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UCP to vote on bathroom laws, land acknowledgements, but not separatism
Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
Date: 2026-10-27 18:10:54.0
Tags: [Alberta, Governance, Energy, Indigenous, Justice]Members of Alberta's governing United Conservative Party will debate and vote on 22 policy resolutions at their annual general meeting in Calgary from November 27 to 29, 2026. The proposed resolutions include measures regarding public washroom policies and updates to the Alberta Human Rights Act, the discontinuation of First Nations land acknowledgements and blocking of indigenous land claims, mandatory byelections for floor-crossing MLAs, and opposition to federal net zero and carbon capture mandates. While the party's governing caucus is not bound by the member-approved resolutions, past meetings have resulted in implemented policy and legislative changes under Premier Danielle Smith's administration.
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Alberta introduces new flag rules and restrictions for all schools starting in 2027
Source: Alberta - Provincial Politics
Date: 2026-10-24 00:27:35.0
Tags: [Alberta, Education, Governance, Indigenous, Culture]The Government of Alberta announced new provincial rules restricting flag displays across all public, separate, francophone, charter, and accredited independent schools starting January 4, 2027. Under the policy led by Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides and Premier Danielle Smith, the flags of Canada and Alberta must be flown outside during the school year, while municipal, sports team, Franco-Albertan, and Vatican City flags are permitted. Other flags—including First Nations, Métis Settlement, foreign national, and the Royal Union Flag—are restricted to specified days and cannot remain displayed for more than 14 consecutive days. School boards may apply for exemptions only for flags that do not constitute a political, social, or ideological statement and reflect school identity.
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'Let's do it right': N.W.T. downstream leaders and advocates on Alta. oilsands tailings release
Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-10-22 17:08:09.0
Tags: [National, Alberta, Environment, Energy, Resources, Indigenous]Indigenous communities, advocacy groups like Alternatives North, and downstream leaders in the Northwest Territories are calling on federal and territorial governments to review Suncor's proposed oilsands tailings release into the Athabasca River system. Critics cite major scientific data gaps, potential health risks to communities dependent on municipal supplies from Lake Athabasca and Great Slave Lake, and the inadequacy of the 2015 N.W.T.-Alberta Bilateral Water Management Agreement. N.W.T. Environment and Climate Change Minister Jay Macdonald stated that the territory opposes the treat-and-release plan until scientific uncertainties are resolved, though primary regulatory authority rests with the federal government and the Alberta Energy Regulator.
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Alberta to stay in Canada; PM Mark Carney, First Nations and leaders hail unofficial results
Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
Date: 2026-10-20 18:32:10.0
Tags: [Alberta, National, Governance, Indigenous, Immigration]In an unofficial provincial referendum held in Alberta, 75.5 per cent of voters rejected separation by choosing to remain in Canada, while 24.5 per cent voted in favour of option two. Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith discussed intergovernmental cooperation on shared priorities, including immigration, following the results. Indigenous leaders, including Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi of Treaty 8 First Nation and Chief Samuel Crowfoot of Siksika Nation, emphasized the importance of upholding treaties and protecting rights while noting ongoing political divisions.
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Métis leaders in oilsands region say they haven’t been consulted on proposed Pacific Link pipeline
Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-10-15 12:00:00.0
Tags: [National, Alberta, British Columbia, Energy, Indigenous, Infrastructure]Métis leaders representing six communities in the Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo region have accused Prime Minister Mark Carney and the federal government of failing to consult them regarding the proposed Pacific Link pipeline. The proposed 1,000,000 barrel-per-day oil pipeline—designated as being in the national interest under the Building Canada Act—aims to connect Alberta's oilsands to a deepwater port near Delta, British Columbia, with approvals targeted for September 2027 and operations slated for 2032 or 2033. While the federal government has engaged First Nations leadership and announced a 10 per cent Indigenous ownership stake, local Métis presidents including Ruby Ladouceur of Fort Chipewyan Métis Nation and Stella Lavallee of Willow Lake Métis Nation expressed concerns over potential environmental impacts and the lack of inclusion in project discussions.
