FORT MCMURRAY, ALBERTA - Alberta's tenure system for granting oil sands leases is
vulnerable to a constitutional challenge by First Nations, says Professor Nigel Bankes, Law
Professor and Chair of Natural Resources Law at the University of Calgary.
Professor Bankes is responding to a recent court ruling (Jan. 28, 2011) that saw the doors of the
Alberta courts closed to the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN). ACFN was arguing that
oil sands leases granted to Shell in the Poplar Point area along the Athabasca River were made
without proper consultation. The leases are an area of important hunting, medicinal and cultural
value to the First Nation.
The Court ruled that ACFN's legal challenge to government decisions to grant resource rights in
the form of long term oil sands leases was out of time. Under Alberta court rules, parties have
“We can’t defend our constitutional rights because we can’t keep up with the threats against them.” - Chief Allan Adam, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.