MacDonald July, 2012

“Sustainability: an Independent Consultant – Yellowknife, NT and Assessor’s Viewpoint”, February 21, 2008, Edmonton, AB Canadian Bar (2009 - 2010) Association conference, Yellowknife, NT. Specialized in research on mining and mining corporations, indigenous PUBLISHED PEER resource management issues and strategy development, social, REVIEWED WORKS economic and cultural impact assessment, impact benefit agreement preparations. Clients included:

Gibson, G, MacDonald, . Kitikmeot Inuit Association – corporate research and assistance in A. & C. O’Faircheallaigh development of engagement strategy with Newmont Gold. (2011). “Cultural considerations . On Common Ground Consulting – Lead Writer for environmental associated with mining assessment and public engagement documents for a multi-billion and indigenous dollar expansion by Colombian coal miner Carbonnes del Cerrejón communities”. SME Limited Mining Engineering Handbook, chapter 24.2, . Indian and Northern Affairs Canada – Implementation research on Society for Mining, the Interim Draft Dehcho Land Use Plan

Metallurgy and Exploration. MacDonald, A. & G. Gibson (2006). “The Rise Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board – of Sustainability: Yellowknife, NT Changing Public Environmental Assessment Officer (2004-2009) Concerns and Governance Approaches The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board is a co- Toward Exploration”, in management board responsible for all environmental assessments (EAs) Society of Economic of proposed developments in the Mackenzie Valley of the Northwest Geologists, Special Territories. In-house expert on social, economic and cultural impact Publication #12, Wealth assessment for all Eas. Responsibilities included: Creation in the Minerals Industry, Littleton, CO, . Environmental Assessment Officer (EAO) responsible for the pp. 127-148. conduct of environmental assessment, reporting to the Review OTHER PUBLISHED Board, and writing reports of environmental assessment and WORKS reasons for decision.

MacDonald, A. 2002. . Senior EAO on an interim replacement basis, 2007-8 Industry in Transition: a Profile of the North . Lead EAO for files such as: American Mining Sector. o Canadian Zinc Prairie Creek Mine Winnipeg: International o De Beers Gahcho Kue Diamond Mine Institute for Sustainable o Tamerlane Pine Point Project Development, 156 o Bayswater and Uravan exploration EAs in the Upper pages. Thelon

. Project lead in the development of Socio-economic Impact Assessment Guidelines for the environmental impact assessment process in the Mackenzie Valley.

Patricia M. Larcombe - Resume Partner, Symbion Consultants

Education Masters of Science, Geography. University of North Dakota, 1985 Bachelor of Science, Geography. University of Winnipeg, 1980

Present Partner. Symbion Consultants, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Position

Relevant Projects

Taku River Tlingit-Ruby Creek Molybdenum Mine Environmental Assessment. Retained by Taku River Tlingit First Nation to conduct a traditional land use impact assessment of a proposed open-pit molybdenum mine situated within their traditional territory. This assessment included documentation of Tlingit rights, interests and land use through a traditional land use and values study, which formed the basis for the assessment of project impacts and development of mitigation measures. Also conducted a community impact assessment and prepared a design for a community-based socio-economic monitoring and adaptive management program.

Taku River Tlingit-Tulsequah Chief Mine Barge Proposal. Retained by Taku River Tlingit First Nation to conduct a traditional land use impact assessment of the proponent’s proposal to move supplies to, and ore concentrate from, the Tulsequah Chief Mine on the Taku River using a shallow tug and air-cushion barge technology. This assessment included documentation of Tlingit rights, interests, traditional land use and traditional knowledge, land use map production, assessment of impacts and development of mitigation measures.

Tsilhqot’in National Government-Deficiency Review of Taseko Mines Ltd. Prosperity Mine Environmental Impact Statement. Retained in March 2009 to conduct a deficiency review of the socio-economic (including traditional use and traditional knowledge components) chapters of the proponent’s environmental impact statement relative to the federal Panel guidelines.

