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Review Panel Report 2015 – Lower Athabasca Regional Plan

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Review Panel Report 2015 – Lower Athabasca Regional Plan 1 Review Panel Report 2015 Lower Athabasca Regional Plan 2 Pursuant to subsection 19.2(2) of the Alberta Land Stewardship Act, S.A. 2009, c. A-26.8, the Review Panel appointed by the Stewardship Minister submits their Report on their review of the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan, dated September 2012. Table of Contents Executive Summary ...............................................................................................................................................................................4 General Overviews The Lower Athabasca Region .............................................................................................................................................................9 The Derivation of the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan 2012–2022...................................................................................... 13 Defining the “Plan” ............................................................................................................................................................................... 17 The Mandate of the Review Panel .................................................................................................................................................20 Legal Review of the term “Directly and Adversely Affected” ................................................................................................26 Six Applications/Recommendations to the Minister Onion Lake Cree Nation .................................................................................................................................................................... 37 Cold Lake First Nations .....................................................................................................................................................................49 Chipewyan Prairie Dene First Nation ............................................................................................................................................69 Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation ............................................................................................................................................... 97 Mikisew Cree First Nation ...............................................................................................................................................................122 Fort McKay First Nation and Fort McKay Métis Community Association ..................................................................... 142 General Observations and Suggestions to the Minister Lower Athabasca Regional Plan Proposed Strategic Timelines ........................................................................................... 161 Lower Athabasca Regional Plan Monitoring Initiatives ......................................................................................................... 166 The Issue of Traditional Land Use .................................................................................................................................................172 Cumulative Effects Management ................................................................................................................................................ 186 Country Foods and Health Concerns .......................................................................................................................................... 199 Report of the Joint Review Panel Shell Canada Energy Jackpine Mine Expansion Project ....................................... 203 Biodiversity Management Framework – Woodland Caribou/Wood Bison ................................................................... 208 Appendices Appendix 1: Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................................................ 216 Appendix 2: Information Requests Issued by the Review Panel ........................................................................................ 218 Appendix 3: Jurisdiction Ruling by the Review Panel .............................................................................................................241 Appendix 4: Lower Athabasca Regional Advisory Council Report 2010 ....................................................................... 248 Appendix 5: A Summary of the Report “Response to Aboriginal Consultation on the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan” (June 2013)......................................................................................................................249 Appendix 6: Responsible Actions: A Plan for Alberta’s Oil Sands ................................................................................... 254 4 Executive Summary The Regional Planning process set out in the Alberta The LARP, in describing the LUF’s vision, notes:3 Land Stewardship Act (ALSA) provides for directly- affected Albertans to request a review of a land-use “The vision describes a desired future state for plan. The Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (LARP or the Lower Athabasca in which the region’s diverse the Plan) was the first regional plan to be approved by economic opportunities are balanced with social and the Government of Alberta (Alberta or the Crown). environmental considerations using a cumulative The Stewardship Minister received Applications (the effects management approach. Cumulative effects Applications) for review of the LARP from six First management focuses on achievement of outcomes, Nations, including: understanding the effect of multiple development pressures (new and existing), assessment of risk, • Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN); collaborative work with shared responsibility for action and improved integration of economic, • Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN); environmental and social considerations.” • Cold Lake First Nations (CLFN); The Applications reviewed by the Panel included assertions and evidence indicating that the • Onion Lake Cree Nation (OLCN); cumulative effects of rapid change in the Lower Athabasca Region are having an impact on the First • Fort McKay First Nation and Fort McKay Métis Nation Applicants. During its review, the Panel Community Association (FMFN); and considered the written evidence of six First Nations, which set out a number of concerns with the LARP. • Chipewyan Prairie Dene First Nation (CPDFN). The process set out in the Rules of Practice for After considering the Applications and, in accordance Conducting Reviews of Regional Plans (the Rules) provided with the ALSA, the Minister appointed a Review Panel for a response to the First Nations’ Applications by (the Panel) to conduct a review of the Applications. This Alberta and then a final reply by the Applicants. report sets out the results of that review, including the Review Panel’s findings and recommendations. One of the difficulties encountered by the Review Panel in assessing the Applications was that, Alberta, The mandate of the Review Panel is described in in its responses to the concerns raised by the further detail in this report. The role of the Panel is to Applicants, frequently disputed the jurisdiction of make recommendations concerning issues raised in the Panel to address those First Nations’ concerns. the various Applications where the First Nations have Alberta’s response was essentially the same to each proven that they are “directly and adversely affected.” of the Applications. Alberta chose to rely on its This report is submitted to the Stewardship Minister, legal argument and filed little in the way of rebuttal who then refers the report to Cabinet.1 evidence. Because of its approach to the Applications and the Panel’s jurisdiction, the Crown did not, in One of the fundamental themes throughout the LARP many instances, specifically address the arguments is cumulative effects management (CEM). The LARP of the First Nations or their written evidence. describes the purpose of CEM as follows: “to balance economic development opportunities and social and If the Review Panel adopted the position of the environmental considerations.”2 This theme is drawn Crown, we would have been left with little rationale from Alberta’s Land-use Framework (LUF), which for determining whether each Applicant has, or has was released by the provincial government in 2008. not, been “directly and adversely affected” by the proposed implementation of the LARP. 1 Alberta Land Stewardship Act, section 19.2(3) 2 Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (LARP); page 2 3 LARP; page 23 5 To address the legal issues raised by Alberta’s e. Strategic Plan, page 29: the LARP indicates responses, the Review Panel issued an Information that Alberta will consider, in developing the Request on this jurisdictional matter to all parties biodiversity management framework and the — pursuant to Section 28 of the Rules — and then, landscape management plan, how First Nations’ after receiving written arguments from all the parties Constitutional Rights can occur within reasonable on February 5, 2015, deliberated and ruled on the proximity to First Nations’ main population centres; jurisdictional question. The Panel’s full ruling on its jurisdiction is included as Appendix 3 of this report. f. Strategic Plan, page 30: the LARP indicates conservation areas, in part, are intended to After ruling on the issue of jurisdiction, the Panel support the exercise of Constitutional Rights; addressed the First Nations’ Applications. Most of the First Nation Applicants, in their written g. Strategic Plan, page 34: the LARP indicates
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