March 30, 2021 Stoney Consultation Office Box 120 Impact Assessment Agency of Canada Morley, Alberta Prairie and Northern Region T0L 1N0 Canada Place Office: (403) 881 – 4276 Suite 1145, 9700 Jasper Avenue Fax: (403) 881 – 4250 Edmonton, Alberta T5J 4C3 Attention: Greg Bosse, Project Manager, Prairies and Northern Region (Via Email: [email protected]) RE: Stoney Nakoda Nations – Montem Resources Alberta Operations Ltd. (Montem) - Federal Designation Request for the Proposed Tent Mountain Mine Redevelopment Project The Stoney Nakoda Nations (‘SNN’ or ‘Stoney Nakoda’) are writing in response to the March 12, 2021 letter from the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) regarding the designation request for the proposed Tent Mountain Mine Redevelopment Project (the Project) under subsection 9(1) of the Impact Assessment Act (IAA). To assist the Agency in their submission to the Minister, the IAAC requested that SNN provide responses to a series of questions. A response to each question is provided below. 1. Describe whether and how the potential adverse effects of the Project could result in changes to your community’s: a. physical and cultural heritage (e.g. ceremonial sites, burial sites, cultural landscapes) b. current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes (e.g. hunting, fishing, trapping) c. structures, sites or things of historical, archaeological, paleontological or architectural significance (e.g. artifacts, important historic buildings or symbols) • The SNN are comprised of the Bearspaw First Nation, Chiniki First Nation, and Wesley First Nation that are situated on: the Stoney Indian Reserves #142, 143, 144 at Morley, Alberta; the Eden Valley Indian Reserve #216; the Rabbit Lake Indian Reserve #142B; and the Bighorn Indian Reserve #144A. The SNN were signatories to Treaty No. 7 in 1877. • SNN traditional territory or Iyarhe Nakoda Makochi extends over 50,000 square kilometers of Alberta, and into British Columbia and Saskatchewan covering a multitude of landscapes including prairies, foothills, and the Rocky Mountains. • The SNN have sites of physical and cultural heritage within the vicinity of the Project area. Sites across this landscape include, but are not limited to, historic trails, campsites, hunting areas, fishing waters, ceremonial and spiritual sites, trade routes, burial sites, and gathering areas. • Members of the SNN have and are participating in traditional and cultural practices in areas affected by the Project. Continued access to locations where cultural practices, traditions and customs can persist 1 and where knowledge can be passed on to the younger generations is central to the maintenance of SNN culture. • The Project area and the landscape that surrounds are marked by Stoney Nakoda Place Names including, but not limited to, Crowsnest Mountain (Raven’s Nest): gar-ee-ga-ma-be, Frank slide area: ta-bay-hun-wi-da or ee-pa-bin-hre-pa, Oldman River Headwaters (where the Oldman plays by the river): ee-sha-gwin-wop-da, Seven Sisters Mountain: sha-gwi-bin-ee-ya-hay, Willow Creek (Wolf Creek): sikto-gay-ja-wa-pda, Lee Lakes (Turtles crossings towards Beaver Mines): wi-cha-sta-mna, Old Man River Mountain-on the north side: sikto-gay-ja-mo-thna-n-gay. Stoney Nakoda use is extensive and ongoing despite conditions imposed by continuous development within this area. 2. Please describe whether and how the Project may result in changes to your community’s health, social or economic conditions (e.g. employment opportunities, access to goods and services, economic development, access to health-care services). • Socio-economic issues, health and emergency services, safety risks and planning are of central concern to SNN. Direct engagement and consultation with the SNN is required to gather information on a community-by-community basis and to assess the extent to which the Project may result in changes to community health, social and economic conditions. 3. Please describe whether and how the Project may impact your community’s rights as protected under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. • The Chiefs and Councils of the SNN have the authority to protect the collective rights and interests of the SNN as recognized by Treaty 7 and the Natural Resources Transfer Act, 1930, and protected by Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 (collectively known as “Section 35 Rights”). • SNN use, rights and interests pertain to traditional territorial lands described in the Stoney Aboriginal Title Case filed in Alberta in 2003; this includes areas within the Crowsnest Pass of Alberta, extending into the Elk Valley in the southeastern Kootenay region of British Columbia which were used continuously and occupied on a joint or shared basis with other indigenous groups. • The Project is within an area used for the exercise of SNN Section 35 Rights and in a location associated with hunting, harvesting, ceremonial and sacred sites and other cultural practices. The proposed development activities have the potential to damage sites of cultural heritage and significance, adversely impact the availability of traditional use resources and limit access to land for the practice of Section 35 Rights. • The Project is located within an area where SNN have unextinguished Section 35 Rights, and where SNN demonstrate current and continuous use of the land and resources, as well as traditional use, occupancy, and traditional knowledge that is documented through SNN oral tradition and histories, cultural, archaeological, and historical material, stories, songs, and SNN Place Names. Discussion of how the Project may impact places that are integral to SNN’s distinct culture requires serious consideration. • SNN have a spiritual and cultural connection with harvesting resources, vegetation and wildlife, water, fish, and fish habitat. The Project area is located within an environmentally significant landscape which functions as critical habitat, corridors, and ranges for many of these culturally significant fish, game, and plant species which are also hunted, trapped and harvested by the Stoney Nakoda people under Section 35 Rights; these species, and the practice of harvesting, are grounded in SNN culture, support food sovereignty, mental and physical health and well-being, spirituality and ceremony, and the generational transmission of traditional knowledge and practices. 2 The Stoney Nakoda have unextinguished Aboriginal and Treaty Rights within the area proposed for the Project. The Stoney Nakoda affirm that the physical activities associated to the proposed development, as planned, have the potential to cause adverse effects to SNN Section 35 Rights and to the cultural, social and ceremonial components of those rights. As such, the SNN strongly appeal for a federal designation of the Tent Mountain Mine Redevelopment Project. We look forward to engaging with the IAAC on this very important project that is within Stoney Nakoda Traditional Territory. Sincerely, <Original signed by> Dean Cherkas, P.Ag. Director, Consultation Stoney Tribal Administration Cc: Chief Darcy Dixon, Bearspaw First Nation Chief Aaron Young, Chiniki First Nation Chief Clifford Poucette, Wesley First Nation Ryan Robb, Stoney Tribal Administration William Snow, Stoney Consultation Manager Cathy Arcega, Stoney Consultation Gavin Ear, Bearspaw Consultation Conal Labelle, Chiniki Consultation Chris Goodstoney, Wesley Consultation Larry Daniels Jr., Bearspaw Consultation for Eden Valley Barry Wesley, Chiniki Consultation for Big Horn Jennifer Bobrovitz, Stoney Archives 3 .