Tsilhqot’in National Government Community Impact Assessment of Prosperity Mine. Retained in 2009-2010 to prepare a current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes submission to the Federal Review Panel. This report synthesized and evaluated past traditional use studies and provided commentary on the strengths and weaknesses of the existing data collection as a basis for assessing project impacts on traditional use and values. This report, as well as professional opinion on the likely impact the proposed project would have on traditional use and cultural values, was verbally presented to the Federal Panel at a Community hearing.

Manitoba Metis Federation Traditional Land Use, Values and Knowledge Study. Retained to design and implement a study to document Manitoba Metis traditional use, values and knowledge on: (1) the east side of Lake Winnipeg where the Province is proposing to construct an all-season road to connect communities which currently only have winter road access; and (2) the western side of the province where Manitoba Hydro is proposing to build the BiPole 3 500 kV HVdc transmission line.

Cree Regional Authority Eastmain 1-A and Rupert River Diversion Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Conformity Review. Retained by the Cree Regional Authority in March, 2005, to review the chapters of Quebec Hydro’s EIS for the Eastmain 1-A and Rupert River Diversion project pertaining to hunting, fishing and trapping against the directives issued by the Joint Review Panel concerning the content and organization of the EIS.

Innu Nation, Labrador – Lower Churchill Hydroelectric Generation Project. Retained by the Innu Nation to conduct a third party review of NalCor’s draft socio-economic and community profile baseline chapters, the Innu Nation scoping report, and a deficiency review of the socio- economic chapters of the proponent’s final environmental impact statement.

Innu Nation, Labrador - Voiseys Bay Nickel Company Environmental Impact Assessment. Retained by Innu Nation to critically review the social and economic components of the Environmental Impact Statement for conformance with the Panel=s Terms of Reference. Written report delivered to the Panel and summary of findings produced on an audio tape for airing on community local radio.

Innu Nation, Labrador - Voiseys Bay Nickel Company Environmental Impact Assessment. Assisted and trained a team of eight Innu Nation researchers in developing and implementing a comprehensive questionnaire to obtain demographic, social, economic, cultural, and traditional activity baseline information for the communities of Sheshatshiu and Utshimassits. The questionnaire, written and delivered by the Innu researchers in the Innu-aimun language, was administered to a sample of 300 individuals (100% household coverage). Information obtained from the survey was synthesized into a report format and incorporated into a video for presentation to the Federal/Provincial Environmental Impact Assessment Panel appointed to review the Voisey Bay Nickel Mine proposal.

Yukon Socio-Economic Effects Assessment Workshop. The Yukon Environmental and Socio- Economic Assessment Act requires socio-economic effects assessment in all project evaluations and reviews. In preparation for operationalising the legislation, the Yukon Government Development Impact Branch hosted a three day workshop in February, 2005, for territorial and federal government, industry and First Nations representatives. Larcombe was retained to deliver two presentations at the workshop, entitled “An Introduction to Social Effects Assessment” and “Relationships between Social and Ecological Systems.”

Aboriginal First Nations Perspectives of AAASignificance@@@ of Environmental Impacts. When working for the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources Inc., secured research funds from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency to document the differences in perspective and approach that First Nations and western scientist and government have regarding determination of the significance of environmental impacts. Study included the development of criteria for determining significance and best practice approaches to involving First Nations in determining significance.

Strategy for the Creation of Traditional Knowledge Guidelines in Federal Environmental Assessments. When working for the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources Inc., was retained by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency to consult with Aboriginal people and organizations concerning their interest in traditional knowledge guidelines, to identify major issues to consider in the creation of the guidelines, and how First Nations should be involved in the guidelines development.

