Fish Lake Manitoba Narrows

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Some Manitoba bands have asked the courts to quash a plan to build an oil pipeline through southern Manitoba, saying the federal government failed to consult with First Nations or offer compensation.

“You are not going anywhere with this oil until you sit down with us,” said Roseau River Chief Terry Nelson on Monday.

Roseau River and six other Treaty One bands filed an appeal for judicial review in federal court Friday, asking a judge to stall the TransCanada Keystone pipeline project until Ottawa holds proper consultations with the bands.

The First Nations hope to parlay those consultations into a funding deal that would give the bands an ongoing source of revenue, similar to property taxes collected on the pipeline by rural municipalities.

TransCanada’s pipeline will funnel oil from the Alberta oilsands, through the southern Prairies and down to the American midwest. That involves rebuilding an existing natural gas pipeline that already runs through much of western Manitoba, and construction of a new section from just east of Portage la Prairie to the American border.

It’s that new section that cuts through Treaty One territory, and could damage the bands’ fishing and hunting grounds, sacred burial sites and their ability to enlarge their reserves to the size promised them under the 1871 treaty.

The bands argue that Supreme Court decisions over the last several years oblige Ottawa to consult with First Nations, which the federal government failed to do, despite repeated requests from the bands.

Staff at the federal justice department and at the National Energy Board said they have not had time to review the appeal filed Friday.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=24184b4c-55ce-4aea-9bc5-3d9e63da6e5a&k=92430

www.fishlakemanitobanarrows.com