Alberta firm recruited to advance bipole talks
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/12/2011 (5393 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The Selinger government has hired an Alberta company that specializes in First Nations consultations to help it confer with about 20 communities over the new Bipole III transmission line.
The aboriginal-owned Calliou Group of Calgary will assist the province in carrying out what’s called Section 35 hearings as part of the line’s approval process. Under Section 35 of Canada’s Constitution, the province must consult with each First Nation on projects that might infringe on treaty rights.
“Given that the Bipole III Crown consultation is the largest Crown-aboriginal consultation undertaken by Manitoba to date, due to the very large geographic scope of the project, outside help was needed,” a Conservation Department spokeswoman said in a email.
Calliou Group is to provide two consultation facilitators on a regular/part-time basis to assist with the process at an approximate cost of $255,000. The multi-year contract was a result of a competitive selection process.
Tracy Campbell, principal at Calliou, declined to be interviewed.
The First Nation consultations are separate from the environmental review process, which will also include public hearings before the Clean Environment Commission.
The $3.28-billion Bipole III project is meant to add more reliability in bringing hydroelectric power from northern dams to southern Manitoba and to export more power to the United States. The 1,364-kilometre line down the west side of the province also means construction of two new dams on the Nelson River. On the drawing board is the $5.5-billion Keeyask generating station and the $7.7-billion Conawapa generating station.
Premier Greg Selinger told a Senate committee Wednesday the province will thoroughly consult with First Nations on the bipole project. “We just don’t see the land as large and unoccupied,” he told the standing committee, which stopped in Winnipeg Tuesday. “We see the land as peopled by our First Nations citizens.”
bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca