Indigenous communities along the route for the newly announced West Coast oil pipeline were given just two months for consultations on whether the pipeline should be designated a project of national interest — and that was still more than the government had planned.
At first, the consultations were to take place over one month. They were extended to two months after Indigenous leaders raised concerns about the tight timeline for the newly-named Pacific Link pipeline in Albryas.
A summary of those consultations posted online by the federal government says Indigenous groups decried a lack of information about the project, which they said prevented them from fully assessing its impact.
Prime Minister Mark Carney promised his major projects agenda would not interfere with Canada’s obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Indigenous leaders have warned his government risks violating their rights with “national interest” designations through the Major Projects Office and the controversial Building Canada Act.
Carney said Thursday the pipeline has received the first national interest designation under that bill, which will streamline oversight and approvals.
The government said it will work over the coming year to complete consultations on the project itself, and to secure environmental safeguards, financing and Indigenous partnerships. It wants construction to begin in September 2027.
The Assembly of First Nations told The Canadian Press it has identified “many red flags” in the pipeline’s national interest designation and says the federal government appears to be predetermining outcomes and approving projects in advance of meaningful consultations.
“The government’s decision today is coming only 12 days after the consultation deadline. As we have said on many occasions, First Nations support economic development and prosperity for all, but not at the expense of our rights, the planet, and the government’s legal obligations to our people,” the statement says.
The United Nations declaration — which Canada adopted — outlines the need for free, prior and informed consent before decisions are made that could adversely affect the rights and lands of Indigenous communities and people. Indigenous communities also have recognized rights under Section 35 of the Constitution.
Get weekly money news
The UN declaration is cited in the pipeline consultation document, which says Ottawa’s engagement efforts were designed with those principles in mind.
The consultation document says more than 130 Indigenous communities could be affected by the pipeline route and the Major Projects Office sent a letter in July to those communities to begin consultations.
Indigenous communities warned during those consultations that their participation would be held back by summer harvesting, ceremonial gatherings and wildfires, which threatened many communities and forced evacuations.
The office then extended the consultation deadline from Aug. 28 to Sept. 18.
A senior government official, speaking with reporters ahead of Thursday’s announcement on the condition they not be named, said it’s likely the national interest designation will be challenged in court.
The document says the office held over 140 meetings with representatives from more than 110 Indigenous organizations and communities.
During those meetings, many community leaders said they lacked information they needed to make informed decisions — things like routing, engineering and design, environmental effects, marine shipping, emergency responses and impacts on Aboriginal and treaty rights.
Those concerns were cited both by communities that backed the project and those that didn’t.
Despite the compressed timeline, the federal document says the Major Projects Office is satisfied that it has provided a meaningful opportunity for consultations, and that further questions can be addressed as they arise.
-
![]()
Calls to vote continue with advance polls open in Alberta referendum -
![]()
City of Edmonton helps businesses be more inclusive with ‘Rainbow Registered’ -
![]()
‘Movement is medicine’: Edmonton women foster reconciliation with fitness -
![]()
Transgender Albertans concerned with wrong name, gender on referendum mail-in ballots
“The GIC is satisfied that these processes provide an appropriate framework through which potential adverse impacts on Aboriginal and treaty rights, including specific concerns already raised in consultation, can be further addressed before any final federal authorizations are issued,” the document says.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak has said staff in the Major Projects Office do not understand how to work with First Nations communities and that “junior staffers” aren’t helping to build relationships.
“They have a lot of work to do,” she told a news conference in Ottawa last week.
She also said CEO Dawn Farrell has been unavailable to meet with leadership, including at Assembly of First Nations gatherings.
Cold Lake First Nations Chief Kelsey Jacko said while Carney has talked about building a new relationship with First Nations and partnering on major projects development, the pipeline announcement Thursday does not reflect those intentions.
Jacko said that even though his territory is situated in the oilsands, it has been left out of discussions that could affect lands and treaty rights.
“Yesterday the Treaty 6 chiefs shared grand entry with the prime minister, and I spoke to him briefly and invited him again to our nation,” said Jacko, referring to Carney’s participation in an event to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Wednesday.
“Today, the leaders of the Nations and communities that will be heavily impacted should have been in the room. This runs right through our territory.”
Fort McKay First Nation Chief Raymond Powder said he was feeling both excited and concerned about the pipeline’s designation.
“We’re excited that we get the opportunity to be a participant on the equity stakeholders and also really, really seeing the area for Fort McKay First Nation to continue to sustain the growth in our nation,” he said after the announcement.
“The areas of concern, of course, is always the challenge of the ecosystems and really being harmonious with the environment and balancing with the economy.”
He said he has been working with the federal and provincial governments on the consultation process and described it as meaningful.
