Alberta First Nation says ATCO needs to pay more for transmission towers on reserve land

Members of a northern Alberta First Nation sayATCO Electric isexploiting their band by paying an unfair price for the transmission towers on the land.

A memberof Bigstone Cree Nation saidthereserve has housed ATCO transmission towerssince the1980s.

Clayton Cunningham, the Nation's executive director, said at that time,the band offered the land to ATCO for "next to nothing" because membersthought the community would benefit from the power.

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But since then, the power line has become a majorsource of revenue for ATCO. According to the Nation, ATCO Electric pays them$5,000 to house 40 transmission towers on the land, plusapproximately $40,000 in tax revenue eachyear.

"This transmission line feeds the oilsands development," Cunningham said. "But Bigstone Cree is not benefiting from it ... The offer that ATCO electric is providing is just fundamentally unfair."

Cunningham citedan August 2017 agreement betweenTransAlta andEnoch CreeNation west of Edmonton where the reservereceives $280,000each year to housetransmission towers on 268 acres of land.

ATCOpaysBigstone CreeNationa fraction of that.Cunningham said they received $5,000 per year between 2004 and 2014in addition to the tax revenue to have the towers on 58 acres of land.

Bigstone Cree Nation hasn't received any compensation since 2014 because they haven't been able toagree on a rate with ATCO,Cunningham said. If the Nation doesn't get a fair rate, itwillwithdraw its consent for the transmission line on their reserve, he said.

"The payments should be market-based," he said. "Bigstone doesn't want to get exploited."

ATCO saysrates are fair

DougTenney,ATCO'snorthern development vice president,said he's disappointed the Nation went public with their concerns, and will be following up with them.

He said the money ATCO isoffering Bigstone Cree Nationis the standard rateapproved by the federal government. Tenney also said the rate doesn't reflect the value of the electricity that's transmitted, but the value of the land that the towers occupy.

Tenney also said other land owners and First Nations are paid similar amounts.

ButIndigenous consultant Bob Joseph, who helps businesses improve their relationship with Indigenous communities, said companies have to do more than the minimum.

Companies should honour the calls to action of the Truth of Reconciliation Commission, Joseph said,which encourages governments and businesses to work towardeconomic reconciliation with Indigenous communities.

Economic reconciliation

Joseph saidthe Indian Act, which governed financial transactions between First Nations and Canadian companies, was designed to discourage bands from generating wealth.

"In that era, Indian Affairs would have decided what value to put on things that were situated on reserve," Joseph said. "A lot of those decisions were based on ideas that, 'we already provide the money for health care, housing and education.' "

Joseph said it can bein a company's best interest to negotiate fairly with Indigenous communities. Otherwise, projects can get tied up in court, wasting time and raking up legal fees,he said.

"Firms would do well to support [economic reconciliation]," Joseph said. "To sit back leaves you exposed."

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ATCOsupportseconomic reconciliation and has worked with Bigstone Cree Nation to employ their companies, Tenney said.

But in the case oftransmission lines,costs are regulated by the public utilities board, and any increases would be passed on to customers, Tenneysaid

"We've got that balancing act," hesaid. "We've got to ensure that whatever we pay an Indigenous community for access ensures that the rates we charge our customers are affordable."

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