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Did pressure rush pipeline?

An Alberta First Nation says court documents suggest political and industry pressure hustled approvals for an oilsands pipeline through regulators and reduced aboriginal consultation.

"Our concern is that this project was being pushed through too quickly and it would not meet the standards for consultation and review," said Eriel Deranger of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. "That's exactly what happened."

Officials with the Alberta Energy Regulator say repeated communications from political staff were attempts to understand a new approach to aboriginal consultation, not an attempt to hurry it along.

Earlier this month, the band filed a request with the Alberta Court of Appeal for a judicial review of consultations done ahead of approvals issued to TransCanada Corp. for the Grand Rapids pipeline — a 900,000-barrel-a-day line from the oilsands to Hardisty, Alta. The band says it wasn't given enough input.

Court filings from the Alberta Energy Regulator have emerged that appear to back the band's allegation.

TransCanada applied for approvals in November 2013 and by March the following year had submitted records to the province's Aboriginal Consultation Office. The office assesses how much input is due First Nations and whether that requirement has been met.

The office had recently been created by the governing Progressive Conservatives and Grand Rapids was its first major file.

By April 2, an official from the Alberta Energy Regulator wrote the consultation office and said: "We've been directed to move the Grand Rapids pipeline project to a hearing ASAP."

TransCanada was already unhappy.

An April 8 email from the consultation office's director to the assistant deputy minister of Aboriginal Affairs said TransCanada officials had expressed concerns at a recent meeting.

"I think the frustration of the developing process is affecting some of these concerns," it read. "TransCanada's treatment of our staff ... has been minimally professional and on the border of bullying."

Another April 8 email from a different office staffer said TransCanada was repeatedly calling and meeting with the consultation office.

On April 14, an official with the regulator wrote: "The review and decision for the Grand Rapid pipeline project is being accelerated to attempt to allow construction in September 2014.

"The Grand Rapids pipeline project is of particular interest to ministers and senior officials from the (provincial government and the regulator)."

A day later, Grand Rapids had been bumped to the head of the line as a "priority file."



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