“We’ve had some respectful conversations,” he said.
“Of course there’s some complexities and some challenges and we’re really addressing those with the federal and provincial governments and my brothers and sisters in the five First Nations within this region.”
— With files from Nick Murray in Ottawa and Fakiha Baig in Fort McMurray, The Canadian Press
2 months too much
book
face
@JJ, Global has certain key words they automatically delete a post on.
One such word i have recorded is ‘w0ke’. I had to substitute o with a zero to get it through.
This pipeline has been on the table for years now. The Assembly of First Nations told The Canadian Press it has identified “many red flags” in the pipeline’s national interest….. That sounds like they haven’t been blindsided by this then.So now’s the time to put those concerns on the table! How much more time is needed?
that does not give them enough time to shovel all that cash into their new pick up trucks. lol, yuk, yuk
Why does Global News keep deleting my comments on this site. My comments are educational and are intended to educate the racists on this site who accuse First Nations of living off taxpayers money. The racists on here don’t know the truth of what the Treaties stand for! They need to be educated. Please restore my comments!
If they OD in drugs then it’s money well spent
We hope you’re doing well.
Could you do us a favor? Thank you very much for seeing our letter of complaint.This was unhealthy and unsafe. Is it qualified? Check out？ A Chinese agency company and workers had been evading taxes. They did not file overseas taxes. They paid wages in money, But they did not apply for their T4A.(from2023year-2025year.) All income must not be declared. Is it qualified? Check out？
We worked for a company in Ontario that specializes in tax sales. The owner originally operated as a corporation but later transferred the business into his own name to evade taxes. He falsely claimed business properties as his owner-occupied residence and intentionally delayed his tax filings by one to two years. Furthermore, his corporation reports zero income, and we are paid entirely in cash without receiving any T4A slips. Is this business structure and practice legal in ON? 790 Hwy 6Caledonia, ON N3W 1N6; 61 Millbank CtThornhill, ON L4J 6C1.
Would you please help us ? Thank you very much for seeing our letter of complaint.Many Chinese agencies companies and workers had been evading taxes. Many Chinese agencies companies and workers did not have SIN cards and health cards . This was unsafe and unhealthy. Inspection? Watching over these cameras? With had not SIN cards and health cards policy ?(from 2023year-2025year).
Many Chinese real estate agents make money by investing in OTS properties and engage in tax evasion by underreporting or they were not applying for T4. If you check in their bank accounts , you’ll see they have very little declared income in Canada and they did not apply for T4, They were able to invest in real estate transactions. Many Chinese real estate agents profit through the (OTS). They had not lived at 61 MILLBANK CRT, THORNHILL — they use these properties purely for investment and profit purposes. They did not report this income to the tax authorities. They were waiting for one or two years after flipping the property for a profit. They lived at those houses , You just check their house. You can even investigate at night. They register companies for property investment purposes and engage in illegal tax evasion. You could investigate whether they have actually lived at MILLBANK CRT, THORNHILL, This was related to their illegal tax evasion activities. For example: 61 Millbank Ct Thornhill, ON L4J 6C1 ; 790 Hwy 6 Caledonia, ON N3W 1N6 (Hamilton) .
We did not had SIN cards now, We’ve paid for our cash, We want to apply for T4A . We want to file a claim with IRCC. They’ve been deceiving us , Do we send to the （Attorney General of Canada）;（PPSC）;（Supreme Court of Canada）, We will appeal our not SIN card &T4A to the Supreme Court. ( from 2026 to 2028 year). Do send our email ?
Regards :
Complaint Letter ：We did not had SIN card & chinese workers
Doesn’t take longer than two months to cut a big cheque to the band as they always do. Just put enough zeros on it so they can hoard it for themselves and give none to their community. Status quo business deal in Canada.
I post educational comments on here explaining the Treaties and their status in Canada and the wealth they created for Canada with very little in return.
But my posts are always deleted and racist comments are allowed to stand.
Who is running this robot site anyway? The Republicans? Whose creating division in Canada?
Read the actual files on the Energy East consultations. Saw the ridiculous amount of people flown in and accomdated. Saw the bill to both the developers and the goverment. We are talking thousands of people. The developer consortium pulled the plug because it was insane having to spend so much money to consult with so many. Did not see any indigenous Envirmental Engineers or Geologists.
Who cares.
Should be 2 days…
Can you believe all of these white trash pussies wearing masks in Kamloops. It’s good to know that they’re so scared that they have to hide their identities 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Lol the NAZl copycat troll is extra upset these days. He’s tired of me calling him out for being a pathetic loser with no life and it’s eating away at him 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
They should go to school & get Grade 2 & get a government job & pay TAXES, otherwise, shut the F up & go back in the woods a million miles away> Cut off Gov money & force the welfare no brain idiots to go to work.
