EDMONTON — An Alberta aboriginal band is suing the province after the government ruled the First Nation didn’t have the right to be consulted about a pipeline that the band says intersects its traditional lands.
Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation spokeswoman Erial Deranger says Alberta’s aboriginal consultation office violated the band’s constitutional rights when it said the band wasn’t directly affected by TransCanada’s $3-billion Grand Rapids Pipeline proposal.
The band is asking a judge to overturn the approval the provincial energy regulator granted the project last fall.
The province’s consultation office has long been controversial and is opposed by nearly every band in the province.
Alberta Premier Jim Prentice has promised to reform it.