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Alberta Métis leaders oppose exclusion, not Pacific Link, as Cold Lake takes Ottawa to court
Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
Date: 2026-10-14 14:05:34.0
Tags: [Alberta, National, Energy, Infrastructure, Indigenous, Resources]Six Métis nations in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, along with the Cold Lake First Nations (which filed a Federal Court application), are challenging federal and provincial authorities over their exclusion from consultations regarding the proposed Pacific Link pipeline. Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced the pipeline as a project of national interest on October 1, 2026, to carry Alberta oil to the British Columbia coast with a groundbreaking targeted for September 1, 2027. Indigenous leaders criticize the lack of consultation, noting that equity ownership stakes and co-development terms were offered without proper engagement with Métis communities, violating Section 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982 and the Crown's duty to consult.
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Alberta First Nation taking Ottawa to court over West Coast pipeline
Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
Date: 2026-10-09 00:20:48.0
Tags: [Alberta, National, Indigenous, Energy, Environment, Infrastructure]Cold Lake First Nations has filed an application in Federal Court challenging the federal and provincial decision to designate the $35 billion to $43 billion Pacific Link oil pipeline project as being in the national interest. The proposed pipeline, backed by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, would transport up to one million barrels of crude a day from Bruderheim, Alberta, to Delta, British Columbia, while incorporating the Pathways Project carbon capture network near Cold Lake. Chief Kelsey Jacko argues that Ottawa breached Canadian law by failing to consult the community meaningfully regarding the pipeline designation and the underground carbon storage risks on their traditional territory.
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Cold Lake First Nations seeking judicial review of Pacific Link pipeline designation
Source: CBC Politics
Date: 2026-10-08 19:37:43.0
Tags: [National, Alberta, British Columbia, Indigenous, Energy, Infrastructure]Cold Lake First Nations filed an application for judicial review in Federal Court challenging the federal government's decision to designate the Pacific Link pipeline as a project in the national interest under the Building Canada Act. Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced the fast-tracking of the West Coast oil pipeline project with the goal of completing reviews and consultations over the next year to begin construction by next September. Cold Lake First Nations Chief Kelsey Jacko stated that his community was excluded from consultations on the designation despite being situated in the oilsands region. The legal challenge argues that the designation breaches Canadian law, is inconsistent with the honour of the Crown, and fails to account for adverse effects on Treaty No. 6 rights and cumulative oilsands development impacts.
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Water, toxic waste and opportunity: Indigenous leaders react to Carney's pipeline plan
Source: CBC Politics
Date: 2026-10-08 08:00:00.0
Tags: [National, British Columbia, Alberta, Energy, Environment, Indigenous]Prime Minister Mark Carney's federal government designated the Pacific Link pipeline project—designed to transport one million barrels of oil daily from Bruderheim, Alberta, to Roberts Bank, British Columbia—as a project in the national interest, targeting construction to begin within a year and operations by 2032. Indigenous leaders, including Sumas First Nation Chief Dalton Silver, Treaty 8 Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi, and Fort McKay First Nation Chief Raymond Powder, have raised critical concerns regarding tight consultation timelines, potential environmental threats to water, fish, and wildlife, unresolved oilsands tailings management, and equitable community equity participation offering at least 10 per cent ownership.
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Indigenous, local leaders optimistic about new pipeline despite “host of issues” Carney says Federal government is yet to address
Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
Date: 2026-10-05 16:03:04.0
Tags: [National, Alberta, British Columbia, Energy, Infrastructure, Environment, Indigenous]Prime Minister Mark Carney, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, and Pembina Pipeline Corp. CEO Scott Burrows announced that the Pacific Link Pipeline (formerly West Coast Oil Pipeline) has been officially listed as a project of national interest under the Building Canada Act. The project aims to export an additional one million barrels of Albertan oil per day to Asian markets, generate over $20 billion annually in GDP, create 140,000 jobs, and provide a 10 per cent ownership stake to Indigenous communities in British Columbia and Alberta through an accelerated single federal regulatory review process. However, the initiative faces ongoing concerns from local Indigenous groups—including Fort McKay First Nation, Mikisew Cree First Nation, and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation—regarding unresolved legacy issues, carbon capture and storage technologies like the Pathways Project, mine water release, and effluents regulations tied to a trilateral memorandum of understanding aiming to double regional oil production to eight million barrels per day within a decade.