The apocalypse is coming, prepare
TIME THESE Indigenous groups WERE PUT OUT TO PASTURE FOR GOOD !!! PEOPLE ARE ABSOLUTELY FED UP WITH THERE GOD LIKE ATTITUDE !!! DID THEY CREATE THE WORLD, THAT THEY HAVE ALL THIS CONTROL ? I PUT AN END TO THIS B/ S NONSENSE IMMEDIATELY, IF I BECAME P/M TOMORROW
Chugs don’t matter! Let’s get rid of them.
It is in the best interests of all Canadian to move forward and quickly given the current US problems. Environmental issues will always be there and must be of concern and taken care of but it should not delay or stop the process.
We have to get shed of the old Canadian habit of talking every new project to death for years and then often just not doing anything because, of course, someone in that process objects. Let’s move on, enough already.
15%…are they buying in? ….or is it being given to them?
They don’t care. They just want to know how much more free money they will get.
Show them the money and they’ll bend and spread azz cheeks wide open, waiting for the white dck
Honestly, Carney declaring this a national interest project is his knee jerk reaction to the October 19 vote. Nothing more and definitely not a cause for celebration.
There’s still a lot of legal hoops to jump before any shovel even touches the ground.
And I bet FNs will tie all this in courts forever while still expecting $40B a year of OUR hard earned money so they never have to get a job and pay their fair share.
DRIPA is provincial and applies specifically to BC, not all of Canada.
UNDRIP coined by UN, not by Canada.
Bill C-15 is the Canadian equivalent of this mess. Many Bills and discussions later, this thing did nothing but create division and stalled any economic development.
So far, UNDRIP has crippled Canadian laws.
Someone needs to finally stand up to the freeloaders and tell them no more money for you unless you stop being selfish and start considering ALL Canadians.
40 Billion a year in handouts coming out of taxpayers’ pockets not enough for you?
Two months is long enough, sign on the dotted line.
Regarding Native consultation, there are really 2 major issues here.
What is “Proper Consultation” ?
This needs to be very clearly defined. The Native side will never do this, as it gives them an endless reason to tear up agreements that have already been negotiated with great difficultly.
You must deal with us NATION TO NATION.
Everyone knows who the Federal and Provincial governments are. Who speaks for the Native side?
AFN?
Provincial chiefs?
Elected chiefs?
Hereditary Chiefs?
I must acknowledge the Indian Act Forces Native bands ( over 160 of them in Canada!) to have an elected Government. Also Elected Chiefs have jurisdiction over Treaty lands while “Hereditary Chiefs” feel they have absolute power for decisions over “Traditional Lands” WE can only present one face for them to deal with, yet Traditional chiefs appear to be able to change at will.
Here in Ontario the SIX NATIONS have perfected this “negotiation” technique. Law requires Our Governments to deal with elected Native Governments. We make a deal, then the Hereditary Chiefs step in and say “You lied to us ,We were not “Properly consulted” Then the very elected members we negotiated with say the same thing and demand more.
Don’t believe it?
Look at what happened in the last 2 negotiations for real estate development close to the Six Nations reserve.
How can you respectfully negotiate GOVERNMENT TO GOVERNMENT when the other side keeps changing the rules and the players?
you have to put a time limit on this kind of project. some people will drag it out for generations, and then complain they weren’t give enough time
You wonder why the rest of Canada feels they way they do towards them.
Its just extortion so start out with our final offer and gove them a day to sign it.
Dont sign get nothing, you were consulted
the government’s legal obligations to our people,
Which translates too, show us the money. My god they are parasites!!
2 months too long
Heh TL. Blow it out you ass!
If you have valid objections, they likely already are documented, 2 months is sufficient time to gather the information together.
Keepers of the earth, knowledge keeper’s. Hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha 🤣
And they asked, where’s the ON switch?
1 month was “tight”. Double that to 2 months, and it’s passed off as “just 2 months”. I remember when The Canadian Press was respectable.
The duty is to consult. Nothing about listening…. After all since when does this government ever listen to anyone but themselves. Lol
So what happens after all that cash passes over and they say, no to the pipeline? Carney shrugs his shoulders, wringes his hands, winks at his eco supporters and wistfully says the project is not approved?
After the Alberta vote of course.
Boy, that does not give them all enough time back up that brand new pick up truck to a government office and shovel in all those consult reconciliation tax dollars into the box. Not really fair, eh. Ugh…..
Considering what Canada is dealing with from the neighbor to the South this needed to be done yesteryear. Time to do what is good for Canada.