Critical Review of Agreements between Aboriginal Groups and Government and/or Proponents of Energy Related Natural Resource Development. Report prepared for the Moose River/James Bay Coalition (the Coalition) to inform about nine Agreements (6 in Canada and 3 in the U.S.). Contents included: the processes of negotiation and implementation, their substance, and effectiveness. The report provided the Coalition with an informed background so that they could respond effectively to proposals from Ontario Hydro or the Province of Ontario for remedial, mitigatory or compensatory measures for impacts from the proposed development of the Moose River basin.

Fort William First Nation-Avenor Inc. Bark Dump Assessment. As project manager for the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (Winnipeg), managed a study team consisting of individuals with expertise in hydrogeology, water quality and aquatic sciences, biophysical sciences, occupational health, landscape architecture, traditional knowledge and activities. This project involved assisting the First Nation in documenting and assessing past and ongoing impacts of a solid waste landfill adjacent to the Reserve and participating in a joint planning process with Avenor=s engineers to design an acceptable closure plan for the landfill.

Swampy Cree Tribal Council Traditional Territory-Valuation of Natural Resources Uses. Conducted an economic assessment of natural resource use activities and values located within the boundaries of the Tribal Council=s traditional territory. Resource uses examined included: commercial, sport and domestic fishing and hunting, commercial trapping, gathering and alternative forest products, commercial and domestic forestry, hydroelectric power, minerals and mining, agriculture, and tourism. Resource use values were estimated in absolute and relative terms by sector and user (First Nation and non-First Nation) and future potentials were examined. The study also included a review of government programs providing financial resources for development or enhancement of natural resources based industries or activities.

Saugeen First Nation, Quantification of Treaty Fishing Rights. In association with Dr. Peter Usher, assisted Saugeen First Nation in developing a negotiating position concerning their fishing rights in light of the Ontario Court of Justice decision (Jones and Nadjiwon, 1993) which confirmed that the Saugeen Ojibway First Nation (including the Chippewas of Nawash and Saugeen First Nation) held a Treaty right to commercially fish. The work involved developing a negotiating position on what quantum of fish should be allocated to the First Nation for food and commercial purposes, and a proposal for First Nation management of the allocation as well as its role in the overall lake fisheries management.

Assessment of Country Food Losses at South Indian Lake. In 1976, the Aboriginal community of South Indian Lake was flooded by some 3 metres by a hydroelectric project. Flooding reduced the capacity of the area to support wildlife and made shoreline hunting and fishing difficult. Assessing traditional resource use losses involved consultation/interviews with elders and resource harvesters to determine the impact of flooding on harvesting activities and harvest success. Interview results provided a basis for estimating the total value of subsistence losses over a fourteen year period.

Grand Rapids Hydro-Electric Project (1993). Reviewed and critiqued a post facto assessment of impacts to trapping activities resulting from the operation of the Grand Rapids hydro project at the mouth of the Saskatchewan River. A proposal for retroactive compensation was developed utilizing a model which projected harvest levels with and without hydro impacts and estimated net annual income and income-in-kind losses.

Norway House First Nation Trapping and Domestic Fishing Claims (1990-1993). Assisted the local Trappers Association and Chief and Council in preparing evidence of adverse impacts on trapping and domestic fishing activities and products, reconstructing pre hydro-electric development biophysical environment, including sustainable yields of fish and furbearers, and quantifying the level of activity involved in harvesting by community members. Research involved extensive interviews with Elders and other harvesters, review of historic Department of Natural Resources diaries, data and reports, and preparation of monetary estimates for retroactive compensation and forward looking mitigation programs.

The Nez-Perce - Idaho Power Corporation Negotiation. Technical assistance was provided to Dr. Hugh Brody, the mediator of a joint committee of the Nez Perce Tribe and Idaho Power Corporation. This assignment involved quantifying the monetary value of salmon losses experienced by the Nez Perce people as a result of adverse impacts to fishing opportunities and fish populations associated with regulation of the Snake River for hydro-electric generation purposes. Three models were developed to provide a range of compensation estimates. Annual and total losses were estimated for the period 1958-1995 as follows: net cash income losses from commercial harvesting operations; net cash income losses from fish wholesaling opportunities; and net income-in-kind losses from loss of subsistence fishing activities.

