For decades, the residents of Fort Chipewyan have suspected their high rates of rare cancers, autoimmune diseases and other health issues are tied to the Alberta oil sands industry. 

Those long-standing concerns had largely gone unaddressed by various levels of government — until today. 

In a historic move, the federal government has just announced that it will allocate $12 million for a community-led study of industrial pollution and its health impacts in the area. 

Steven Guilbeault, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, visited Fort Chipewyan this week and met with community leaders and members in what his office described as an effort to better understand their concerns. These concerns were exacerbated in February 2023 when the federal government and Indigenous communities downstream from the oil sands learned about a major tailings water breach at Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine.

The 10-year study will be overseen by the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, the Mikisew Cree First Nation and the Fort Chipewyan Metis Nation.

“As an old Mikisew Cree saying goes, ‘water is boss here,’” said Guilbeault, who toured the Athabasca River this week — long believed by Fort Chipewyan residents to be tainted with containments. He noted the study is critically important to the health and well-being of Fort Chipewyan during an embargoed media round table on Tuesday.

“We’ve observed drops in water levels and there are grave concerns over water quality that is a very big issue to members here,” he added. “I’ve heard firsthand how the Kearl Mine spill has affected the community, but also that these concerns are not new. I’ve heard their stories of health troubles, very high cancer rates…and what I have heard from many is that there is a breach of trust.”

Last year, Fort Chipewyan leaders, alongside those from several other affected Indigenous communities, learned of a 5.3 million litre spill from Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine (located about 75 kilometres upstream of the community). Soon after, they found out about another spill at the same mine site that had been leaking for at least nine months before they learned about it. 

Despite mine employees discovering the leak in 2022 and notifying Imperial, which in turn alerted the Alberta Energy Regulator, neither told affected Indigenous communities, the public, or provincial, territorial and federal governments. They were only informed when an Environmental Protection Order was released by the AER.

In October, the Canadian Press reported that Imperial Oil and the AER already knew that the tailings had been leaking for years.

The 5.3 million litres of tailings water released in that spill — identified as one of the largest releases of tailings in Alberta’s history — exceeded federal and provincial guidelines for arsenic, sulphates, and hydrocarbons that may include kerosene, creosote and diesel. It also contained toxic levels of contaminants, including naphthenic acids and arsenic.

Then in March 2024, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam filed a $500 million lawsuit against the Alberta Energy Regulator, claiming the regulator failed to inform the First Nation about the leaks. The lawsuit alleges “negligence, nuisance, breach of the duty to consult, breach of the Honour of the Crown, breach of fiduciary duty, and unjustified Treaty infringement.”

Chief Adam feels the study will be a “life-changing experience for the community,” noting that this summer a notice was posted at the main dock in Fort Chipewyan advising residents not to swim in  Lake Athabasca. 

“We’re tired of it,” said Adam. “We’re tired of the Alberta government and industry continuing to lie about the regulatory shame that they brought upon themselves by exposing this community to harm.”

Minister Guilbeault said the feds invited the Alberta government to partner to fund the study, but haven’t received a response. This isn’t surprising to Chief Adam, as he believes Alberta and the oil sands industry tend to downplay or discredit the impacts of the oil sands, and are influenced by economic interests rather than the health concerns of communities downstream.

“It’s a shame that the Alberta government fails to be part of the commitment in regards to a health study. We’ve heard numerous times over the years that they wanted to shut down the house, they didn’t want to conduct it whatsoever.”

Adam said Alberta officials previously wanted to dictate what data from a study would be released to the public, and not allow Fort Chipewyan leadership to oversee how the data was interpreted.  

“They (the Alberta government) lobbied with industry people, against the community’s concerns, because they were only going to divulge the information to the general public that they deemed fit. And we as the First Nations and the Métis people of the community rejected that position, and we fought hard to say no, because this study was supposed to be public first-hand knowledge.”

Fort Chipewyan Métis President Kendrick Cardinal said they will continue to fight for their rights, health, and well-being. As 78 per cent of people in Fort Chipewyan live off the land, consuming fish and game and gathering medicine, the health effects on community members are widespread, he added. 

“It’s gotten worse,” said Cardinal. “The poisons have gotten bigger; deaths have gotten larger. It’s still a continuous death pool here in our community. I’m sick and tired of my people dying, of children with rare cancers that are being caused by industry upstream. And the truth will come out after we’re done with this study and the industry will be held accountable.”

