52 Luis D. Virla et al.
maintain an important sector and an economic system that is culturally
embedded within the province’s identity, since the majority of the oil sands
reserves are present in Alberta. The Climate Leadership Plan considered in this
pathway has been a political flag for the current ruling New Democratic Party
(NDP) of Alberta. However, current economic challenges in the oil and gas
sector have created strong opposition to this plan among various sectors in the
province. Under a probable scenario of change in leadership by the next
provincial elections in 2019, there is a high probability that alternative
strategies for pollution control are implemented instead of the Climate
Leadership Plan. For example, the United Conservative Party have promised to
eliminate the NDP’s plan if elected. Such political uncertainty within this
pathway can jeopardise the possibilities of Canada to meets its NDC goals.
‘Hold you horses’: paced oil sands development and land- use
protection
This future was developed inspired by the views of the Fort McKay First Nation
which, seeking advice from scientists and their western perspectives, developed
a plan to protect their land’s ecological integrity and their traditional ways of
living while offering an alternative to maintain the industrial sector operating
in the area (ALCES and Integral Ecology Group, 2013). The perspectives
presented on this pathway were developed by the authors to the best of their
knowledge and do not represent the official stand of the Fort McKay First
Nation or any of its members not listed as chapter authors.
This pathway considers an approach to have the government of Alberta
manage the pace of bitumen production within the Athabasca oil sands area,
comprising of the 3.62 million (M) hectares. The size of the Athabasca oil sands
area is equivalent to nearly 10% of the provincial- owned forest coverage. There
is a strong emphasis on maintaining traditional land uses and protecting wildlife
while enabling the oil sand sector to develop at a more thoughtful pace. This
pathway suggests several implementation strategies. A key strategy is to expand
protected areas and maintain levels of ecological disturbance below a threshold
that allows the recovery of the area. This study suggested that increasing
protected areas and managing industrial activity in between 10.4% and 39.2%
(378,483–1,420,579 ha) of the Fort McKay’s Traditional Territory could
improve the ecological integrity and biodiversity of the area (ALCES and
Integral Ecology Group, 2013). The Traditional Territory is the land entitled to
the people of Fort McKay to exercise their treaty rights as stipulated in Treaty 8,
which upholds the community’s right to hunt, trap, and gather resources on the
land (Canada, Privy Council, O.C. No. 2749, 1966). According to the words of
Selina Harpe, a Fort McKay Community Elder:
The land is our livelihood, we live off this land all around here. We grew up
in the trap- line, and at younger age my dad did trapping and hunting, there
was no other way to make a living. At that time there was only native
maintain an important sector and an economic system that is culturally
embedded within the province’s identity, since the majority of the oil sands
reserves are present in Alberta. The Climate Leadership Plan considered in this
pathway has been a political flag for the current ruling New Democratic Party
(NDP) of Alberta. However, current economic challenges in the oil and gas
sector have created strong opposition to this plan among various sectors in the
province. Under a probable scenario of change in leadership by the next
provincial elections in 2019, there is a high probability that alternative
strategies for pollution control are implemented instead of the Climate
Leadership Plan. For example, the United Conservative Party have promised to
eliminate the NDP’s plan if elected. Such political uncertainty within this
pathway can jeopardise the possibilities of Canada to meets its NDC goals.
‘Hold you horses’: paced oil sands development and land- use
protection
This future was developed inspired by the views of the Fort McKay First Nation
which, seeking advice from scientists and their western perspectives, developed
a plan to protect their land’s ecological integrity and their traditional ways of
living while offering an alternative to maintain the industrial sector operating
in the area (ALCES and Integral Ecology Group, 2013). The perspectives
presented on this pathway were developed by the authors to the best of their
knowledge and do not represent the official stand of the Fort McKay First
Nation or any of its members not listed as chapter authors.
This pathway considers an approach to have the government of Alberta
manage the pace of bitumen production within the Athabasca oil sands area,
comprising of the 3.62 million (M) hectares. The size of the Athabasca oil sands
area is equivalent to nearly 10% of the provincial- owned forest coverage. There
is a strong emphasis on maintaining traditional land uses and protecting wildlife
while enabling the oil sand sector to develop at a more thoughtful pace. This
pathway suggests several implementation strategies. A key strategy is to expand
protected areas and maintain levels of ecological disturbance below a threshold
that allows the recovery of the area. This study suggested that increasing
protected areas and managing industrial activity in between 10.4% and 39.2%
(378,483–1,420,579 ha) of the Fort McKay’s Traditional Territory could
improve the ecological integrity and biodiversity of the area (ALCES and
Integral Ecology Group, 2013). The Traditional Territory is the land entitled to
the people of Fort McKay to exercise their treaty rights as stipulated in Treaty 8,
which upholds the community’s right to hunt, trap, and gather resources on the
land (Canada, Privy Council, O.C. No. 2749, 1966). According to the words of
Selina Harpe, a Fort McKay Community Elder:
The land is our livelihood, we live off this land all around here. We grew up
in the trap- line, and at younger age my dad did trapping and hunting, there
was no other way to make a living. At that time there was only native