Fort Chipewyan, Alta., residents still have unanswered questions after oil spill town hall
Fort Chipewyan, Alta., residents still have unanswered questions after oil spill town hall
A public meeting in the northern Alberta community of Fort Chipewyan was heated Wednesday night as Imperial Oil employees faced residents.
The town hall, which was live streamed by a local First Nation, followed a tailings pond leak at its Kearl Lake site.
"You put our community at risk just for that almighty dollar?" one man said.
"You have the money, you should have been there. You talk about trust. How are we going to regain that trust?" one woman asked.
It was the first time Imperial Oil representatives faced members of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation since the spill started last May. A second, larger one, happened in early February.
"You got to understand why the people were upset and continue to be upset, not only from the community of Fort Chip but also downstream as we go further north," Chief Allan Adam told CTV News Edmonton.
Many are worried it's no longer safe to harvest the fish and wildlife they feed their families.
A company spokesperson said it has several plans in place to monitor fish and animals.
"I know you don’t trust me. Hopefully you trust the municipality, hopefully you trust Environment Canada. They have both said the water is safe to drink," he said.
"We’re doing fish salvage at water body three in the spring here and those fish will be put downstream, we’ll be doing tissue sampling of those fish at the same time."
But the arrival of spring brings new concerns.
"Has this spill been contained? What's the reclamation time period? What’s going to happen when we have thaw, when we have runoff? Is it going to contaminate the river system? These are the kinds of things that we need to know," said one resident.
Many are also upset that it took Imperial Oil and Alberta's Energy Regulator so long to notify anyone about what happened.
The company has since apologized and Premier Danielle Smith has said Alberta needs to ensure future alarms are sounded quicker.
"We had no input to give any kind of advice on how to correct the problem," Chief Adam said.
"There was some serious concerns and some serious questions that never were answered."
He says many still feel in the dark after the town hall, but believes at least one positive thing has come from the situation.
"We’re being invited by the other oil sands players to go investigate their tailings ponds and see how they’re managing. So now the doors are starting to open in regards to oversight," he said.
Imperial Oil officials say they will return with more answers next month.
Seventeen people – most of whom are young students – have been taken to hospital after a falling from a height during a field trip at Winnipeg's Fort Gibraltar.
Although bladder cancer is the fifth most common cancer in Canada, experts say there’s a significant lack of awareness surrounding whom it affects the most — statistically, men — and that the most common risk factor is smoking.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he has confidence in David Johnston, even as the House of Commons is about to vote in favour of a motion to push him out of his job.
Canada will soon require health warnings to be printed directly on individual cigarettes, making it the first country to implement this kind of measure aimed at reducing tobacco usage.
More than three years after Covid was declared a global pandemic, a new study is looking at how the international health crisis has changed the lifestyle habits of Canadians.
The Canadian economy grew faster than expected in the first three months of the year and likely expanded again in April, fuelling speculation that the Bank of Canada will raise interest rates again.
A former staffer who accused Joe Biden of sexual assault has defected to Moscow and spoken to Russian state media in a news conference that lasted several hours.
Seventeen people – most of whom are young students – have been taken to hospital after a falling from a height during a field trip at Winnipeg's Fort Gibraltar.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have hired Brad Treliving to be the team's new general manager. The team made the announcement Wednesday, less than two weeks after firing Kyle Dubas.
A Toronto woman says she was shamed for the size of her order at a sushi restaurant north of the city in a scathing review posted to social media that’s been viewed more than 1.4 million times.
Last year, Quebec’s Bill 96 became law, which brought sweeping changes to the Charter of the French language. Sections of the new law will come into effect on June 1, the one-year anniversary of the bill receiving royal assent.
High heat is pushing into parts of Quebec this week, and many communities could see record-breaking temperatures this week. Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued special weather statements, advising people of the above-average temperatures.
A new team working out of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Canada (SHC-Canada) wants to get young people like Horn, who injured themselves, back on their feet and running as fast and efficiently as possible.
Canadian Heritage unveiled the programming for July 1 celebrations, inviting Canadians to come to the capital region to "join the biggest party in the country!"
A heat warning is in effect for Ottawa. Environment Canada's forecast calls for sunny and hot weather to continue for the final day of May and the start of June.
People who live on Ralgreen Crescent in Kitchener say it could have been a lot worse after a car careened off the road and smashed through their backyards on Tuesday afternoon.
A Toronto woman says she was shamed for the size of her order at a sushi restaurant north of the city in a scathing review posted to social media that’s been viewed more than 1.4 million times.
Forest fires in northern Ontario are on the rise, with the largest in the region shutting down a critical highway for the people of Hornepayne for a bit and bringing the community to the brink of evacuation.
Seventeen people – most of whom are young students – have been taken to hospital after a falling from a height during a field trip at Winnipeg's Fort Gibraltar.
Manitoba RCMP have arrested a priest from a First Nation community who is accused of sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl, and believe there may be more victims.
Hundreds of nurses from across B.C. are gathering in Vancouver Wednesday to demand better working conditions, adding to multiple calls by medical professionals this week for urgent action to staff under-resourced hospitals.
A man who worked at an addiction recovery organization has been charged with three counts of sexual assault, according to the New Westminster Police Department.
The northern Vancouver Island village of Sayward remains on edge Wednesday as a wildfire continues to burn out of control just five kilometres west of the community.
The northern Vancouver Island village of Sayward remains on edge Wednesday as a wildfire continues to burn out of control just five kilometres west of the community.
The B.C. government will set housing targets for 10 major communities on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland in an effort to combat the province's housing shortage.