Cardinal has called on Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to collaborate with the federal government and Fort Chipewyan Leadership, and expressed disdain over her absence. 

“I haven’t seen Danielle Smith come to visit Fort Chipewyan. This shows that she doesn’t give a shit about this community and continues to avoid the action and the reconciliation process of this community and the industry.”

Mikisew Cree Chief Billy Tuccaro became emotional while contemplating the loss of life and degradation of the environment he’s witnessed throughout his lifetime. 

“I’m 47 years old, I remember spending time on the land with my uncles and being able to drink the water right from the rivers,” said Tuccaro.“Nowadays, that doesn’t happen.”

Tuccaro noted that the Mikisew Cree have already invested in their own community health study because they were tired of waiting for outside money to do it.

“We couldn’t wait for external funding support, the number of issues was piling up, and the concerns of our community members are serious. We needed to act.”

Fort Chipewyan sits on the banks of Lake Athabasca, part of the Peace-Athabasca Delta which is the second-largest freshwater delta in the world.

The Athabasca River utilized by Fort Chipewyan residents, and the larger delta, also sit atop the world’s largest known reservoir of crude bitumen.

The industry that has sprung up around it drives Alberta and Canada’s economy, employing about 138,000 people. In 2021, crude bitumen production totalled approximately 3.3 million barrels per day. The oil sands energy sector, including oil sands, conventional oil and gas, mining and quarrying is valued at about $18 billion.  

Dr. John O’Connor, who worked as a physician in Fort Chipewyan for nearly 16 years, alerted officials about heightened rates of both rare and common cancers as far back as the 1990s. He was cleared of accusations made against him in 2009 of raising “undue alarm” by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta. In the same year, the Alberta Cancer Board conducted a study that revealed cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan were, in fact, about 30 percent higher than expected.

“This is something that should have been done 40 years ago, pre-development,” said Tuccaro.

“I’ve seen an influx of between 40 to 50 cancers. People who have had their cancers in remission for 20 to 30 years resurface.  But now we’re playing catch up as people have died. 

“That graveyard that’s situated across the street from the school, there were two rows of people that died since I’ve been around. And now you go look at that graveyard, we had to build another graveyard. It’s hard. People can’t keep turning a blind eye for a few dollars here and there.”

All three leaders in Fort Chipewyan said they want governments to enforce stricter drinking water thresholds because current levels of acceptable contaminants are too high.

Meanwhile, the Kearl Mine leak still hasn’t been fully remedied.

“What needs to get done immediately,” says Chief Adam, “is to call for a review of all the tailings ponds in the region to find out what’s leaking. And if other clearance ponds are leaking let’s find remedies to fix those right away. Because this funding is not to fix the problems of the oil sands or the tailings ponds. It’s to address the issue of the findings.”

Minister Guilbeault said he’ll continue to uphold a policy of denying new tailings pond licences until solutions to existing tailings pond issues are found. 

The new community-led health study is a joint initiative by Environment and Climate Change Canada, Indigenous Services Canada, and Health Canada. It includes a financial commitment and access to in-kind support from health professionals, scientists and other experts. Scientifically-backed longitudinal studies will look at specific indicators to see how changes can impact human and environmental health over time.

Minister Guilbeault said the study coincides with the recent passage of Bill C-226 which advances environmental justice across the country and develops an implementation framework for the right to a healthy environment under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

He added that an investigation by the enforcement branch of Environment Canada into the Kearl Mine spill is ongoing. 

Ultimately, if the results of the study prove the oil sands are causing harmful effects to people and the environment around Fort Chipewyan it would compel the government to take action, he said. 

“It would force the federal government, I would hope, the province and the companies to put in place even more stringent measures from an environmental and health point of view. I think that that would be the only reasonable course of action.”

Chief Tuccaro is breathing a sigh of relief because this initiative will finally offer answers to community members, “it gives me hope that the future generations will have a chance.”

After decades of advocating for their concerns to be taken seriously, Chief Allan Adam says it’s about time Fort Chipewyan is being heard.  

“It’s not going to go away, it’s going to continue to build,” said Adam. “ I lost my father, I lost my father-in-law, I lost my brother-in-law to cancer here in the community. I’ve said it myself, ‘Maybe one day in the future, I will fall to this illness…It is up to the government of Alberta and industry to fix this so the community will live a safer lifestyle in the future.”