TransCanada faces aboriginal protest

A northern Alberta aboriginal community that grabbed world headlines during the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics is back on the protest trail, challenging TransCanada plans for a C$938 million natural gas pipeline through its territory.

Unable to negotiate a land claim with the Canadian government over almost 70 years, the Lubicon First Nation caused a stir at TransCanada’s annual meeting April 25.

Members of the community and their supporters demanded outside the meeting that they be consulted before TransCanada starts construction of its 1.5 billion cubic feet per day North Central Corridor pipeline from the gas fields of northern Alberta and British Columbia.

Inside the meeting, one TransCanada shareholder told Chief Executive Officer Hal Kvisle he is concerned that the North Central Corridor project could face delays and aboriginal opposition similar to those that have slowed the Mackenzie Gas Project.

Another investor said he was not happy with the way TransCanada has been dealing with the Lubicon.

Kvisle said TransCanada is committed to working with aboriginals, but said the company has no role in negotiating land claims.

The Lubicon blockaded roads in their region during the 1988 Olympics, shutting off access to well sites by oil companies, and only abandoned the protest when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, carrying machine guns, removed the barriers.

—Gary Park