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1. I grew up fishing with my family in the eastern slopes. Spent many years volunteering with a model UN camp just outside Nordegg. Today, I co-lead a research project on restor(y)ing bull trout population health in Bighorn Country (with nod to @cutchabaldyās (re)claiming work).
2. Iām not a lawyer, however, it seems the Alberta governmentās decision to open the sensitive ecosystems in the eastern slopes goes against many provincial, federal, and international policies, statutes, laws: 1976 coal development policy; SARA; duty to consult; CBD and UNDRIP.
3. 1976 Coal Development Policy: https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/cc40f8f5-a3f7-42ce-ad53-7521ef360b99/resource/802d6feb-04ae-4bcc-aac3-3b3be31a0476/download/1114651976coal-development-policy-for-alberta1976-06.pdf
4. Species at Risk Act (SARA) ā five species of fish are implicated in this region and coal mining will have incredibly negative impacts on already stressed watersheds https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/species-especes/sara-lep/cnfasar-fnceap/priority-priorite/profiles/rocky-rocheuses-eng.html
5. Duty to consult and Indigenous sovereignty: https://thenarwhal.ca/alberta-coal-mining-kenney-ucp-explainer/
6. Also an apparent violation of consultation requirements under other aspects of Alberta policy: https://albertawilderness.ca/revoking-the-coal-policy-taking-alberta-to-court/
7. The Convention on Biological Diversity also stresses the importance of stakeholder consultation ā something many parties allege was not properly carried out in the 2020 rescission of the 1976 Alberta Coal Development Policy. https://www.cbd.int/development/doc/Minining-and-Biodiversity.pdf
8. The rescission of the 1976 Alberta Coal Development Policy seems to violate many many aspects of UNDRIP: https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf
9. When a policy violates integrity of biodiversity in a sensitive ecosystem; violates proper consultation requirements; endangers local livelihoods (including ranching); violates Indigenous sovereignty; goes against provincial, federal+international statutes: itās a bad policy.
10. Iām sure many many Albertans have pictures like this of time spent in the eastern slopes, benefitting from longterm and fulsome protections of its watersheds. Hereās me circa 2002 at Crescent Falls. Family at Ram Falls circa 1991. My dad and I in eastern slopes circa 1995.