Nishnawbe-Aski Nation/Grand Council Treaty #3/Teme-Augama Anishanabai Coalition. Preparation of evidence for submission to the Ontario Environmental Assessment Board describing how Ontario Hydro's proposal to construct another transmission line through Treaty territory represented yet another of a long history of development activities. Project involved documenting the historical sequence of development activities and their progressive impact on Treaty rights.

Grassy Narrows First Nation/Ontario Hydro Joint Problem Solving Team. Conducted a retrospective assessment concerning how hydroelectric development and regulation of the English River had impacted upon muskrat and wild rice resources and developed estimates of the monetary value of lost resource harvesting opportunities. Research involved interviews with community elders and Ontario Department of Natural Resource staff, examination of historical records concerning community population, fur sales records, hydrologic reports, surveyor reports, Hudson Bay Company archival documents, and federal and provincial correspondence files.

Cross Lake and Norway House Community Council Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement. Provided technical and negotiation assistance to two northern Manitoba aboriginal communities in reaching a comprehensive settlement agreement with Manitoba and Manitoba Hydro for impacts associated with the Lake Winnipeg Regulation hydro project. These Settlement agreements provides for cash compensation and land, a role in resource management, on-going communications and implementation, future pre-determined compensation arrangements, and alternative dispute resolution.

Report to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. As a member of a national team engaged to document the origins and success/failure of contemporary Treaties, was engaged to conduct a case study of the Northern Flood Agreement. Focussing on the land, resource and environmental provisions of the Agreement, the nature of rights and benefits provided for in the Agreement were documented, how the Agreement was implemented in practice versus how it was intended to be implemented on paper was analysed, and recommendations were made regarding content, dispute resolution mechanisms, and implementation for future agreements.

Cross Lake Domestic Fishing. Assisted Cross Lake First Nation successfully negotiate a $5.6 million settlement to resolve past domestic fishing losses and cover implementation of a four year mitigation program. The project involved interviewing community elders and former fishermen, holding public meetings, analysing and interpreting data concerning sustainable yield, quantifying the decline in fishing activities and consumption, and developing a bush food replacement proxy to measure the loss. The mitigation program offered residents the opportunity to practice domestic fishing at alternative lakes or acquire fish from a local "country food" store.

Lac Seul First Nation - Specific Claim, Loss of Use Study. Jointly for Lac Seul First Nation and Canada, conducted the first phase of a Loss of Use assessment study. This claim involves the loss of use of approximately 11,000 acres of Reserve land due to flooding dating back to 1930. The loss of use assessment includes examination of losses related to agriculture, forestry, tourism and recreation, community infrastructure, and traditional activities (hunting, trapping, fishing, wild rice, and other gathering). The research involves oral testimony of community Elders, adults and youth, examination of archival documents and contemporary documents.

Rainy River First Nations Traditional Activities Loss of Use Study. Retained by tri-party negotiating team composed of Rainy River First Nations, Canada and Ontario representatives to perform a loss of use assessment associated with the First Nations specific claim for improper alienation in 1915 from six Reserves totaling 46,000 acres. Study involved assembling and analyzing archival documents, conducting Elders interviews, examining the biophysical capacity of the claim lands to support fishing, hunting, trapping, wild rice harvesting, and other plant and material gathering activities as a basis for developing a model to estimate the economic value of traditional activities the First Nation would have realized had they not been alienated from the Reserve lands over the course of some eighty-six years.

