Leaders in Fort Good Hope, N.W.T., worry about how oil production is affecting the Mackenzie River
CBC
Some people in Fort Good Hope, N.W.T., say they're concerned about what oil extraction in Norman Wells is doing to the Mackenzie River, and they want more say in how the project is regulated.
That's what Fort Good Hope leaders told commissioners with The Canada Energy Regulator at an "oral Indigenous knowledge" hearing on the future of the Norman Wells field held in the community last week.
"We should be the ones making decisions on these questions, not Canada," Chief Collin Pierrot told commissioners.
The three-day hearing was called by The Canada Energy Regulator as part of its decision-making process on two development proposals from Imperial Oil late last year.
Imperial Oil is seeking permission to drill below the Mackenzie River to install a new bundle of lines to replace Line 4-90, which was damaged in 2022, and leaked 55,000 litres of water used in industrial processes into the Mackenzie River.
The one to 1.5 kilometre-long lines would run between Goose Island and Bear Island on the Mackenzie River.
Imperial Oil has also asked the federal regulator to extend its operating license, which is set to expire at the end of 2024, for another 10 years, until 2034.
Canada Energy Regulator spokesperson Christy Wickenheiser told CBC the hearing was an opportunity for commissioners with the federal regulator to listen to "anything and everything" people in the community want to tell them about the project.
For community members in Fort Good Hope, it was also their a chance to have their concerns heard about how oil extraction is affecting them.
K'asho Got'ı̨nę land guardian Buddy Gully presented on Wednesday.
"We're the first community that's below Norman Wells that gets all the junk that comes down the river. It's getting us sick," he told commissioners.
Fellow land guardian Twyla Edgi-Masuzumi said she was particularly concerned about changes she is seeing in fish on the river, describing white growths she has seen on the guts of many fish she has harvested over the last couple of years.
"It kind of makes me scared to work on fish and to feed my kids that, and it makes me sad that I have to restrict my kids," she said.
Many speakers also criticized officials at Imperial Oil for what they felt was inadequate communication when Line 4-90 leaked in 2022.
The New Brunswick government has a strategy for reducing chronic homelessness in the province by 40 per cent over the next three years, Housing Minister David Hickey said Thursday.
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé is stepping down.
A Winnipeg mother whose kids attend Winnipeg School Division schools says officials waited too long to let parents know classes would be cancelled on Thursday amid a winter blizzard that created dangerous road conditions across the city.
After one day of calm, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) says a second Alberta clipper storm will begin to hit western Saskatchewan early Friday morning.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's government is increasing how much it costs to apply for a citizen-initiated referendum by 5,000 per cent, saying it's about making sure applicants are serious.
A special unit established to solve cold cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people has solved the murder of a B.C. man in Washington State nearly a decade ago.
A judge ruled Thursday to remove an injunction in place since the summer against Alberta's law prohibiting doctors from providing gender-affirming care to youth.
A pedestrian is dead and another is in life-threatening condition after two vehicles collided in Richmond Hill on Thursday, striking three people, police say.
A Pelly Crossing, Yukon, resident said he's frustrated over the fact he's still waiting to get paid for work he did during last month's territorial election.
A few days after Michael Ma decided to cross the floor to the Liberals, Pierre Poilievre was asked whether the loss of another MP was a problem for his leadership of the Conservative Party.
Ontario released a new curriculum for kindergarten in the province on Thursday, but the shift away from “play-based” learning towards “academic rigor” is sparking concern from teachers and opposition.
Ekati Diamond Mine is getting a a $115 million loan from the Canadian government to continue operations at the mine and protect jobs, its owner announced Thursday.
Prime Minister Mark Carney reaffirmed he'll protect Canada's supply management system, as the United States signalled it's ready to fight over this country's dairy rules at the negotiating table.