Considering the circumstances, Lesser Slave Lake MLA Pearl Calahasen’s appearance at the Slave Lake & District Chamber of Commerce meeting last Tuesday was a relatively tame affair. She and her team explained their positions on the oilpatch conflict between contractors and First Nations, leaving time for a few questions and that was it.
It’s probably fair to say nobody went away satisfied, but neither were any hard feelings exacerbated.
A month earlier the Chamber had taken the unprecedented step of demanding that Calahasen resign. They cited her lack of intervention and leadership on the issue of ‘discriminatory business practices’ on Crown land.
Given that background, there was a fair-sized turnout at the meeting to hear whatever Calahasen had to say. As it turned out, Calahasen’s most significant pronouncement had to do with what the issue is not.
“This is not about race,” she said.
Dave Redgate, the President of the Northern Alberta Contractors’ Association, echoed her sentiments.
“Race isn’t the issue,” he said.
Redgate stated that roadblocks aren’t the issue either. Access to Crown land is the issue, he said.
But anyone hoping to hear that the province is taking a firm position on anything regarding access to Crown land, they were disappointed. They were likewise disappointed that Calahasen’s office has yet to arrange a meeting or meetings with all concerned parties.
“We need to understand each others’ needs,” says M.D. #124 Reeve Sheila Foley. “We need to sit around the same table.”
Foley says if the province can’t seem to organize such a meeting, “maybe the rest of us have to.” She was not convinced by the assurances of Calahasen assistant Paddy Meade that “a broader meeting of all the stakeholders,” is on the way. Calahasen started the meeting by stating how seriously the premier takes the issue and reiterated her optimism that a solution can be found that benefits all parties. Then she introduced her team of experts and let them talk details.
Assistant Deputy Minister Ken Boutillier explained the “very strong” feeling among chiefs and councils of having been left out of the energy wealth that northern Alberta has yielded. “They’re under pressure from their members and looking for revenue streams,” he said.
Boutillier also advised the audience that there is “an emerging line of reasoning” in the high courts of the land that consultation with First Nations is necessary. In particular, high courts have ruled in a number of cases that any activity that might possibly affect the treaty rights of First Nations requires consultation. That creates an “uncertain business climate,” he said, that may well have prompted a decline in investment in oil and gas exploration in some areas.
On the issue of declining oilpatch activity, David Coombs of the Department of Energy told Chamber members that as of July 1 of 2002 there were only 238 drilling applications within a 30-mile radius of five selected Indian Reserves in the Lesser Slave Lake area. That’s compared to an average of nearly 800 in the previous three years in the same area. He said he suspects, but does not know for sure, that the decline is due to many factors other than the dispute over access to Crown land.
Redgate’s response to that was that by studying only a small area around Slave Lake, the government “trivialized” the much broader issue of access to Crown land.
Kurt Sandstrom, a lawyer for Calahasen’s department, gave an overview of the legal ramifications of the situation. He cited certain cases in B.C. in which that ‘right of consultation’ led to industry being stopped in its tracks by B.C. Court of Appeals decisions. The implications cannot be ignored by Albertans, he said.
“If the Supreme Court says you have to consult; if you haven’t you’re probably dead right out of the chute.”
Not only that, but the duty to mitigate (potential negative impact) and compensate follows the duty to consult, Sandstrom said.
“Industry may have the same duty as the Crown, and may have to compensate, depending on the Supreme Court,” he said.
If anybody was hoping to hear that the province is simply going to put its foot down and make things work the way they used to work, they were disappointed. Local realtor Ken Giblin demanded that the government do just that, but didn’t get the response he was hoping for.
“If it’s Crown land, step up to the plate and make a decision,” he said.
Responding, Cala- hasen affirmed that Crown land does indeed belong to the Crown and nobody else. However, she said, “when people assert rights on our land, we have to deal with those.”
On the issue of blatantly illegal activity in the oilpatch, Calahasen repeated her earlier advice to call the RCMP. She said despite rumours, there have been no complaints to the RCMP about bribery or extortion in the oilpatch.
Local businessman Kevin Walker responded to that by mentioning a report in which an RCMP member claimed not to be able to act in the matter of roadblocks without direction from the province.
“We don’t tell the police what to do,” said Calahasen.
Redgate offered that in fact there have been roadblocks on lease roads and that in fact the RCMP have been called.
Responding, Sand- strom admitted that the RCMP are hesitant to intervene where there are roadblocks on lease roads (as opposed to provincial highways) “because there are constitutional issues.”
Redgate’s final remarks were that roadblocks aren’t the real issue – that remains access to Crown land.
Contacted later in the week, Reeve Foley said she is disappointed on the whole with the meeting. It confirmed her impression that Calahasen isn’t the right person to be handling the issue on behalf of the province. Premier Ralph Klein ought to be in charge himself, she said.
“I don’t think she addressed the concerns of the people who live in this area,” Foley said. “Obviously it’s beyond her strength at this time. Unfortunately that’s my feeling.”

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