______Professional 1990- : Partner, Symbion Consultants, Winnipeg, Manitoba Experience 1998-2002: Senior Manager, Winds & Voices Environmental Services, Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (part time) 1987-1989: Resource Analyst, Symbion Consultants, Winnipeg 1985-1987: Planner, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska 1982/1984: Planning Aide, Benton County, Corvalis, Oregon 1981-1982: Research Assistant, Midwest Environmental Services Inc. Grand Forks, North Dakota 1981: Research Assistant, Interdisciplinary Systems Ltd. (IDS), Winnipeg, Manitoba

Resumé Ginger Gibson, Ph.D 2011

Impact and Benefit Agreement planning, negotiation and Education implementation PhD (Mining Engineering) 2008 University of British Lead author, IBA Toolkit, analysis, research and design of Toolkit, a resource for Columbia Canadian Aboriginal groups, based in research and review of agreements across the country and Australia. MA (Anthropology) 1999 University of Alberta Technical Coordinator, Tlicho Nation, Kwe Beh Working Group (2009- BA (Anthropology) 1994 ongoing) University of Alberta Responsible for negotiation and implementation of IBAs with companies. Coordinate capacity building and collaborative work of eight member team, reporting to Chief Executive Council. Responsible for ongoing negotiation with senior mining companies, including Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, De Beers, and Fortune Minerals, and many junior mining companies.

IBA Workshops and Research (2007-2011)

Regional workshops on IBA negotiation and implementation for First

Nations across Canada, with 2011 workshops in Niagara Falls,

Yellowknife, Fort McMurray and Thunder Bay. Community based workshops for Nations, including 1-2 day workshops for Mikisew Cree and Ktunaxa Nation, 2011. In depth analysis of IBAs for Athabasca Chipewyan FN and Kitikmeot Inuit Association. Developed interest-based negotiations training programs and research with Latin American mining communities.

Policy and research Native Counselling Services of Alberta, Edmonton (2009-ongoing) Co-investigator of the sacred relationship of Alberta’s aboriginal people to water. Involves design of documentary films, educational resources.

Tlicho Community Services Agency, Behchoko, NT (2007-2009) Worked on policy, traditional knowledge, and custom care. Research with elders, social service providers and families to develop custom care model.

CoDevelopment Canada – Vancouver, BC Director, Mining Programs (2001-2005) Managed negotiation training programs with mining communities in Bolivia, Nicaragua and Peru, and review of fulfilment of poverty alleviation mandate by the World Bank Group investment in oil, gas and mining.

Rutgers University – New Brunswick, NJ Senior Research Director, Center for Environmental Communication (1997- 2001) Research on the communication and management of environmental risk.

Project Experience – Risk Assessment and Risk Communication

Lesser Slave Lake Part of multidisciplinary team responding to design community-based Regional Indian traditional monitoring and risk communication system related to the Council, AB Swan Hills Hazardous Waste Treatment Centre(1999-present)

Deline First Nation, NT Ran community based course in community research methods. Canada Deline Uranium Table. Co-taught three day course in Deline for government, First Nation, and health agency personnel on risk assessment and management in preparation for study of effects of uranium mining at Port Radium mine, NWT.

Project Experience – Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and Traditional Use Studies (TUS) Tlicho Nation Study manager for traditional use and knowledge study in NT preparation for an environmental assessment (ongoing)

Indian and Northern Developed policy guidance on traditional knowledge in mine Affairs, NT reclamation guidelines in the NWT.

Deline First Nation, NT Community research methods course for government, First Nation, and health agency personnel on risk assessment and management in preparation for study of effects of uranium mining at Port Radium mine, NWT.

Project Experience – Social, Economic and Cultural Impact Assessment and Mitigation

NWT Protected Areas Revise Socio-economic Assessment Guidelines for assessment of Strategy, NWT Candidate Protected Areas, following facilitation of a multi- stakeholder workshop, literature review and interviews with key contacts.

Pembina Institute, BC Analyzed cumulative labour impact and availability of six mines on First Nations in northern BC.