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‘Silence could be consent’: Alberta First Nations push to get out vote for referendum
Source: Global News Politics
Date: 2026-10-04 12:33:40.0
Tags: [Alberta, Indigenous, Governance, Justice]Alberta First Nations, including the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations and Treaty 8 Sovereign First Nations, are mobilizing get-out-the-vote campaigns for the province's October 19, 2026 referendum on provincial separation and constitutional matters. The mobilization follows a successful legal challenge by First Nations in May 2026 where a judge quashed a citizen-initiated petition for a separation vote due to a failure in the constitutional duty to consult, which the United Conservative Party government under Premier Danielle Smith subsequently appealed while pushing forward with the referendum anyway. Turnout for the referendum is projected by Elections Alberta to reach 85 per cent, surpassing previous provincial records, with over 652,000 mail-in ballots already dispatched.
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Separatist, environment, and some First Nation groups speak out against new Alberta-B.C. pipeline
Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
Date: 2026-10-02 20:03:56.0
Tags: [National, Alberta, British Columbia, Infrastructure, Energy, Environment, Indigenous]Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced that the Pacific Link pipeline, proposed by Pembina Pipeline Corporation, has been designated a project of national interest, allowing it to be fast-tracked through Ottawa's major projects office with construction potentially starting in September. The pipeline faces strong opposition from Alberta separatists like Let Alberta Decide over public financing and timing, B.C. and Alberta First Nations including Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation and the Union of B.C. Indigenous Chiefs over lack of consultation and environmental impacts, and environmental groups like the Pembina Institute and Ecojustice over increased greenhouse gas emissions and risks to the Salish Sea.
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Indigenous groups given just 2 months to consult on Pacific Link pipeline designation
Source: Global News Politics
Date: 2026-10-01 22:48:12.0
Tags: [National, Alberta, British Columbia, Energy, Resources, Indigenous]The federal government has designated the Alberta-to-West Coast oil pipeline, now called Pacific Link, as a project of national interest under the Building Canada Act to fast-track its approvals. Indigenous communities along the 130-plus-community route were given an extended two-month consultation window ending September 18, 2026, though groups like the Assembly of First Nations and Cold Lake First Nations criticized the timeline and lack of detailed engineering and routing information. Prime Minister Mark Carney aims to begin construction by September 2027 to transport an additional one million barrels per day from the oil sands, while securing environmental safeguards, financing, and equity partnerships with groups such as Fort McKay First Nation.
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First Nations Chief threatens legal action against province if tailings water is released
Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
Date: 2026-09-21 15:59:11.0
Tags: [Alberta, Indigenous, Energy, Environment, Resources, Mining]Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam has threatened a 20-year legal battle against the Alberta government if provincial or federal regulators approve plans to treat and release oilsands mining wastewater from companies like Suncor Energy Inc. into the Athabasca watershed. The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and Mikisew Cree First Nation strongly oppose the "treat and release" approach for the 1.4 billion cubic meters of fluid tailings, citing severe local health concerns and threats to Treaty rights along the 1,230-kilometer river. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith stated that wastewater release is governed under federal jurisdiction and oilsands leases, while Environment Minister Grant Hunter maintains that treated mine water release is necessary to achieve site reclamation and return land to a self-sustaining boreal forest.
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An alternative to treat and release? Alberta to approve $4.6 million grant for tailings ponds water treatment research
Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
Date: 2026-09-17 18:10:50.0
Tags: [Alberta, Energy, Environment, Mining, Technology, Indigenous]Emissions Reduction Alberta offered a conditional $4.6 million grant to Tũ Nipi Water Solutions—an Indigenous-owned venture formed by Fort McKay Oil Services and BioLargo Canada based in the Fort McKay First Nation—to fund research and development of water-treatment solutions for tailings ponds in the Athabasca oilsands region. The funding, expected to roll out in early 2027 for closed-lab testing, aims to develop alternatives to controversial treat-and-release wastewater proposals for handling the more than 1.4 billion cubic metres of fluid tailings currently stored in the province. The initiative aligns with recommendations from Alberta's Oil Sands Mine Water Steering Committee and incorporates traditional knowledge alongside advanced cleantech applications.