A 2 month cap on hand-wringing is a huge leap forward. I wondered what Carney would do for pushing development forward, and as a stout conservative I feel this is the path of least resistance. It would require constitutional change to eliminate consulting with FN, but we can limit the duration of the consultation phase to keep the ball rolling. Expect more blockages and radical protests by FN and extreme leftists, and develop the legal tools to deal with them to get our economy back where it should be. Especially in a time that the US is threatening our economic sovereignty. I don’t see FN piping up to help us move projects forward, so it’s time to step around.
@TL- why do you call it racist for us to stand up for our country? THIS IS MY LAND AS WELL AND I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE!!
The FN is racist for persecuting the white man all these decades for money money money!
We owe the FN NOTHING! If I am deemed racist cause I want my country to prosper RESPONSABLY then I’m a racist. If I’m a racist cause I am against the FN and their stand, then so be it. Would rather be a racist and see my country and ALL of its people prosper, then watch as one group holds this country hostage and drags it down into third world ghettos and poverty camps.
Love all the racism on here. Thank you Trump and Smith for making it seem ok. The FNs are the only ones caring about the environment. There’s no business case for another pipeline, Smith and the oil & gas industry have successfully brainwashed all of you into thinking we need another one, even though they know the industry is sunsetting so they’re not going to invest in this risky venture themselves. Why not expand what we have instead of risking taxpayer dollars when oil demand has already peaked, according to the largest refiner in China. The world is transitioning and we’re stuck in 1980. Funny how you all are against FN or anyone else getting help from the govt, but LOVE when billionaires get subsidies/welfare in the billions. Not enough wildfires for you all??? We’re risking ruining our environment thinking this is a cash cow, but there’s little evidence that’s even going to happen by the time this economic monstrosity is built. But it’s great for the executives at oil & gas, right? Celebration time.
It doesn’t matter people. Nothing is getting built. You think the government that has been hobbling our oil industry is going to let Albertans do anything? To little to late!
they should not even be involved. this has to end. indians are nothing more then freeloaders.
i am a full on Denier. no bodies no Truth.
Phuck first nations. Consult squat.
The duty to consult is a constitutional obligation. Not sure why anyone would be angry about a two month delay.
First Nations are owed nothing
The welfare dollars for all these natives with their hands out has to come from somewhere
Oh no. Consultation isn’t a veto. We need to eliminate adoption of this UNDRP infestation
Yet more liberal and FN grift. What a horrible joke. Imagine if all the money this and the other schemes is/were meant to embezzle was used to tackle child suicide and drinking water issues on the reserves.
wear your headdress. hahahahaha hahahaha hahahaha hahahaha 😂
should be NO consultations from FNs
They’ll hold it up for using a bargaining chip in their favor just like every project! They will even be allowed to rally/protest, raise cain, burn the Canadian flag, etc., where as Whitey and others who aren’t FN are condemned for doing the same in opposition of FN!! WHAT IS CANADA COMING TO PM CARNEY AS YOU CONDONE WHAT FN DOES?? PITY FOR NO COMMON SENSE, SPLITSVILLE AND RESENTMENT OF FN!!!
How many more YEARS of consultations are required? And more importantly for Canadians, who the hell is paying for them? No wonder Canada has lost the confidence of private sector investors. Thirteen years to get the Kitimat LNG project approved. That’s before the shovels even went into the ground. What new name, new game? No wonder there is FN resentment in our country.
Give us a day, we’ll ask the turkey island gods what they think and get back to you
@ try this,
We stated comments and it would be nice to have the truth about the treaties brought out and the government needs to work at following the treaties to the benefit of all Canadians. Enough of the interpretation of the what the treaties state and actually do what they say!
Now in the snowflake world we have today this will never happen and there will be many court challenges coming out soon from the First Nations as they were not consulted enough and never will be. It is to bad that the First Nations people do not stand up to their own leaders( Chiefs ) and start being proud of who they are.
These speeds are unimaginable….for a liberal
Canada is dead. Thank a liberal voter
FN’s need to mind their own business and stay out of adult affairs.
No need for consultation. Get this done!
Small special interest groups like the natives should not be consulted. The Liberals have put them in charge. No wonder Canada is going downhill.
Canadians did not agree to be part of UNDRIP. We made treaties with our natives. They do not have rights in this case. The treaties all state that the natives will not hinder the economic use of our land. It clearly states that their rights to the land only go for subsistence hunting and fishing, if it does not interfere with other uses. Section 35 needs to be repealed.
The Courts need to back all Canadians, not the special interest groups.
AFN are not reconciling to the fact that they are not in charge. They need to build relationships with the majority.
The treaty lands were ceded to Canada and Jacko needs to understand that fact. – They keep talking treaty rights, but they do not understand what those rights really are. – education is key.
Why would the Fort McKay be equity stakeholders? What money are they bringing to the table? More pan-handling.