First Nations national chief talks relationships, and lawsuits, with Calgary business leaders – Calgary Herald

July 22, 2015

The head of the Assembly of First Nations told a Calgary business crowd Wednesday the energy industry must do a better job on safety and protecting the environment if it wants to earn the trust of Canada’s aboriginal people.

Perry Bellegarde, speaking at a Calgary Chamber of Commerce luncheon, said First Nations are watching the recent spill of bitumen from a state-of-the-art Nexen pipeline south of Fort McMurray.

“They have the best technology in place. What happened? That shouldn’t happen,” said Bellegarde, who comes from the Black Bear First Nation and is the former chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN).

Nexen acknowledged Wednesday the spill could have occurred two weeks before it was identified on July 15 by a contractor walking the line’s route. A built-in leak detection system didn’t work.

Read More: http://calgaryherald.com/business/energy/first-nations-national-chief-talks-relationships-and-lawsuits-with-calgary-business-leaders