Good morning, everyone.
Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished members of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, esteemed delegates, and also fellow indigenous people, our histories and cultures, our wisdom and aspirations, have played an integral role in shaping the world we live in. However, for too long our voices, the original nations of families, have been stifled and our perspective dismissed.
We're here to present the concerns and comments following the news of the arsenic and other toxic chemicals leaking from and being released from the northern Alberta tar sands sites, which flow north through our territory. There's a huge water shift, and they also flow into international waters.
Imperial Oil's Kearl mine in the tar sands allowed poisonous waste to enter our territory, contaminating the water, the aquatic life, the animals, the land and the people who live here, the original nations of families, and also the people who moved into our territory to make their homes on native land.
Imperial Oil, Suncor, and the federal and Alberta administrative governments have not engaged with the Dene or provided adequate notice or plans for remediation of the environment, lands, water, air, and wildlife. We are very concerned that the Dene were not informed about this disastrous incident and the obvious health and environmental risks associated with the leaks and spills. This is indeed an emergency.
The federal government, the Alberta government, and the Alberta energy regulator, as well as Exxon and Imperial Oil, should have informed the Dene. We found out about this disaster from Alberta first nations before the national announcements.
We agree with Elizabeth May, the Green Party member of Parliament, who stated, “This is a crime and it comes under the category of environmental racism. ... This is criminal activity.”
Our river is the second-largest river system in North America and runs through 25% of Canada's boreal forest. The Denendeh covers the Mackenzie River basin. Tailings ponds from the Alberta tar sands along the Athabasca River have been breached by industry and threaten these waters and lands.
The government, and also industry, built the tar sand mines without Dene consent. You'll notice that the location of the tar sands is close to the river. I'm sure that people who looked at the way of moving forward or looked at planning to do things took any consideration that the tar sands were really close to the river.
Alberta has produced oil for the last 60 years. Processing of the raw material used to develop oil requires approximately four barrels of fresh water to produce one barrel of oil. I don't want to talk about all these different technicalities, because this is a business you understand.
The Dene met in 1975 and talked about the ways of going forward. One of the things we talked about was the pressing issues. Just recently, just over a month ago, we had a water conference. We weren't thinking about the tailings ponds, but we wanted to think ahead. We got together with our Inuvialuit brothers and also our Métis brothers and sisters.
We gathered there to talk about our future, the land and the water. We gathered and we talked about water management. We talked about protection and ongoing concerns for our people here.
At that particular time, we found out that there were 1.3 trillion litres of oil sands tailings ponds that went into the Athabasca River. There is also the massive Site C dam expansion on the Peace River, with major downstream impacts on our traditional way of life. This serves as a stark reminder that our homes and lands must be protected at all costs. Our family and our people must be respected.
Environmental disasters such as these are an immediate and present reminder that we must constantly be vigilant in protecting mother earth, as this is our home. All levels of administrative government need to take immediate and urgent action to protect people and the environment. The working relationship must be with our families and people, and our way of life must be acknowledged.
Over the next few days, we heard from elders, leaders, doctors, advocates, experts and citizens. We welcomed their thoughts, perspectives, ideas, concerns and recommendations. We are blessed to have so much knowledge and expertise under one roof. I know that together, we will put it to really good use.
Family is like branches on a tree. We all grow in different directions, yet our roots remain the same. Let us nourish and strengthen our shared roots and come together as a family to frame steps forward to ensure that we can create a future for our children that we can all look forward to. This, of course, means protecting our homes, our water, our lands and our way of life.
In the words of a renowned young woman, the water protector Autumn Peltier, “I do what I do for the water because water is sacred.” I just wanted to share that with you.
Also, one of the things that I wanted to point out is that our elder, François Paulette, who wanted to be here, was not able to make it because of the technical challenges. He was not able to hook up.
The other thing I wanted to mention to you is that our families have been uprooted and displaced and our responsibilities have been relocated. This is the message that you heard in the reasons for the Indian residential school legacy. I wanted to share that with you, because it's one of the things that has happened because of the exploitation of our lands, territories and resources.
We also face challenges within these systems, such as being unable to address relevant agenda items at meetings, limited access that affects our ability to intervene in meaningful consultation on draft decisions and resolutions, not being able to propose agenda items and being unable to submit documents and communications relating to the work in these systems. It is evident that current opportunities and modalities of participation do not sufficiently and adequately accommodate our nation of families or empower our respective institutions.
As we move forward, it is our collective responsibility to address these inadequacies to open the doors and empower our decision-making to ensure that the voices of our nation of families are finally heard and respected and ensure that these meaningful processes are integrated into our communities' ways of life.
This is why I address you today in my capacity as a representative of the Dene nation as Dene national chief. The Dene nation enforces its mandate from the collective will of the Dene who gathered in Liidlii Kue in 1975, where they were entrusted to hold a joint assembly and to facilitate engagement to foster consultation, coordination and co-operation among the Dene family, focusing on creating a statement of rights promoting the inclusion of the Dene to ensure that the unique perspectives, knowledge and wisdom of the Dene are brought to the forefront of the decisions. The Dene Declaration was unanimously passed by the joint assembly.
This broadens participation and will lead to more comprehensive, informed and culturally sensitive policies, creating a more inclusive and sustainable world. Through our work, we aim to strengthen the partnership between the Dene and Crown representatives—Canada is included there—by fostering collaboration and mutual respect to help cultivate an environment where Dene rights and aspirations are acknowledged, supported and integrated into international policies. These partnerships will be essential in addressing such critical global challenges as climate change, biodiversity loss and sustainable development. The result will be enhanced participation in processes, enriched discourse and better implementation of the steps forward.
In acknowledging that, it also emphasizes our voices and perspective. We contribute to a more diverse and inclusive dialogue, which in turn will result in more effective and equitable solutions. As collective human beings, as our own on-the-land perspective becomes integrated into the decision-making, we will be better positioned to achieve goals that promote human rights and ensure peace and security for all.
It is vital to emphasize the importance of ongoing consultation, dialogue and collaboration among our original nation of families and the peoples of the treaty. It is essential to ensure that our voices are adequately represented and our concerns are addressed in a manner consistent with the rights and aspirations of the original nations' values. This must be inclusive, transparent and carried out from this day forth.
In closing, it is really crucial to recognize what the Dene families contribute. Our perspectives are rooted in ethics. Dene are in the business of peace, a profound concept of peace. This peace that I talk about is for the environment. This is our home. We're all human. You need to acknowledge that we are also human, and this is our home. We need to work collectively together to protect our home, which is the environment, so that future generations can have a home—a healthy home.
There are two priorities that our old people talk about. One is the land and the other is relationships, in three parts. The first relationship is with the land. That's why we've shared these documents with you and why I'm providing these opening remarks. The second relationship is the relationship with ourselves. The third one is the relationship with others. That's the reason that I'm making this presentation to you. We have a treaty relationship that needs to be acknowledged, respected and also implemented.
Marsi cho.
