Keepers of the Water take message to COP16 that Canada's largest river basin needs to be protected

A group advocating for the protection of Canada's largest river basin attended the latest United Nations biodiversity conference to raise awareness about the need to protect its freshwater.

Keepers of the Water is a coalition of First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and environmental groups formed in 2006 over concerns about water quality in the Mackenzie River, also known as the Deh Cho, which translates to "big river."

Daniel T'seleie, who is Dene from Fort Good Hope, N.W.T., attended the United Nations conference in Cali, Colombia on behalf of Keepers of the Water.

"I grew up drinking the water right out of there; it's where my community gets our drinking water," he said of the river.

"There are dozens of Indigenous nations who rely on that big river, and then more broadly on that watershed. It's fundamental to who we are as Dene."

The river flows from Great Slave Lake north to the Arctic Ocean. Its basin drains 20 per cent of Canada's land mass, spanning three western provinces and two territories, and includes the Peace-Athabasca Delta, home to Alberta's oilsands.

"That watershed is recognized as a globally important area in terms of climate change and climate mitigation because it overlaps with the boreal forest and also for its biodiversity," T'seleie said.

Of concern to the group is effluent from oilsands tailings ponds entering the Peace-Athabasca Delta.

In 2023, Environment and Climate Change Canada formed a Crown-Indigenous Working Group, to look at whether releases from tailings ponds are needed, and if so, the development of regulations to deal with them.

The group includes nine Indigenous communities living near or downstream from oil sands. It published an initial summary report of its public engagement sessions.

"Even after treatment, [the water] will have high levels of salinity and naphthenic acids," said T'seleie, which he said threatens fish, and more broadly could impact the biodiversity in the area.

"Releasing these tailings even after they're treated would be a violation of the Fisheries Act."

If the government introduces changes to the Fisheries Act, the group says it could have sweeping impacts on Canada and beyond.

"It's going to be an international human rights violation, because that water flows from the Athabasca River into the Deh Cho River … and then into the Arctic Ocean," said Jesse Cardinal, executive director of Keepers of the Water, and a member of Kikino Métis Settlement in Alberta.

Updated report coming

Environment and Climate Change Canada said in an emailed statement it continues to explore this issue and will be releasing an updated report later this year, which will include next steps and timelines.

The federal government sent a delegation to this year's COP16 conference, and said it is committed to protecting biodiversity, and working with Indigenous communities to achieve that.

"Increasing global biodiversity momentum requires partnerships, especially with Indigenous people," a statement from Environment and Climate Change Canada Minister Steven Guilbeault reads.

"Canada looks forward to working with Indigenous peoples toward historic COP16 outcomes with the creation of a United Nations permanent body under the Convention on Biological Diversity that further recognizes the role and contributions of Indigenous peoples in the implementation of global biodiversity goals."

T'seleie says Canada's presence at the conference has been well received, but he wants to see action.

"For all their good talk here, I think if they don't actually step up to protect the water that people like us rely on, then their words are meaningless," said T'seleie.

He worries when it comes to protecting the Deh Cho, the Alberta government might get in the way.

Cardinal said, "Alberta prizes itself as being one of the biggest oil and gas producers in the country … and the fossil fuel extraction, the coal mining, the agriculture, the pulp mills, all require fresh water.

"The water licensing in Alberta needs an overhaul and it needs to look at First Nations rights; it needs to look at human rights to water."

In May, the province launched the Oil Sands Mine Water Steering Committee to look at options for safe management of oil sands mine water and reclamation of tailings ponds. The six–member committee includes a former chief of Fort McKay First Nation.

In a statement, the office of the minister of Environment and Protected Areas says it is committed to addressing concerns.

"We have the largest area of protected boreal forest in the world and are working on a made-in-Alberta nature strategy to keep supporting sustainable conservation," wrote press secretary Ryan Fournier.

"Let us be clear: no tailings pond and oilsands mine water will ever be released unless it is proven safe to do so."