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Health study begins examining potential oilsands impacts on Fort Chipewyan
Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-09-10 12:00:00.0
Tags: [National, Alberta, Indigenous, Healthcare, Environment, Energy]A 10-year, $12-million federally funded health study named Project Monument Hill has officially begun to examine potential links between oilsands developments and cancer rates among residents in the northern Alberta Indigenous community of Fort Chipewyan. Overseen by the Métis Nation, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, and the Mikisew Cree First Nation—with the federal government playing an observer role—third-party researchers will analyze current and historical health data, monitor environmental conditions, and evaluate traditional land use. The study follows decades of community concern regarding industrial projects upstream along the Athabasca River, such as Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine and Suncor Energy’s Fort Hills mine.
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Saddle Lake Cree Nation asserts treaty rights over access to gender-affirming care
Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
Date: 2026-09-09 21:56:42.0
Tags: [Alberta, Indigenous, Healthcare, Justice, Governance]Saddle Lake Cree Nation is asserting its sovereign treaty rights under the "medicine chest" clause of Treaty 6 to create protections for gender-affirming care on reserve lands and territories. The initiative directly challenges Alberta provincial legislation, specifically Bills 26, 27, and 29, which implemented restrictions on transgender youth regarding medical treatments, name and pronoun changes, and sports participation. Backed by Two-Spirit family physician Dr. James Makokis, the Nation plans to bring in Canadian-trained clinicians to provide uninterrupted medical services on reserve lands outside provincial jurisdiction.
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‘Environmental racism’: Fort Chipewyan residents protest proposed treat-and-release plan for tailings water
Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-09-09 12:00:00.0
Tags: [Alberta, National, Environment, Energy, Mining, Indigenous]Residents of Fort Chipewyan, Alberta—including members of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Mikisew Cree First Nation, and Fort Chipewyan Métis community—protested a proposed treat-and-release plan by Suncor Energy to discharge treated oilsands tailings water into the Athabasca River. Suncor aims to begin operating its water treatment plant and releasing treated tailings by 2030, a proposal supported by recommendations from the Alberta oilsands mine water steering committee to manage over 380 million cubic metres of mine water and 1.5 billion cubic metres of fluid tailings. Federal officials from the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Nature noted that no federal effluent regulation is currently in place for oilsands mines, meaning such operations remain subject to the general prohibition against releasing deleterious substances under Section 36(3) of the Fisheries Act.
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Premier's updated Alberta Day statement removing Indigenous land acknowledgement troubles Treaty 8 Grand Chief
Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
Date: 2026-09-02 16:04:02.0
Tags: [Alberta, Indigenous, Governance]Premier Danielle Smith's office released an updated Alberta Day statement that removed an initial Indigenous land acknowledgement and replaced it with a legacy focus on the province's economy and independent spirit. Treaty 8 Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi publicly criticized the removal as troubling and erasing, particularly amidst ongoing tensions regarding treaty rights and provincial separation discussions. Premier Smith characterized the alteration as a technical "glitch" committed by the public service during the posting process.
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Indigenous lawyer Leighton Grey garners separatist rally applause in Edmonton Saturday
Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
Date: 2026-08-30 21:34:58.0
Tags: [Alberta, Governance, Indigenous, Justice]Indigenous lawyer Leighton Grey spoke at a separatist rally outside the Alberta legislature ahead of an upcoming October 19 provincial referendum on separation, touching on debates surrounding the federal Clarity Act, the Indian Act of 1876, and legal challenges from Treaty 6, 7, and 8 First Nations. The Assembly of Treaty Chiefs previously requested the RCMP investigate Premier Danielle Smith's actions regarding separatism under Section 46 of the Canadian Criminal Code for alleged treason. Meanwhile, the provincial government amended the Citizen Initiative Act via Bill 14 to enable the binding referendum process.
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