Resource industries and security issues in northern Alberta

The Possibility of Convergence INTRODUCTION1 In the first half of the twentieth century, northern Alberta was still a vast expanse of woodland and waterways, inhabited mainly by native people, with some homesteaders in the arable land in the northwest part of the province. [...] Technical developments allowing the use of poplar trees, which are prevalent in northern Alberta, led to the expansion of the forestry industry in the 1980s. [...] The letter gave EnCana three months to commit to this undertaking, or else even worse attacks would resume.10 The nature of the attacks, the style of the notes, and the choice of targets were all reminiscent of the Ludwig family’s struggles with AEC, the predecessor corporation of EnCana. [...] The Mikisew Decision In the 2004 cases of Taku River and Haida Nation, the Supreme Court of Canada found that the “honour of the Crown” required the government of British Columbia to consult First Nations about the use of lands that might be part of an as-yet-unproved claim of aboriginal rights and title. [...] After protests, the Department agreed to reroute the road so that it would go around the reserve rather than cross it; but the Mikisew still demanded to be consulted, on the grounds that the road would affect their hunting and fishing off the reserve.