Canadian International Research and action program for multi-stakeholder forum in Lago Development Agency Junin region, an area declared a National Emergency Zone. and Mining Policy Collaborated to design multi-stakeholder roundtable forum for long- Research Initiative, term dispute resolution between mining and electricity companies, Peru companies, communities and government.

Recent Voluntary Service and Boards Alberta Water Research Institute's International Research Advisory Committee, 2007- Advisory Committee to Tlicho Trades and Technology Centre, Chief Jimmy Bruneau School, Rae-Edzo, NWT, 2004- National Committee of Interest Board Member to Mining Association of Canada, 2003- National Steering Committee to Natural Resources Canada Minerals and Metals Indicators (MMI), 2002-2003 Small Change Advisory Board, 2009-present Selected Publications Gibson, G, A. MacDonald, C. O’Faircheallaigh. (2011 Forthcoming). Cultural considerations associated with mining and indigenous communities. SME Mining Engineering Handbook. Chapter 24.2.

Gibson, G. and C. O’Faircheallaigh. 2010. IBA Community Toolkit. Toronto: Gordon Foundation, 204 pages. www.ibacommunitytoolkit.ca

Gibson, G & Klinck, J. (2008). Canada's resilient North: The impact of mining on Aboriginal communities. In Phuskele, Preeti, Ed. Mining: Social and Economic Perspectives. Hyderabad, India: Icfai University Press. Pp. 59-83.

Gibson, G. and D. Kemp. 2008. Corporate Engagement with Indigenous Women in the Minerals Industry: Making Space for Theory. In forthcoming book. C. O’Faircheallaigh and S. Ali (eds.). Greenleaf Publications.

MacDonald, A. and G. Gibson. 2006. The rise of sustainability: Changing public concerns and governance approaches toward exploration. Economic Geology. Special publication 12. pp. 127-148.

Gibson, G., L. Tsetta, L. McDevitt, S. Plotner. 2005. Yellowknives Dene First Nation: Community Indicators Report. DCAB: Yellowknife. 51 pages.

Gibson, G. 2005. Editor of Pimatisiwin: A Journal of Aboriginal and Indigenous Community Health. 3(1).

Gibson, G and J. Klinck. 2005. Canada’s Resilient North: The impact of mining on aboriginal communities. Pimatisiwin: A Journal of Aboriginal and Indigenous Community Health. 3(1): 116-139.

Tsetta, S., G. Gibson, L. McDevitt, and S. Plotner. 2005. Telling a Story of Change the Dene Way: Indicators for monitoring in diamond-impacted communities. Pimatisiwin: A Journal of Aboriginal and Indigenous Community Health. 3(1): 60-69.

Chess, C., B. Johnson, and G. Gibson. 2005. Communicating about environmental indicators. Journal of Risk Research. 8(1): 63-75.

Gibson, G. and M. Scoble. 2004. Regenderneering the mining industry: A survey of women’s career experiences in mining. CIM Bulletin. 97(1082): 54-60.

Gibson, G. 2002. Access to Information for Communities through the Mining Life Cycle: Vancouver: CoDevelopment Canada.

Gibson, G. 2002. Capacity Building in Mining Communities: A reflection on experiences in Latin America. Vancouver: CoDevelopment Canada.

Gibson N, Gibson G, Macaulay, AC. 2002. Community-based research: Negotiating agendas and evaluating outcomes. In Morse J, Swanson J, Kuzel AJ Eds. The Nature of Qualitative Evidence. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Gibson, G. 2001. Hazardous Waste, Disrupted Lives: Aboriginal perspectives on the Swan Hills Hazardous Waste Treatment Centre. Edmonton, AB: University of Alberta.

Krogmann, U, G. Gibson and C. Chess. 2001. Land Application of Sewage Sludge:

G. Gibson, E. Higgs, and S. Hrudey. 1996. Resources, Conflict and Culture: The sour gas plant dispute between Unocal and the Lubicon Cree Nation. Research Report 96-3. Edmonton: Eco-Research Chair in Environmental Risk Management.