Alberta First Nations hope for new chapter as Trans Mountain pipeline enables record oil output

Workers stop for lunch at the arena, one of many amenities and infrastructure projects the community of 700 has been able to finance through relationship with industry, in Fort McKay, Alta., on Thursday April 25, 2024. Chief Raymond Powder says while Indigenous communities did not have a say in developing the oilsands in the first place, now that they are here he is doing his best to take advantage of opportunities for his community.The $34 billion pipeline project from Alberta to the B.C.

The First Nations community is surrounded by industrial development, and the acrid scent of nearby oilsands facilities can be detected on the breeze. Band members like to point out the black, tarry-smelling soil that lines residents’ roads and driveways here — evidence of the rich bitumen deposits that lie so close to the surface.In Fort McKay, the complicated relationship that the oilsands industry has with Indigenous people is evident.

“But on the positive side of all of that, we’ve had the opportunity to grow our programs, grow our services, grow our infrastructure.”Story continues below advertisement “The problem is that this industry has such a stranglehold economically. But we cannot continue to say we need this for our economy, because there will be no economy if our province burns down this summer because of wildfires due to climate change.”

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