Deninu Kųę́ First Nation formally pulls support for two major projects

The Deninu Kųę́ First Nation says it is suspending support for the Taltson hydro expansion and Arctic Economic and Security Corridor.

The First Nation, also known as DKFN, said its support would not return until two things happen: the GNWT and participating Indigenous governments formally recognize DKFN “has suffered the most severe legacy impacts from the original Taltson generation facility,” and they share the benefits of development in the North Slave with DKFN.

In a news release shared with Cabin Radio on Wednesday, DKFN said it “will disproportionately bear the burden of any adverse environmental impacts” resulting from the Taltson hydro facility’s proposed expansion.

“DKFN is not opposed to clean energy or economic progress, but no one should assume DKFN’s
free, prior, and informed consent for matters impacting its exercise of Aboriginal and treaty
rights,” the First Nation said.

While the GNWT is leading the Taltson hydro expansion, the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor – starting west of Yellowknife and running to Nunavut’s Arctic coast – is now led by the Tłı̨chǫ Government and Yellowknives Dene First Nation.

In August, those two Indigenous governments announced a rough route for the corridor. This week, DKFN said that announcement was “just the most recent example of DKFN not being invited to the table on a project that is within its asserted territory.”

At a news conference regarding the Arctic Corridor on August 18, Yellowknives Dene First Nation Dettah Chief Ernest Betsina said: “I want to mention other First Nations. We are open for discussions, especially with my Akaitcho group, with the Łútsël K’e and [Fort Resolution], we’re certainly open to opportunities to work with you on this project.”

Jeff Rosnawski, a Yellowknives Dene First Nation representative working on the Arctic Corridor’s development, told Cabin Radio on Wednesday the First Nation would not comment on DKFN’s position as the Indigenous governments are discussing the matter in private.

Tłı̨chǫ Grand Chief Jackson Lafferty said last week he planned to issue a video statement on the subject in the near future.

DKFN Chief Louis Balsillie told Cabin Radio the First Nation had not spoken to the Tłı̨chǫ Government and Yellowknives Dene First Nation before announcing, in an August 26 Facebook post, that it was pulling its support for the Taltson hydro expansion.

“But there will be discussion,” Balsillie said.

“DKFN’s stance is rooted in a historical pattern of marginalization,” said the First Nation in its news release.

“Despite having asserted traditional and territorial rights in the North Slave region, DKFN has been largely excluded from the economic benefits of major natural resource and development projects in that area.”

‘Enough is enough’

The Taltson hydro expansion and Arctic Corridor are two of the NWT’s three projects currently on the books of the federal Major Projects Office. The other is the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

Taltson is a hydro facility in the South Slave that powers multiple communities in the region. Expanding Taltson would involve connecting it to North Slave communities like Yellowknife through a transmission line across Great Slave Lake, which proponents say would bring cheaper, cleaner power to the region.

DKFN said it was not consulted and did not provide consent when the original Taltson dam was constructed in the 1960s. Its members say subsequent alterations to the Taltson River have “fundamentally disrupted the region’s ecology, devastated traditional trap lines, and permanently altered the DKFN way of life.”

The GNWT’s ambition of expanding the Taltson hydro system – adding a proposed 60 megawatts of capacity to the existing 22-megawatt facility near Fort Smith, then laying a submarine cable across Great Slave Lake – would “further adversely impact” DKFN’s traditional lands and waters, the First Nation said.

“Any changes to the Taltson watershed most directly impacts DKFN,” said the First Nation.

“DKFN will not sit at a development table until its Indigenous partners and the government recognize this reality and guarantee that accommodations and benefits will reflect the true cost to DKFN and its members.”

The First Nation called for equitable financial and non-financial benefits from the GNWT and Indigenous governments that reflect the impact on their inherent Aboriginal and Treaty 8 rights. It said a “blanket approach” to Indigenous participation is unacceptable.

In 2021, the GNWT signed a memorandum of understanding with the Deninu Kųę́ First Nation, Łútsël K’é Dene First Nation, NWT Métis Nation, Yellowknives Dene First Nation and Salt River First Nation. Speaking at a GNWT event for industry partners on Wednesday, Andrew Stewart, an assistant deputy minister at the Department of Infrastructure, said “we need their help and their investment and their commitment to participate in order to succeed.”

Stewart said the Indigenous governments agreed to create an Indigenous limited partnership in April – the CBC reported this involved the Salt River First Nation, Łútsël K’e Dene First Nation, NWT Métis Nation and its member councils, and Yellowknives Dene First Nation. Stewart said the “majority” of the Indigenous governments and GNWT had signed a steering committee resolution in August to work with the Major Projects Office.

The federal government needs “comfort that this partnership group and our government are ready to move forward in a timely fashion to get this thing built,” said Stewart of the federal timeline to have an “executable” project by December 2026.

“It’s going to take a concerted effort by the partners to get down into the hard discussions about how you share benefits, how much risk you’re prepared to take, and letting go to some degree,” Stewart. said, “to allow the day-to-day business to be maintained while retaining key decision-making over project footprint and issues that are really important to the local First Nations and the parties that are participating today.”

Balsillie made his August 26 announcement following a meeting between the GNWT and Indigenous governments. He said when the DKFN left that meeting, the remaining Indigenous governments signed an agreement “to move it forward.”

“Enough is enough. The government’s always leaving us out. We’re entitled to anything on that side of the lake,” said Balsillie.

Eshana Gohil contributed reporting.